Misogyny and Why It’s Still Such a Problem in Motorsport.

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.

Alonso vs Vettel - They've Still Got It!

In this day and age we seem to be under this misconception, especially on social media, that there is no place for older drivers in Formula One. As a result of the rising popularity of the sport, junior series like Formula Two and Formula Three, have been propelled into the limelight making this misconception a common one throughout the online motorsport community. Why would teams choose to field older drivers that are supposedly past their prime compared to the younger, up and coming talent that is seen in Formula Two and Three? Well, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel have something to say about that.

Alonso and Vettel, may be the two of the oldest drivers on the 2022 grid, but both are regarded as two of Formula One's greats, with six world championships between them. Even Alonso himself insists that his age and experience is an advantage when racing. So, logically, there is no surprise that both drivers are still on the grid. Despite this, fans still question whether they are past their prime and should move on. But after recent performances, there is no doubt as to why they are still racing in the most prestigious motorsport series.

First up, let's rewind back to the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix and THAT finish. Alonso and Vettel may have been fighting for 6th place but ultimately only 0.011 seconds separated the two at the chequered flag. It even took some time for the result to be confirmed, with Vettel being the driver to finish ahead. During post race interviews, Vettel may have said that Alonso was "a little bit aggressive" when fighting for the position at the final chicane, but fans loved nothing more than two world champs battling it out, side by side for the perfect photo finish. It was the Vettel and Alonso of old and it wasn't to be the last time either.

Fast forward two weeks later and it's the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. On lap 23 Alonso clashes with 2023 Aston Martin teammate; Lance Stroll. And, although the incident looked much worse than what it was, after falling to the back of the grid, Alonso drags a broken car to finish 7th (before having it taken away and then reinstated. But that's another story.)

Then there's Sebastian Vettel, showing us why he is a four time world champion. In fact, his performance over in Austin has made his retirement at the end of the year more somber than what it has been so far. Vettel squeezed everything out of his Aston Martin, even leading the race at one time. However, it was his last lap battle with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen that wowed the crowd. The past two races makes you ask "why is Vettel retiring?" It definitely feels too soon.

The past two races have proved that age is just a number. If you've got the talent, does age really matter? Obviously not. And that's a good thing. But, it's not all about the race craft. With age comes the most important quality; experience and as Alonso has said in the past, that is the advantage older drivers have.

Unfortunatley, there will never be enough seats in Formula One to house a lot of the young drivers coming through the ranks but we need to stop the misconception that a driver is too old. At the end of the day, the likes of Alonso and Vettel have every right to still be racing and although, as mentioned above, Vettel is retiring; that is his choice. Formula One is very lucky to still have these drivers in the sport but one day they won't be there anymore and currently that's something I'd rather not think about.

Is This The End For The W Series?

Ok. I have my latte, pumpkin spice, if you're wondering, and I'm ready to sit back and talk to you about the W Series. What on earth is happening there, in regards to the state of their finances? Oh my. We have some ground to cover.

I highly doubt it, but unless you've been living under a rock in recent times you'd be aware about the financial trouble that the W Series currently finds itself in. In fact, the series has cancelled it's last few races of the 2022 championship season due to said fiance troubles. But, how have they gotten to this stage? Let's go back to the start.

The W Series is an all-female single seater championship that debuted in 2019 and according Wikipedia, it was created as a "response to the lack of female drivers progressing to the highest levels of motorsport, such as Formula One." In the three years that the championship has been held, (there was no championship in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic,) a high volume of female racing drivers have come and gone from the series, but it's been British driver Jamie Chadwick who has showed the most potential by winning all three championships to date, including 2022.

The journey that the W Series has found itself on hasn't been an easy one with plenty of criticism surrounding the championship. Ironically, some of the criticism has come from female racing drivers or females associated with motorsport. Why? Because many are under the impression that the category segregates female racers. Drivers such as Pippa Mann, Simona de Silvestro and Sophia Floersch, among others, have all been vocal on how they oppose the series. Even I, myself, had my doubts. In 2018, I wrote a post on my blog not long after the announcement of the W Series. My opinion on the all-female championship has shifted to a more positive perception overtime, especially as I got to see a race live in Silverstone in 2022, but I can't help but wonder why the series has gotten into this financial mess and whether the funding that was available to begin with could have been used in a more efficient, less controversial way as a means to bring more females into motorsport.

This where we begin to look at the success of the series. It has, in one way or another, been successful. By that I mean every season we have had nearly twenty ladies line up on the grid. That's a success in itself. But, and it's a big but, do we have a female driver any where near the likes of Formula One? No, we don't. Of course, it should be mentioned that it has helped the likes of Jamie Chadwick, Abbie Pulling, Alice Powell and Jess Hawkins to become associated with F1 teams. But, the likes of them getting into F1 soon? Unlikely. As much as it hurts to say that.

So, what could be done differently? I have a few ideas. And, they're just that, ideas from my own mind.

If W Series is to return in 2023, at the moment that is the goal, then maybe they should adopt a Formula Two-esque approach. For example; when a driver wins the championship they are not eligible to continue on into the following season. After winning the championship three times out of only three seasons, surely Chadwick is better off elsewhere? Why not make it mandatory that the champion moves up to Formula Three? No matter the talents, girls are not being given the opportunities and that's the big thing that needs to change.

Or, how about getting rid of the series completely and creating a scholarship programme? Females can be backed and given the financial help to make moves up the motorsport ladder. It could be a bit like a junior team, eg; Red Bull, but for the ladies.

Also, the funding could be used within a training programme. There are plenty of ideas out there that could be more financially feasible but like with everything, it's easier said than done.

However, the funding we speak off seems to have just dwindled and vanished leaving the future of the series in doubt. The money was never received from the contracted investor and instead of racing, the championship organisers are seeking investment from elsewhere to ensure a 2023 season. That's all I know and it doesn't overly sound too good.

Whatever happens to the series, there are people with their jobs and livelihoods on the line. And, you can't deny, it has made a big change for females in motorsport. It's giving ladies the perfect chance to showcase their talent. But something HAS to be put in place to make it more of a success because right now it's a sinking ship. It's heartbreaking to see a motorsport series reach this state but I'm intrigued to see what comes of the funding. I really wish everyone at the W Series all the best.