Danica Patrick is arguably the most successful female racecar driver of our times. With some success in INDYCAR, and a few moments of brilliance in NASCAR, Patrick reached the levels and places, not many female racecar drivers have, certainly in the mainstream.
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Of course, one would assume that someone with the background and career as that of Patrick, will be a big role model and advocate for young female racecar drivers, that they too can have the dream and live the dream of competing at the highest level with men.
But her recent comments from F1’s Hungarian GP suggest that perhaps Patrick isn’t really the role model who would motivate young female racecar drivers to make it to NASCAR, or F1, or INDYCAR.
Danica Patrick doesn’t think motorsports’ nature is normal for ‘a feminine mind’
During the race broadcast of the Hungary GP, Patrick, who was part of the Sky broadcasting team, was asked by a young commentator how long it will take for a woman to be racing in F1, to which she replied, “As I’ve always said in my whole career, it takes 100 guys to come through to find a good one, and then it takes 100 girls. That takes a long time to find a good one, right? It just, the odds are not in favor of there always being one or being many of them.”
Patrick further claimed in her comments, which were transcribed by Alanis King for Jalopnik, the nature of the sport is masculine and unlike the feminine mind. “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, in a female mind,” she explained.
She further argued that for someone like her, if a fellow racecar driver makes it difficult for her, her instinct is to go into “an aggressive kill mode”, which, as per Patrick, isn’t a “natural feminine thought.”
“I say that because I’ve asked my friends about it, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s not how I think,'” she reasoned.
Patrick isn’t really rethinking her decision to retire from racing
In an interview from last year with FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass, Patrick revealed whether she wants to make a comeback to NASCAR or racing in general. Patrick claimed that for 27 years of her life, she put on armor which made her tough, strong, and aggressive, which is now behind her.
“I also enjoy this phase of my life, where I can take some of that armor off, and I don’t have to be so tough, and I don’t have to be so aggressive, and I don’t have to do so much,” she claimed. “I’m plenty busy enough, as busy as I want to be.”
Patrick further added that she doesn’t feel like she’s sitting around at home getting bored, wondering if she shouldn’t have retired. In fact, she made it pretty clear that she really has no desire anymore to race.
