Chloe Grant, an F1 Academy driver has recently contradicted Susie Wolff’s female F1 driver deadline. The driver, who races with the ART Grand Prix revealed that Formula 1 is not going to have a female driver on the grid any time soon, even if Susie Wolff is determined to have a driver by 2030.
F1 has historically been a very male-dominated sport. However, this gender discrimination has come from the general interest among men and women to be in motorsport. While men are very much interested in being in this category of sport, there are very few women who have the same level of interest as that of men.
Speaking about this, Grant said in the recent BackSeat Drivers podcast, “I don’t think there will be a woman in F1 for a long time if I’m being honest and I’d hate to say that but that’s what gonna happen purely because of the fact that the number of men is so much higher at the minute.”
Statistically, the number of boys who start racing from a very early age is a lot more when compared to girls. Therefore, it gives men a significant advantage numerically over women in F1 chances.
Notably, this has come after Susie Wolff, the managing director of the F1 Academy put the 2030 F1 season as her deadline to bring a female driver on the grid. The Scottish former driver, who scripted history by becoming the first female driver in 22 years to take part in the 2014 British GP practice with Williams, is trying her best to push females into motorsport.
Therefore, with her vast experience and with the help of F1, Wolff is doing her best to achieve the target. The success expectation from this venture is more than W-Series, which was another series for women in motorsport. This is primarily because of F1’s direct involvement in nurturing women’s talent with the active collaboration of Susie Wolff.
What do other F1 stars feel about having female F1 drivers soon?
Max Verstappen recently shared his opinion on having female F1 drivers on the grid any time soon. He believes that having a female F1 driver in the near future is of course possible, but also casts a shadow over their physical ability to withstand the extreme demand of the sport and the numerical disadvantage they have.
On this, he said as per PlanetF1, “I think if you look at the percentage of men and women in racing, I think already for men, the percentage is of course very low to get into Formula 1, so naturally, of course, for women, it’s even harder because there are less women.”
As for the physical ability, Verstappen emphasized tracks like Spa-Franchorchamps or the extreme heat conditions of the Losail circuit as prime examples. Nevertheless, the three-time world champion is positive about having a female F1 driver shortly.
Verstappen’s former Red Bull teammate Pierre Gasly also talked about the issue recently and his response was nothing but positive too. He said that having a female driver in the sport in the future would not be surprising for him and it is very much a possibility.
