Former NASCAR and IndyCar driver Danica Patrick has always been of the opinion that women should only be in Formula One if they deserve to be in it. The American has not changed her stance on the same despite the introduction of the F1 Academy. The 41-year-old believes that the F1 Academy is unlikely to help any female get to Formula One anytime soon because the drivers are simply not competing against the best.
When asked if the F1 Academy will help produce Formula One drivers, Patrick replied to Awful Announcing, “It’ll definitely produce more females involved in Formula One. Whether or not it’s going to actually produce a Formula One driver, I don’t know. And part of that is because there’s not a single girl that’s going to go from that to Formula One“.
When pushed for a timeline of when Formula One can get their first female driver, Patrick replied, “Maybe in 20 years“. Patrick has a pessimistic view of the F1 Academy because of how many more steps women will need to take to reach Formula One after they succeed in the female-only single-seater racing championship.
Another reason why Patrick believes it is much more difficult for women to succeed in motorsports is because of the “feminine mind.” The American faced immense criticism earlier this year after she explained why it is not natural for women to have that ruthless instinct to go toe to toe with the rest.
Danica Patrick believes Formula One is a “masculine” sport
The Hungarian Grand Prix weekend featured an interesting media session as the Sky team introduced a program called F1 Juniors. One young girl asked Danica Patrick if she would like to see more women compete in Formula One. In reply, the former NASCAR driver said (as quoted by planetf1.com),
“At the end of the day, I think that the nature of the sport is masculine. It’s aggressive. You have to, you know, handle the car – not only just the car because that’s a skill, but the mindset that it takes to be really good is something that’s not normal in a feminine mind, a female mind“.
Patrick concluded by saying that while she is keen to see more women compete in Formula One, she doubts whether it is feasible.
Since there has been a lack of female participation in motorsports, Formula One introduced the F1 Academy last year as an attempt to bridge the gap. The F1 Academy already has big plans for 2024, as all 10 Formula One teams will support the competition.
