Susie Wolff’s Retirement Highlights Challenges That Remain for Female Drivers

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: November 8, 2015

commentComment        

It may seem counterintuitive, but the retirement of Susie Wolff—the only woman to have driven a Formula One car on a grand prix weekend in the last two decades—does not alter the chances of another female driver starting an F1 race.

In fact, there is no impact at all, as we have known since March that Wolff was not going to be the one to break through and line up on the starting grid.

When Valtteri Bottas was injured in Australia and there was speculation he might not be able to race in Malaysia, deputy team principal Claire Williams (ironically, one of the highest-ranking women in the sport) went out of her way to tell the BBC that Wolff would not take his place. Soon after, the team signed former Force India and Sauber driver Adrian Sutil, whose F1 career has been the definition of mediocre.



The chances of a female driver starting an F1 race in, say, the next five years were the same the day before and the day after Wolff retired: not very good.

And that is unfortunate, because there are some talented female racers out there.

Simona de Silvestro put her IndyCar career on hold last year to take a shot at F1. Unfortunately, as with many other drivers, she didn't have the funding to stay in the sport.

That is surprising, as De Silvestro comes from a wealthy country (Switzerland) and demonstrated throughout her career that she is more than capable of racing with the boys. You would think sponsors and teams would be lining up to associate themselves with her—but that didn't happen.



As I wrote earlier this year, though, "It is surprising that teams have not spent more time identifying talented young girls and nurturing their careers the way they do with young male drivers. There will be huge marketing benefits for the team that does bring a successful female racer into F1."

The only conclusion is that, as Wolff wrote in her ret...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Formula 1

Latest News


Comments

Comments are closed.

Sponsors

Bruins Tickets The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Red Wings Tickets The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League.

Penguins Tickets The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New York Rangers Tickets play their home games at Madison Square Garden, they are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise, and are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six.

San Jose Sharks Tickets The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States.

Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New Jersey Devils Tickets The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Washington Capitals Tickets The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C.

Buffalo Sabres Tickets The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League. Get the Sabres and all of your NHL Tickets here.

NASCAR season is on of the most attended sports in the world. NASCAR Tickets to the best tracks is a must every year. Some of these tracks are: Talladega Tickets, Lowes Motor Speedway Tickets, Pocono Raceway Tickets, located in Ridgeway Virginia you have Martinsville Speedway Tickets and southern US you have two of the most popular Atlanta Motor Speedway Tickets and Texas Motor Speedway Tickets. Don't miss all the racing events this year!

Boston Red Sox Tickets The Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Since 1912, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park. This is one of the hottest MLB Tickets sales of any team in the major league.

New York Yankees Tickets The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division. Get tickets to one of the hottest games of the season Yankees Red Sox Tickets.

Chicago Cubs Tickets The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League.

Phillies Tickets The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883.

Orioles Tickets The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Do you love wrestling? Get your WWE Tickets and WWE Survivor Series Tickets today!