Women Only Series Created

[MikeTheNative]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/motorsport/45802348

A new women-only motorsport series has been launched in an attempt to find potential female Formula 1 stars.
W Series will start in 2019 and is backed by a number of major F1 names, including 13-time grand prix winner David Coulthard and Red Bull design chief Adrian Newey.
W Series aims to attract up to 20 of the world's leading female racing drivers to compete for a $1.5m (£1.14m) prize fund across six races in Europe, and will include a round in the UK. The cars will be identical and be provided and run by the championship.

The championship is free to enter, and competitors will be selected through a programme that assesses their abilities. The winner will receive $500,000 (£381,000) to help further her career, as well as support and advice from the experts employed by the series.

To me this seems outright bizarre and more about stroking the egos of those involved to seem like they are helping rather than doing something that will make sense. Currently there is not enough decent woman drivers in the system to make this work. Your going to have a select few cruise to the championship and waste a year, where they could have developed their skill set in a more established championship with the top male drivers.

There is a big prize fund as well as the drives being funded so there must be serious money behind this. To me it would make more sense from them to sponsor the careers of some of the more promising young female drivers rather than giving a seat to someone with no talent. The biggest problem with low female representation is the lack of those taking up in the first place. Why isn't some of this money going to promote young girls to do karting or even have a go at ginetta juniors?

Will this find the first woman F1 driver like the article asks? The answer is almost definitely no but it will give the better female drivers a pay day for a while I suppose.

 

[GravyMonster]

Good old positive discrimination.

Women already have all the same opportunities as men to get in to and advance in motorsport. In fact I'd argue they have a better chance. For example, Jamie Chadwick achieved mass media coverage for winning an F3 race. When did that ever happen for anyone else? She's now able to attract bigger backing due to that coverage and having a recognisable name, despite the fact she is 8th in the championship and hasn't really shone in any category she's competed in. In contrast, without looking it up, could you name the championship leader in British F3 right now?

All this 'womens series' will serve to do is create a bigger divide. If you want to be the best, you need to compete against the best. Segregating yourself so you can win against a diminished talent pool serves only to cheapen your achievement, and arguably makes it less likely that you would be selected to drive in a more prestigious series because of your talent, but instead because of your marketability. Is that 'equality'?

 

[MikeTheNative]

just saw that there is a thread in GD about this but I'd rather post here where you have people who regularly watch motorsport. Interesting you mention Chadwick but she had a promising GT career ahead of her, at the time was the youngest GT4 champion ever and had good pace. However as you said her switch to F3 has been rather underwhelming, if she goes to this series next year it will be a backwards step. Why would teams sign drivers which have been driving in inferior series?

 

[JRS]

My post in the GD thread on the subject:

In all levels of NASCAR and ARCA series racing there are women drivers. And much like the men in the sport some aren't particularly good, many are pretty good and a few are going to be future stars if they get a break (Hailie Deegan springs to mind, currently 5th in the K&N Pro Series West championship with a win, 4 top-5 places and 5 top-10s). NASCAR does run a Drive For Diversity campaign to attract female and minority individals as drivers and support roles like pit crew, engineering, team ownership and sponsorship. The DFD program has been going since 2004, and there's a bunch of race teams involved with it.

Though one branch of motorsport where men and women seem to be competing on a very level playing field and have been doing so for years is drag racing. Right now you've got Brittany Force and Leah Pritchett in Top Fuel, Courtney Force-Rahal in Funny Car, Erica Enders-Stevens in Pro Stock to name just a few. And they all compete at the pointy end for event wins and championships. Leah Pritchett also just won the NHRA 2018 Factory Stock World Championship, which she competed in while also running a Top Fuel campaign.

This 'W Series' plan strikes me as not solving a single thing. So you get $500,000 and some career advice if you win. Big whoop. $500,000 is pretty much chump change in any serious open-wheel racing series. Is there going to be a proper route to an actual recognised championship that lets you start amassing points to go towards a Super Licence?

 

[ttaskmaster]

Currently there is not enough decent woman drivers in the system to make this work.

Currently, no. I imagine there will be more if this carries on, though.
We have womens' football, tennis, athletics, basketball, boxing, martial arts and all manner of other sports. It hasn't brought the sky crashing down yet... I might even suggest that it has encouraged more women to take the sports up, both professionally and as a hobby. Or it might just be that I happen to know an awful lot of girls who play Womens' Football in their spare time..... which is a shame, as I hate football!

From reading a little, I see women have had some success in mixed motorsports (NASCAR, motorcycles and drag racing, I believe), but they're a minority.
I'm wondering if more women would actually be encouraged to take it up, which would mean there'd be more to compete in mixed sports later on.
Or it could just be that men can be egotistical dicks and they don't want to be around that in the first place...

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Good, we need a massive push with women in motorsport until it becomes the norm that women want to compete and are represented. After hearing some of the comments from the top of Indy and F1 many years ago I was appalled.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Currently, no. I imagine there will be more if this carries on, though.
We have womens' football, tennis, athletics, basketball, boxing, martial arts and all manner of other sports. It hasn't brought the sky crashing down yet... I might even suggest that it has encouraged more women to take the sports up, both professionally and as a hobby. Or it might just be that I happen to know an awful lot of girls who play Womens' Football in their spare time..... which is a shame, as I hate football!

From reading a little, I see women have had some success in mixed motorsports (NASCAR, motorcycles and drag racing, I believe), but they're a minority.
I'm wondering if more women would actually be encouraged to take it up, which would mean there'd be more to compete in mixed sports later on.
Or it could just be that men can be egotistical dicks and they don't want to be around that in the first place...

If they are really thinking long term about the female up take of the sport. Will young girls be inspired by a bit part middle tier all female racing series that will likely be forgotten about in the second season? Or watching talented females take on their male counter parts? The difference between the team sports you mentioned, is the top is segregated, if you want females to compete with men in F1 then they need to compete with men going up the ladder or they will be woefully under equipped. I don't understand why they didn't just fund seats in current racing series, put 5 of the promising girl karters in Ginetta Junior seats, and buy 4 seats in F3 and give it to the ones who look good in juniors etc.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

I’d like to secure the rights to supply car paint and body filler to this series. Whom should I contact?

 

[ttaskmaster]

If they are really thinking long term about the female up take of the sport. Will young girls be inspired by a bit part middle tier all female racing series that will likely be forgotten about in the second season? Or watching talented females take on their male counter parts?

As mentioned, I see plenty of women playing football, compared to when I were a lad...
I also don't believe there are any women competing in the football Premiership against... err.... Ronaldo? Beckham? Man-U? Ok, I really don't know about football, but I'm certain there are no women in the top tier there, which is just as segregated as this is. But it's still popular, nonetheless.

 

[MikeTheNative]

As mentioned, I see plenty of women playing football, compared to when I were a lad...
I also don't believe there are any women competing in the football Premiership against... err.... Ronaldo? Beckham? Man-U? Ok, I really don't know about football, but I'm certain there are no women in the top tier there, which is just as segregated as this is. But it's still popular, nonetheless.

yeah that is what I am saying. A women could never play with Messi, Ronaldo etc, but they could drive alongside Hamilton. A woman can drive in F1 and there has been a few in the past but frankly there hasn't been any fast enough for a number of years now, the main reason for this is only 5% of the drivers in the first place are female.

 

[Greboth]

Surely it is just a numbers game? I don't know the actual numbers or percentages involved but if only 1% (realistically probably less) of people involved in low level motorsport are good enough to make it to the very top level motorsport like F1. Then if there is a limited number of females in the lower levels then it stands to reason that it is highly unlikely for there to be women at the top. So surely the answer is not make an all women series but to encourage and promote women joining the lower levels and the those who are good enough will filter up the same as men. Though surely at some point you have to accept that men and women are different.

 

[ttaskmaster]

the main reason for this is only 5% of the drivers in the first place are female.

So anything that gets more women taking the sport up is a good thing, and then it's just a case of convincing enough to transition over to the main F1 and compete against men?

So surely the answer is not make an all women series but to encourage and promote women joining the lower levels and the those who are good enough will filter up the same as men.

At some point, you'll have to tackle the inevitable comparisons and pressures of not only competing against other drivers, but competing against men... effectively two competitions at the same time.

Though surely at some point you have to accept that men and women are different.

Different, yes, but not necessarily unequal... or unmatched... whatever the best term would be.

 

[X x X]

Good old positive discrimination.

Women already have all the same opportunities as men to get in to and advance in motorsport. In fact I'd argue they have a better chance. For example, Jamie Chadwick achieved mass media coverage for winning an F3 race. When did that ever happen for anyone else? She's now able to attract bigger backing due to that coverage and having a recognisable name, despite the fact she is 8th in the championship and hasn't really shone in any category she's competed in. In contrast, without looking it up, could you name the championship leader in British F3 right now?

All this 'womens series' will serve to do is create a bigger divide. If you want to be the best, you need to compete against the best. Segregating yourself so you can win against a diminished talent pool serves only to cheapen your achievement, and arguably makes it less likely that you would be selected to drive in a more prestigious series because of your talent, but instead because of your marketability. Is that 'equality'?

Exactly. There is too much division going on, women are good enough to drive alongside the men....
I dont get this sjw agenda...

 

[MikeTheNative]

So anything that gets more women taking the sport up is a good thing, and then it's just a case of convincing enough to transition over to the main F1 and compete against men?

/QUOTE]

This isn't a rival to F1, it's on the ladder up to it. Presumably they would then move onto to GP3, F2 etc, then F1. If you want to get more young girls karting then target that, hold open days to let girls try it for free, sponsor some girls to do. Sadly that doesn't grab enough headlines or exposure for those in charge. So they decide to make this big shiny racing series that will not really expose more girls who aren't already interested, into it.

 

[Greboth]

At some point, you'll have to tackle the inevitable comparisons and pressures of not only competing against other drivers, but competing against men... effectively two competitions at the same time.

Why would there be that comparison though? I'm not saying I haven't over simplified it as there are nuances that would take pages to explain. However drivers live or die by their racing skill, why would their sex be due more of a comparison than their nationality or race etc.

Different, yes, but not necessarily unequal... or unmatched... whatever the best term would be.

That is why I said different rather than unequal or unmatched. I don't for a second think women are incapable of competing at any level of motorsport but it is a question of if they want to. This gets in to the whole debate of gender stereotyping, nature v nurture etc. I'm not an expert or even really that well read on this subject but if there is an element of nature to the stereotypes then it doesn't matter how much these things happen you just aren't going to get large numbers of women in racing.

 

[ttaskmaster]

Why would there be that comparison though?

Some poster called Greboth said, "Though surely at some point you have to accept that men and women are different"
That alone will trigger the comparisons, and interviewers will all be asking things like, "How does it feel competing against the men?".

However drivers live or die by their racing skill, why would their sex be due more of a comparison than their nationality or race etc.

Then you have the statistics.
How are men and women different? What do women bring to the driving seat that men don't? Is it possible that women are safer drivers?
A big thing in sports is always statistics - Wins, losses, draws... Let's look at how many wins and crashes and overall safety records vs performance and speeds each woman gets.... why? Well, to compare it to the men, of course.

Whatever way you want to look at it, gender will be the overriding factor in a lot of this.

but if there is an element of nature to the stereotypes then it doesn't matter how much these things happen you just aren't going to get large numbers of women in racing.

Pretty much.
However, giving them a flourishing series as welcoming as possible will at least let them try it and see if they want to do it, without it being all about comparing them to men from the get-go.

 

[The_Abyss]

I don't think that this is the right answer. The right answer for me is to encourage more participation at grass roots level and upwards within the existing series. By all means review the existing series to ensure that they're as accessible as possible, but accessibility should be gender-neutral, as affordable as possible and biased towards promoting talent upwards.

 

[MikeTheNative]

=


Pretty much.
However, giving them a flourishing series as welcoming as possible will at least let them try it and see if they want to do it, without it being all about comparing them to men from the get-go.

There is nothing above this though just for Woman v Woman, if they want to make motorsport as their career then will have to compete against men. Also I think you getting a bit confused as to where this series sits, it's not for people to 'give it a try', it's for woman who already want to make motorsport their career and have some experience.

I see the funding for winning is £381,000, that may sound a lot but that probably wouldn't even pay for a season of GP3. I just hope they don't end up having to bring in people who are 25+ just to make up the numbers

edit -

just looked it up and GP3 is around £600,000 a season!

 

[ttaskmaster]

NVM

 

[JRS]

I just hope they don't end up having to bring in people who are 25+ just to make up the numbers

That's another thing, if they want female drivers in this who have even a prayer of making it to F1 then they need to be looking at helping 14-15-16 year old girls not over-18s. Hailie Deegan for example who I mentioned in post #4, she was 16 years old at the start of this season. She actually graduated high school right before a race at Sonoma - literally right before, she had her graduation ceremony at the track.