The Formula 1 season has just began yet out of the 26 cars lining the starting grid not a single one will be driven by a woman. It is a sad fact that in one of the few sports where men and women can compete side by side that only five women have ever graced the track of the Formula 1 World Championship.
“It comes back to that same old conundrum of women having to be twice as good to be half as successful,” believes former racing star, Sarah Kavanagh.
Sarah started her career racing karts but quickly progressed to a Formula 1 standard where she was offered a contract as a test driver for Jaguar; however this was dropped due to contractual difficulties.
Finding sponsorship to fund your career is one of the many hurdles drivers have to face but this is made more difficult for women as sponsors can be unwilling to back them. “It’s an unproven risk and therefore an unnecessary risk,” Sarah believes.
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Georgie Shaw, member and former chairman of the British Women Racing Drivers Club (BWRDC), says: “I think they are realising the potential women can bring to the sport. Certainly women have the intelligence and the mind set to cope and they have a great feeling of finesse with the car.”
The BWRDC is a voluntary organisation which helps to promote women within the field of motor sport and offer advice and encouragement to their members. They award two drivers annually with a BWRDC Gold Star Award. The winners are those who the BWRDC believe have the potential to succeed in motor sport.
The sport is still viewed by some as an incredibly sexist industry due to the, often minimally clothed, ‘brolly dollies’. BWRDC Chairman Helen Bashford- Malkie (pictured below left and right) believes this is no longer the case. “I think when a woman does well and is a good driver the men will come forward and support her. A lot of men could imagine what it would be like to drive an F1 car and how much effort it would take so would appreciate what an achievement it would be for a woman.”
The lack of women in Formula 1 means that the young girls who have aspirations of such greatness have no female role model to encourage them. 16-year-old girl racer Alice Powell (pictured top right, below left and right) plans to be just that. “I would like to be a role model like Ellen McArthur was for the sailing world. She took on the sailing world and inspired more women to do so. Hopefully I can do that for Formula 1.”
Alice has been racing for half her life after being introduced to the world of motor sport by her grandfather. Alice started her racing life like many others, racing karts at a junior level and progressing up to the Formula Renault championship, becoming the youngest girl ever to compete at that level. She believes a successful woman in the sport would raise the percentage of not only women drivers but also women viewers. “It will make it much more exciting and give the audience something to look out for. Instead of Lewis, Jenson or Michael it will be Alice.”
Being successful in Formula 1 is not easy. It is mentally and physically challenging. Competitors need to become highly conditioned athletes to endure the three and a half Gs of force encountered on some corners. Helen Bashford-Malkie, also the managing director of Chevron Racing, understands how tough it is from her time racing historical Formula 1 cars. “It’s all about balance, rhythm, breathing exactly the same as you would see in running or swimming. Imagine the level of fitness Linford Christie required to run the 100 metres, well driving an F1 car is like that but for a whole hour.”
The transition from junior level to senior level is difficult for all of the drivers and few make the transition successfully meaning that potentially brilliant female drivers have the talent but not the means to make it.
The five women who made it to the Formula 1 World Championship were not given the same opportunities as the men they were competing against. They were not backed by the best teams meaning they were less efficiently equipped than their male counterparts.
“All the women competitors want is to be given a level playing field; we don’t want any special favours because we are women,” says Georgie.
“When they are all on a level playing field, definitely at a junior level, the girls are out performing the boys,” says Helen.
To any of girls out there wishing to join the male dominated world of Formula 1 Sarah Kavanagh believes the key to success is: “You don’t just have to perform; on the track, off the track, physically, mentally, competitively, you have to inspire.”
Women in Formula 1 timeline
1958 - 1959 – Italian Maria Teresa de Fillippis became the first women to race in Formula 1.
1962 – The BWRDC was founded by Mary Wheeler MBE.
1975 – Italian Lella Lombardi became the first and only women to win a point in the World Championships.
1976 - 1978 –Divina Galica, former Winter Olympian and the only British woman to race in Formula 1, failed to qualify for three Formula 1 races.
1980 – Desire Wilson, from South Africa, failed to qualify in the British Grand Prix; however due to her win in the Aurora F1 series she remains the only woman ever to win a Formula 1 race.
1993 – Giovanna Amati failed to qualify with the Brabham team and was replaced by Damon Hill.
2009 – Alice Powell became the youngest ever female driver to compete in the Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship.
2009 – The FIA created the Women in Motorsport Commission to support women within the sport and encourage more to join.
Amy North, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
