Gender inequality and the lack of female representation is still, in this day and age, proving to be a problem in motorsport. Traditionally seen as a "man's sport," more females are starting to be introduced into the racing world. Whether they're racing drivers, engineers, strategists or simply a fan, the increasing female presence within the motorsport community has grown rapidly over the years. However, thanks to the lingering misogyny and perceptions over female participation, opportunities are still difficult to come by. I can't help but wonder, why is this STILL such a problem in 2022?
Females in motorsport is nothing new. In fact, women have been known to race since the 1800's with French female racing driver; Camille du Gast becoming the first woman to race consistently at an international level in the early 1900's. But still, opportunities were dire, until 1918. That's when things began to change and opportunities became more readily available. Numbers of females started making steps into the motorsport world, with names like Maria Antonietta d'Avanzo (finished 3rd in a "Gentlemen's Race",) Elizabeth Junek (the greatest female driver of the 1920's) and Odette Siko and Marguerite Mareuse (most successful all female crew at the 24 Hours of Le Mans) making headlines from their achievements.
From 1958 onwards, the pinnacle of motorsport that is Formula One would occasionally field a female racing driver. To date, only five females have entered a Formula One race and only two have ever made it to the start line. But, it was Italian driver, Lella Lombardi in the 1970's, coming away as the most successful, with 12 race starts and half a point. There was also Desiré Wilson who was one of the original five to enter an F1 race, although didn't start. She did, however, became the only woman to win an F1 race, of sorts, in 1980, when she won the Brands Hatch round of the British Aurora F1 Championship. Despite this progress, it's more than fair to say that the obstacles women face in motorsport haven't changed much over time and the balance in genders should be much more equal than it is.
But slowly, things are changing.
For instance, in the past ten years or so, more females have been choosing a career in motorsport and seeing them as part of a "race crew" is somewhat becoming more of a norm. For example, during a Formula One race weekend, we are seeing an influx of ladies working in the garages or on the pit wall. Whether they're Engineers or Strategists or PR Officers, opportunities are starting to present themselves. In recent years, there have also been female team principles and deputy team principles. Monisha Kaltenborn became the first female team principle in Formula One in late 2012 for the Sauber F1 Team before stepping down in mid-2017. Claire Williams took on the role of Deputy Team Principle over at her father's F1 team, Williams, in 2013. However, she stepped down from this role on 7th September 2020.
And, it's not just female team members getting more of an opportunity. Female motorsport journalists and, as of late, content creators are getting their chance to jump into the spotlight. Easier access to the world-wide web and the increasing popularity of social media is enabling ladies to set up blogs (like this one), vlogs, reels, TikTok's etc and if they're getting the right audience, it's just a matter of time before they are noticed and, in some cases, go viral.
But what seems to be lacking more than anything is the number of female racing drivers. In fact, to contradict myself, there are plenty of female racing drivers all over the globe but they are the ones having to jump the most hurdles. In 2012, GP3 became the first F1 feeder series to field more than one female over the course of a season. In that year, Alice Powell became the first woman to score points in GP3. However, this happened only once throughout the whole season. Out of the three drivers; Powell, Vicky Piria and Carmen Jorda, it was only Jorda that continued on for a second season. This was due to her being well financially backed. Something that most racing drivers, male or female, struggle with. However, it wasn't the end for Powell and Jorda in motorsport. Enter, the W Series.
The W Series was launched with the initiative of giving females easier opportunities to move up the motorsport ladder. See it as a stepping stone towards Formula Two and Formula Three. Now into it's third season, there has only been one champion; Jamie Chadwick. You'd think "why is she still racing in this category with easier opportunities?" Well, in reality, even her prize money from the series has failed to get the attention of F2 and F3 teams. And, with the series cutting their 2022 season short due to financial difficulties, it's not entirely clear where it's future lies.
It's not all doom and gloom though for the ladies that race with W Series with Formula One potentially looking into their own female series that could debut as early as 2023. And, even though progression has proved to be limited for these drivers, a few have been lucky enough to be noticed by F1 teams. Chadwick is the current development driver for Williams F1 team, Alice Powell is over at Alpine as their Talent Identification and Development Mentor and, finally, Abbie Pulling is a member of the Alpine Affiliate Programme.
Formula E is another series that had a plan to explore gender diversity in motorsport when it debuted in 2014 with an initial plan to introduce mixed gender driver pairings. Nearly ten years later and only three females, Katherine Legge, Simona de Silvestro and Michela Cerruti, have driven in the series. There hasn't been a female Formula E driver since season 2 in 2015-2016.
However, there is a championship out there that enforces mixed gender driver pairings. Extreme E. The "international off-road racing series" is said to "promote gender equality in motorsport by mandating that all teams consist of a female and a male driver who share equal driving duties."(Wikipedia). As excellent as this is, Extreme E isn't a traditional pathway to the likes of Formula One but that's ok. Women are getting an opportunity and that's a big step for motorsport.
But despite all this, the negative stigma surrounding women in motorsport is still very prevalent and can present itself through many mannerisms including attitudes, actions and words.
The one thing that needs to change more than anything is people's attitudes towards the subject. From the perception of "women only watch motorsport for the men" or "women cannot cope with the physical demands," things could change drastically if we could just generate the correct attitudes.
The 2022 US GP, for example, was a classic Formula One race. With plenty of on-track and off-track battles, it was one for the memory book. But one FIA accredited journalist took things too far when he made a comment that offended many female F1 fans. Joe Saward commented, in a recent article:
“the big news for the females of F1, of which these days there are a large number, was that Brad Pitt was wondering around”.
A harmless comment, right? Wrong. This is the demeaning attitude and type of misogyny that needs to go. But what's shocking is the amount of comments like this that get swept under the carpet. It's this attitude that's causing the most damage. Females, young and old, are harassed constantly on social media and at race events. The overall perception is that women cannot be fans of motorsport unless they find the drivers attractive. And, it's not just the fans that these perceptions effect - it's every female associated with motorsport.
Then there is the representation of women in motorsport, which is minimal. Overtime, people have grown accustomed to the lack of female involvement so it just seems like a normality. Is this why there is so little effort to make women more inclusive in motorsport? It's a possibility and again, takes us back to the attitudes and actions of people involved.
Ideally, the FIA and Formula One could be doing more to change the attitudes and perceptions towards females in motorsport. A good place to start would be with education. Education can help shape our lives and if we are taught at a young age about gender equality and try to encourage young ladies to pursue motorsport careers, then we're already starting to break the negative stigma and stereotypes.
There is no denying, motorsport has seen a surge in popularity in the female audience in recent years and it's time there was better representation for women. Steps are being made but we have a long way to go. In the meantime, we have to talk constantly and loudly about misogyny in motorsport because that's the only way people are going to listen. It's an unnecessary problem that doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.
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