zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
Stop Trying To Make The Women-Only F1 Series Happen
Stop Trying To Make The Women-Only F1 Series Happen-November 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:17

Here’s some exhausting garbage about women in motorsport to ruin your day: organizers are still trying to make that ridiculous happen in 2019. They’ve scrapped the goofy “SHE Championship” name, but it’s still the same infuriating, patronizing idea that no one really needs.

The series plans to run a short, six-race schedule in the summer, with five races in Europe and one in America, reports . The champion will be promised a Formula One test drive, as they’re presenting this idea as a way to get more women into Formula One. The proposal obtained by several months ago claimed that the costs of participation will be fully funded by the series.

Yet as we’ve noted , few will see this as a fair way to get more women into racing’s highest level. They’ll see it for what it is: an alternate, less competitive path for women just to get a test drive. Worse yet, its very concept implies that these yahoos believe that women can’t compete on the same level as men and under the same circumstances.

Ex-Formula One development driver Carmen Jordá—one of the few women who has spoken in favor of this bad idea—even admitted as such, telling ESPN:

I believe a women’s F1 championship would give us the chance to achieve our dreams and compete on an equal footing — as in other sports. One day it will happen and it is the right thing to do.

They think because we are driving a car we are on the same level as men which is completely not true because we will never be the same as them. I have had to fight through many things to get to the top of this sport, just because I am a woman, and that is not fair.

This is defeatist nonsense, as let’s be honest here: Jordá just . She hasn’t won a feeder series championship, and barely cracked the podium in Formula 3. When you’re up against 24 Hours of Le Mans winners and GP2 champions for a coveted F1 seat, no duh you will face an incredible uphill battle.

Motorsport is one of the few sports where men and women compete alongside each other, and results alone should be what matters. This series’ promised test drive won’t ultimately change much, as you’re not going to get very far beyond a token test (or Jordá’s development role, for that matter) if you haven’t demonstrated that you can beat the dudes who are also trying out for F1 seats. You can only prove that by racing them in the same series.

Worse yet, they’re still promoting this idea with completely unrealistic expectations, as ESPN notes:

The London-based company behind the project are believed to carry the financial muscle required to get the landmark proposal off the ground — and its ambitious organisers expect the championship to be second only to Formula One as the biggest international motor racing series within three years of its launch.

We’ve debunked this claim before, but one does not merely start up a championship and have it become second to F1 practically overnight, especially with a single-gender focus and a short summer schedule. Other women’s sports leagues only get a fraction of the attention (and thus, funding) compared to their all-male counterparts.

As for the schedule, IndyCar has been in recent years for having a too-long off-season, which makes it too easy to forget. That’s a series with over a century worth of history and one of the most famous races in the world on the schedule. How on earth does this women’s F1 series expect a summer-only calendar to work out?

The much newer Formula E series might be be a closer analogy, and even it has struggled to find an audience despite having a longer, spread out schedule and loads of .

Then again, they’re already under-delivering on some of their overblown promises. An exhibition race and testing planned for this year didn’t happen, and they’re now targeting 2019 for their first race. A series spokesperson told ESPN:

There will be no announcement for a number of months as we are undertaking a lot of research and completing our strategy. Starting something from scratch takes an enormous amount of time to get right.

Here’s a thought on getting this right: how about permanently delaying the idea of a women-only series into oblivion and using this funding to sponsor women drivers in established series instead? Let women prove they can win against their competition in series like Formula 2, Formula 3, or Indy Lights. If you want women in the main F1 show, that’s the only way to do it fairly.

To their credit, ESPN notes that the series has been speaking with a number of women in racing, whose concerns forced them to pull back from calling it “SHE Championship.” But they need to listen further, as the numbers who believe this will cause more harm than anything are right. It’s hard enough for women in racing to feel welcome and accepted as it is—we don’t need to be told to stick to our “own” series, thanks.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
After Delivering 8 Seasons At The Back Of The Grid, Haas F1 Team Dumps Guenther Steiner
After Delivering 8 Seasons At The Back Of The Grid, Haas F1 Team Dumps Guenther Steiner
The partially North Carolina-based squad has determined that after , it needs to mix things up a little. The team’s firebrand has been following an abysmal 2023 season which saw the team score just four points-paying finishes. The team’s , where scored a fourth-place finish, but that season too...
Nov 1, 2024
Local Businesses Want Compensation After Allegedly Losing Money During Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
Local Businesses Want Compensation After Allegedly Losing Money During Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix
If you listen to Formula 1 or local officials from Las Vegas and Clark County, you’d probably think November’s inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix was a success. Some sources estimated that the city of Las Vegas made over $1 billion in revenue from the event — but there were...
Nov 1, 2024
Race Team Would Rather Create A Fake AI Woman Rather Than Hire A Real One
Race Team Would Rather Create A Fake AI Woman Rather Than Hire A Real One
In another unsurprising example of motorsport’s inhospitable mindset toward hiring competent women, the Racing team has announced a new partnership with Ava Rose, a literal , who will... engage with fans? Share knowledge about technology? “Navigate the cutting edge of innovation to create positive change” (whatever that means)? I...
Nov 1, 2024
Listen To In-Car Audio From Race Cars While You Work
Listen To In-Car Audio From Race Cars While You Work
If you follow racing in the U.S., you probably already know about the . Most of the episodes are too much of a distraction to put on as background noise while you work, but a couple of recent entries in his series have been working incredibly well for me....
Nov 1, 2024
Get Ready To Spend All Your Money On Retro Formula 1 Merch
Get Ready To Spend All Your Money On Retro Formula 1 Merch
Fellow nerds, get ready to open your wallets, because I’ve found what may be the greatest store of all time. With designs from Formula 1 teams like , you’re sure to find something that fits your particular nostalgic niche. I’d like to introduce you to Racing Retro. I first...
Nov 1, 2024
You've Probably Never Heard Of The Coolest Canadian Car Ever Built
You've Probably Never Heard Of The Coolest Canadian Car Ever Built
Name a car from the early 1960s built by a famed racing driver with curvy, lightweight aluminum bodywork, a big American engine, and a reputation for being unruly and fast as all hell. Your first thought was probably the famed Shelby Cobra, did you know there was a who...
Nov 1, 2024
Copyright 2023-2024 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved