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I do; with the cost now days even ones that make it often never get to show their skills in a top F1 car. Many back markers have paid the cost for their ride; just on possibly they will be one or two from their class that gets a top ride chance. Like golfers you need financial backing long before you get to F1 level these days with the cost involved. Jackie Stewart has remarked he likely would never have gotten anywhere now days coming from where he did. To a point its like that in all top level racing but F1 with its huge ever increasing expense is more likely than any other.
I do; with the cost now days even ones that make it often never get to show their skills in a top F1 car. Many back markers have paid the cost for their ride; just on possibly they will be one or two from their class that gets a top ride chance. Like golfers you need financial backing long before you get to F1 level these days with the cost involved. Jackie Stewart has remarked he likely would never have gotten anywhere now days coming from where he did. To a point its like that in all top level racing but F1 with its huge ever increasing expense is more likely than any other.
Yeah, we definitely lose talented kids in karting (these days it can cost up to 200k per year if you want top equipment and top team for your kid in Europe), and lower formulas.
My point was that the guys who stay in GP2 long aren't really very good. Just rich. The talented ones are either snatched up by a F1 team (Vandoorne, Gasley, Lynn, Marciello) or lose funding and can't compete (Robin Frinjs)... The Joylon Palmers and Davide Valsecchis of the world are... uhm... meh... F1 is not missing out on anything special.
Doesn't look like Susie Wolff will ever get a real shot at racing in F1. Sad. Williams have kind of derailed her career in a way. At 32, she's on the wrong side of starting again. "Love it or hate it, motorsport is not purely talent. It never has been and never will be." A very telling statement.
Doesn't look like Susie Wolff will ever get a real shot at racing in F1. Sad. Williams have kind of derailed her career in a way. At 32, she's on the wrong side of starting again. "Love it or hate it, motorsport is not purely talent. It never has been and never will be." A very telling statement.
If Susie Wolff got a F1 ride that statement would describe her. She would have it only because of the female angle, not talent.
The sponsors are having nothing of it. Claire Williams:
"I said (to the Williams sponsorship people) 'Let's go out there, let's really go hard at female brands'," she told Reuters.
"And not one of them (the brands) was interested," Williams added.
Of course she's a product of the very thing she laments but it's still telling. Not exactly news though I'll admit.
As to the sponsor thing, that's not surprising in a male driven sponsor package. The brands are, as always, not very creative in their thinking and conservative in practice.
The day a truly competitive girl starts winning in F4, F3, GP2/3 or WSbR, F1 teams and sponsors will jump at the opportunity. The problem is that >90% of junior formulas entrants are guys. Less than 1% of the entrants make it far, and girls are less than 10% of that 1%. We will wait for a long time.
The fastest woman in European open wheel racing at the moment is probably Beitske Visser. She was dropped by Red Bull after just one year in their program because she failed to impress in her WSbR 2.0 rookie season. She raced 3.5 last year and has a drive for this season. She has improved from being dead last to being in the midfield, but that's about it.
Sussie Wolff is not terrible or anything, but if she ever gets a race seat in F1, it will be based on her gender and looks.
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