Well, That's Not A Good Idea

If you've been active on twitter or read any motorsport news stories recently then you'll know that plans have emerged for a "six-race women-only championship" to potentially get going from 2019 with the champion guaranteed a test with a Formula One team. Personally, I do not like this idea and no, it's not because I, myself, am a woman. Right now motorsport is the biggest sport in which there is not a separate championship for women. But why should F1 follow in this trend?

Ex-owner of Formula One Bernie Ecclestone first spoke of this idea back in 2015 saying "a separate event for women racers would showcase their talents and ease the path to compete in Formula One." When I read this I translate it as "Women will not be able to showcase their talents in F1 and thus will need their own championship in order to do so." Maybe in this day and age there has yet to be a female racing driver with the abilities compete in F1. But, if we look back in history it has happened. In fact in 1980, South-African born driver Desire Wilson became the first woman to win a Formula One race of any kind by coming first at Brands Hatch in the British Aurora F1 Series and Italian driver Lella Lombardi has the most F1 starts (out of the females) and to date is the only woman to score a point in the Formula One World Championship. That was 40-odd years back and since then only a handful of ladies have taken part in the sport. And, when you look at the percentage of women participating in the sport compared to men, you'll see why it is male dominated.

In recent years, women have been making a comeback. But sadly, most of this has been for publicity, example being Carmen Jorda, a driver who would finish a race rarely higher than second to last. However, Sauber's signing of Tatiana Calderon catches my eye. Calderon has what it takes to race up there with the best. She recently scored a podium in Formula V8 3.5, a championship that was once popular with future Formula One drivers. Could Calderon be the first female F1 racer in 40 years? I hope so.

To round this up, women want to race men. Women want to beat men. We're getting to the point where there is a place for women in motorsport, especially Formula One. A women's championship would probably harm or undermine this. And, it's not just about the drivers. It could potentially harm the careers of female team principles, engineers, mechanics. The idea for a womens-only champion is not a good idea. Ever.

Goodbye World Series Formula V8 3.5

Friday 17th November 2017. This day was the day World Series Formula V8 3.5 was confirmed to be folding. For good. I haven't seen many people talking about this. And in all honesty, I haven't watched the series since it split from Renault. But this is a sad and important goodbye. One in which I wanted to talk a bit about.

First of, what was World Series Formula V8 3.5?

Well, it was a junior single seater series starting in 1998 as World Series by Nissan before switching to Formula Renault 3.5 in 2005 and then a final change to what it is known as today, World Series Formula V8 3.5 which happened in 2016. And now, after the current season, 2017; the series will be no more due to a lack of entries.

Loosing this series is a blow to those trying to reach Formula One. Over the years it has proved a very popular feeder series and was a personal favourite with the Red Bull Junior Team. And, to this day, a number of drivers including the likes of Formula One 4x World Champion; Sebastian Vettel and Formula One drivers Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz Jr, Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne among others have graduated into the big time. So why has the fate of this championship been caused by a lack of entries?

There are probably a number of reasons for the decline in entries. One that comes to mind is the thing everyone talks about; finances and expenses. Motorsport is a "money-guzzling" business, whether you're a driver or team owner, it's expensive.

But as mentioned before, "there are a number of reasons." And, what I am about to talk about is what I think is motorsport's main current problem. Formula One drivers are getting younger. These youngsters, like Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll, are skipping the most important feeder series, the series where they should be getting the most experience in preparation for Formula One. And they're not the only ones. Ex-Toro Rosso and Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat went to straight to Formula One from GP3, as did Valterri Bottas although he had a gap year as reserve driver for Williams. But still. Is this the new trend? Karting to Formula Three to Formula One? Will we see more feeder series die? I hope not.