F1 WAGs have been a topic of debate within the community for a while now. After Max Verstappen’s girlfriend Kelly Piquet was featured on the cover of Vogue as a woman in motorsports, fans have asked for a distinction to be made between the two. Recently, Isa Hernaez, who is dating Ferrari star Carlos Sainz, was part of a special project with the team, sparking the debate once again.
In a recent collaboration between Puma Motorsport and Ferrari, the brands featured three women from the world of motorsport. Naomi Schiff, a former W-series racer and an F1 reporter. But that’s pretty much where the “inspired by women in motorsport” theme ends.
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Alongside Schiff was model/musician Hera, and Sainz’s girlfriend, Isa. Infuriated fans soon stormed the comments section and Twitter. In an era where F1 is struggling to push the agenda of being more inclusive, this was viewed as a missed opportunity. The crashing failure of the W-series, with the staggering number of women in the paddock has been a big conversation across the sport.
What would have been the alternative then? The F1 Academy has recently launched its series, and no one knows any of the women there. The streaming limitations, lack of marketing, and just inaccessibility to the smaller series have pushed the women racing for it to the back burner.
Using this opportunity to bring at least three actual women in motorsport, the ones behind the wheel would have been a small step in the right direction.
Fans troll Ferrari and Puma for gross misinterpretation
The entire conundrum brought back the arguments presented when Piquet, an already famous model, got the spotlight as a Woman in Motorsport for Vogue. People were angry then, and they sure are angry now.
A fan rightfully asked the most obvious and pressing question: “What has Kelly Piquet or Isa Hernaez actually done for women representation in motorsport?” The fan then asserted, ” there are drivers and engineers and hardworking employees that deserve more credit with actual representation.”
respectfully can we stop putting f1 drivers’ wags in the “women in motorsport” category. pic.twitter.com/rDkYGTlLCX
— m (@81PIASTRI) May 1, 2023
https://twitter.com/warnersdior/status/1653130734050091022?s=20
The debate heated up quickly. Fans, especially the girls watching F1, stood up for the women pushed to the sidelines.
wags live off the fame of being girlfriend of x driver and get chosen for representing women in motorport and it's sickening because no, they don't represent that category. women in motorsport are the ones in f1 academy, the engineers, the ones who worked hard and got there.
— chi (@whoschia) May 1, 2023
Overall, the common emotion was disappointment, rather than anger.
a new women category for young women getting into f1/motorsports just began last week yet we get .. wags. pic.twitter.com/QA3h81KXyA
— elle || CL16 redemption brewing (@lechairwdc) May 1, 2023
It's all about women in motorsport until you have to give them a platform. Then things like the pumasport hiring a wag as rep and f1 academy not being broadcasted when the main problem women face is lack of funding happen. God forbid anyone give a deserving woman the platform.
— Fatima (@fatimaijaz118) May 1, 2023
While the battle for inclusion continues in F1, fixing these smaller leaks in the system would go a long way. While WAGs do provide a face value that companies go after, pushing them under the umbrella of women in motorsports wouldn’t be fair to those getting their hands dirty, and could use the spotlight.
