WHERE ARE ALL THE LADIES?

On the morning of Wednesday 10th October 2018, news broke that a women’s only racing championship was going to begin in 2019. Between fans, drivers, journalists and motorsport personnel alike; opinions on the matter were divided. Myself being on the negative side. But I ask myself, “could this really be a good thing for women in motorsport?” 

As the daughter of a former rally driver and navigator, all I wanted to do when I grew up was race. I remember sitting and watching Formula One races and British Touring Car Races, among others, with my dad throughout my childhood years. I wanted to be the best. However, apart from my mother, who was my rally driver father's navigator, I never had any female racing idol to look up to. This made me think racing wasn’t for girls and my dream died. 

So, the news of the new “W Series” would be good for the likes of me, right? 

Wrong. 

Upon hearing the news, I felt insulted by the plan of segregation. And this is the main issue I have with these plans.

Motorsport is a very male dominated sport. And I, for one, am extremely opinionated and defensive when it comes to women racing. But why do I think this new championship to be a bad thing?

Ok, I understand that it would encourage women and young girls to race, but, we want to race against the best and the only way that could ever happen is to start racing at the bottom and this is where the problem lies. 

Young girls may start karting professionally between the ages of 8-10 with a very small number making it into a professional racing car. I believe the reason for this is financial backing and support. It’s pretty much guaranteed that a sponsor or a team would chose a young lad over a girl to back because men have had the opportunity to prove themselves. This is where my opinion starts to sound conflicting, as females need a chance to shine. 

We’ve seen plenty of females racing in the likes of Formula 3 and GP3 but where are most of them now? 

Alice Powell, for example, the first female to ever score a point in GP3 who, in my opinion, was quite a consistent driver, never made it past that level. No team was ever interested. It would be for drivers like Alice where a women’s championship could come across as sustainable and a success. 

Then we look at the likes of Carmen Jorda. I think it’s more than fair to state this driver has zero talent. What if she won this said championship and ended up with a seat in Formula One where she faltered against the male dominance? It would be a waste of time and money. 

And, finally, Colombian driver, Tatiana Calderon (pictured above). A female with potential, fortunate enough to be snapped up already by Sauber Formula One team. But will and when will she get her Formula One chance? There’s not much more she can do. 

The moral of this story is females need to be nurtured into great racers by starting at the bottom, just like our male companions. The FIA should be investing money here, helping young females get the start in motorsport that they want. Honestly, something should be done in order to encourage more ladies into the sport, however, I among others believe that this is not a sustainable way.  

WELCOME BACK KVYAT

Red Bull and Daniil Kvyat. Best described as a love/hate relationship, or the person who keeps running back to their ex after being treated like, well, rubbish. After parting ways towards the end of the 2017 Formula One season, Red Bull has since confirmed that the 24 year old Russian will be rejoining the Toro Rosso team for 2019. Looking back at Kvyat's time with the team, many do not believe this to be Red Bull's best idea. However, I think differently. If anything, this is one gamble worth taking.

Daniil Vyacheslavovich (sorry, I just really wanted to put that in) Kvyat or "Torpedo," as he has become to be known by, after the disastrous Russian Grand Prix in 2016, was born in Ufa, Russia in 1994 and has been racing in karts since an early age, making is professional debut in 2005. After successful karting career in first Russia and then Italy, Kvyat joined the prestigious Red Bull Junior Team in 2010, alongside future Toro Rosso team mate, Spaniard; Carlos Sainz Jr.

It is fair to say Daniil Kvyat has had one of the most stunning junior single seater careers around. Comparing his results from the likes of GP3 and Formula Renault with other drivers of his era, I'd put Kvyat near, if not at the very top of my list of talent. And, thanks to his talent and championship win during his first GP3 season, the young Russian got a golden ticket to Formula One, joining Toro Rosso in 2014 alonside current driver Jean-Eric Vergne.

Kvyat's first year in Formula One was so-so. He was in a mediocre team just about scrapping it out for points but nevertheless, his talent on track managed to get him a promotion in the main Red Bull team after only one season. Unfortunately, I believe this to be one season too soon.

In all fairness to Kvyat, his first season at Red Bull Racing was good. He finished the season in 7th with 95 points. Impressing quite a few around him. Another year at Red Bull was confirmed but this was the beginning of the end.

The start of the 2016 was rocky for Kvyat with a number of collisions and incidents, most notably the two at that years Russian Grand Prix which ultimately lead to Kvyat getting demoted back to Toro Rosso in the place on Max Verstappen who took Kvyat's place at Red Bull. A controversial move.

With one year at Toro Rosso and one and a half year at Red Bull, Daniil Kvyat found himself back at Toro Rosso with it all to play for. But thanks to a long string of races where points were not scored and a number of mechanical issues, it was decided Kvyat was not performing and was instantly replaced. So why, a year later, are they bringing him back? Simple. There are currently no drivers in the Red Bull Junior Team ready for F1.

You may ask yourself, "but there are plenty of other drivers?" True, yes. But a lot of these drivers, such as Sebastien Buemi and Jean-Eric Vergne, are tied into other commitments. As for other drivers, I can't give you an answer as to why they were not picked. Red Bull obviously still see something Daniil Kvyat. And, that I agree with.

Formula One drivers can become under a tonne of pressure if things aren't going well or have a team mate who is constantly out performing them. The said pressure can become too much and things go wrong. It happens to anybody, Formula One driver or not. A year away from racing in Formula One, I hope, would have been a positive for the Russian. His current ties with Scuderia Ferrari should have helped him regain confidence and learn from his mistakes. Daniil Kvyat is back for a reason and I for one cannot wait to see what he can do.

OH, WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

In recent years, I have learnt to live my life through the motto; "Everything Happens for a Reason." Unfortunately, I had to learn that through the hard way, but we won't go into that. This is a motorsport blog after all. But why am I relating that quote to motorsport, you ask. Well, in a simple term, I like to wonder to this very day what could have been if both Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne had made into Red Bull's main team.

Most people would be happy to say Daniel Ricciardo was the stronger driver of the two when at Toro Rosso. Well, in fact, this is wrong. Ok, not totally wrong as they were very similarly matched, which is why I wonder what could've been.

Australian driver and 2009 British Formula 3 champion; Daniel Ricciardo joined the Italian Formula One team; Scuderia Toro Rosso, alongside Frenchman, Jean-Eric Vergne, who also happened to be a British Formula 3 champion (2010), at the beginning of the 2012 Formula One season. Both drivers had been apart of Red Bull's prestigious junior team for some time, racing against each other in the likes of British Formula 3 and Formula Renault 3.5, impressing a number of people along the way, leading to their eventual promotion to Formula One.

The 2012 season would best be described as a roller coaster for the Toro Rosso team and their drivers. Having a promising start by consistently scoring points and getting to the mid-season where it was fight to just score the one point. Upgrades added to the car after the summer break brought the team back up to where they wanted to be, consistently in the points. Eventually, Vergne out-scored Ricciardo at the end of the season finishing in P17 with 16 points, compared to Ricciardo's P18 and 10 points. The team itself finished in P9 in the constructors championship.

The following year, both drivers were retained at Toro Rosso. The start of the year was almost opposite to what they achieved the year before, no points and engine failures. Things got better though. At that years Canadian Grand Prix, both drivers managed to qualify in reasonable places in the top ten, making it Toro Rosso's best qualifying result since the Chinese Grand Prix in 2011. Going on into that race, Vergne managed to finish in 6th position, making it Toro Rosso's best finishing position since the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix. The two boys were breaking team records. However, a cloud of bad luck arrived and hovered over the team for some time. And, after claiming the teams best qualifying positions for some time back at the Canadian Grand Prix, the team managed one of their worst qualifying sessions ever at the Belgian race. This came at a bad time too as a seat had opened up at the junior team's parent, Red Bull. During that race, things were looking good for Ricciardo, managing to come home with some points. For Vergne, it was a different story. And, days before the Italian Grand Prix, the moment came. Daniel Ricciardo was the guy chosen to go to Red Bull.

So, off Ricciardo went to Red Bull. Putting up a fight to his new team mate, 4 Time World Champion; Sebastian Vettel. Luckily for Vergne, Toro Rosso retained him for a third year, partnering him with younger Red Bull Junior and 2013 GP3 champion, Daniil Kvyat. However, this was his last chance to show his worth.

Several car failures hindered Vergne's performance throughout 2014 but the Frenchman lived up to the challenge that teammate Kvyat brought to him. Later that year, another seat became available at the main team and this was Jean-Eric Vergne's moment. So we thought. Kvyat got the seat. Leaving Vergne with nothing, as due to the talent, such as Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, coming through within the Red Bull Junior Team, Vergne would have to step aside the following year, watching his Formula One dream fade away.

It is no lie that the motorsport world is brutal. But what would have I done? The initial decision to move either Ricciardo or Vergne up to the parent team must have been difficult and I don't envy Red Bull for having to make it, as both drivers were very evenly matched. To this day, I don't know if it should have been Vergne or Ricciardo but it was the latter so that's who we'll go with. When the second seat came available in 2014, I would have definitely moved Vergne up. No competition. He had the experience and he had proven himself against Ricciardo before. Having these two boys at Red Bull would have been good for Formula One. The inter-team battle would be one to remember, as previous seasons have shown how close they are on track. They've also had worked with one another before. It was a promising line up that Red Bull let slip through their fingers.

So, where are they now? And why was Vergne's elimination from Formula One a good thing for the Frenchman?

Ricciardo, now a multiple race winner, is still loving life at Red Bull Racing, drinking champagne from a shoe and Vergne? Well, Jean-Eric Vergne is now a Formula E World Champion. Being the only driver in that series to win numerous races in a row. Things may seem bad at the time but everything turns out good in the end. I'd kill for a "Jevcardo" line up in Formula One again but it's not meant to be. So, I'll sit back and relax, watching them both kill it out on track in their respective categories.