Laura Winter took a bold step recently when she expressed her views about the ongoing controversy surrounding Christian Horner’s investigation. She made her remarks at a time when there is immense discomfort in F1 forums, especially among female fans of the sport. Since Winter is the lead presenter for F1 TV, she made some comments to assure the gratefulness of women working in motorsport to give some positivity to both female and male fans as well as her peers. These comments went viral and garnered a lot of positive responses and appreciation for Winter. On the Fast and the Curious podcast, the 30-year-old recalled how her comments were important to ease the sour feeling in the female workforce and fanbases of F1.
Winter revealed the response she got after her comments, “I think for me though, it was so overwhelmingly positive and not just positive but so heartwarming.” She claimed that it was something she really “needed to say”.
The F1 TV presenter then also mentioned that she got several messages from fans who understood the importance of her comments. Meanwhile, she highlighted a really moving message from a female fan that shows the impact of her stance.
Winter stated, “I have had a message from a girl who said she had switched off for the weekend. She had not wanted to watch free practice, she wasn’t going to watch qualifying, she wasn’t going to watch the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Because she didn’t feel comfortable that she had a place in the sport.”
However, when the girl listened to what the 30-year-old presenter had to say and how grateful she was to work as a woman in F1, it changed the fan’s thought process. Winter cited, “What we said online and that made her switch on quali [qualifying]. It is such a small thing but that made me realize that there was an impact”.
How Laura Winter gave a beacon of positivity to F1 fans amid the turmoil at Red Bull?
The F1 Academy season got underway in support of the F1 weekend at the Saudi Arabian GP. This was when Laura Winter picked up the microphone to voice her thoughts on the unfortunate saga that has been unfolding at Red Bull.
Winter cited how the entire situation is “not easy” for women working in F1. Regardless, she gave some solidarity to all her peers and also the fans of the sport who felt disturbed and disappointed by the happenings in the investigation against Christian Horner.
Winter stated, “I’m personally very proud to be standing here as a woman working in motorsport, a woman working in Formula 1, bringing you these shows and sharing these paddocks as well, with utterly brilliant women from team personnel to fellow media, and to drivers, all of whom should be celebrated yesterday but indeed every other day, as too should wonderful male allies who are helping us make this sport a better, inclusive space.”
Via her comments, the 30-year-old wanted to convey that F1 is still an inclusive and welcoming space for females too. Her remarks came at a time when several have been questioning the authenticity of the investigation against Horner. The entire internal investigation has been shrouded in mystery right from the word go, with Red Bull keeping information away from the public domain.
As a result, even team bosses like Toto Wolff and Zak Brown have called for more transparency from Red Bull. Moreover, Wolff even called for the FIA to have a look into the matter to come up with a better resolution.
