Turbogirl wrote:Ataxia wrote:Turbogirl wrote:And people on here wonder, why not more women want to join forums like this? Seriously, guys, was THAT really necessary? I can live with the general Susie-Hate some of you obviously sport, but since when was it ever a bad thing to be a reject (on this site)? Please revisit Giovanna Amati's profile and tell me her attempt was in any way different. If no one wants to hire a women in F1, then you have to go odd ways to get in there. Susie tried one and you bash her for it? Give her extra points for creativity! Was Deletraz, Maldonado, Inoue (or anyone else) throwing money around to get into F1 SOOO much better? This somehow reminds me of the forum I stumbled upon after Maria de Villota's accident, and the only reaction there was: "A women driving. What else did you expect, lol". That's really sad.
I meant nothing sexist, inflammatory, or anything offensive in my previous post. However, I feel I should explain my thoughts about this whole situation, because quite frankly gender should not be an issue.
Unlike the mid-nineties when there were more cars than able drivers, right now we've got a huge amount of talent that's not been given the opportunity. In Wolff's old stomping ground of DTM, there's drivers who have far superior junior results and/or superior results in the series to her. Just having a quick look, Nico Muller was pretty ace in GP3, Timo Glock and Paul di Resta are both proven F1 quality, da Costa is completely wasted in DTM since he's one of the best young prospects out there, and there's Dani Juncadella who's got some kind of reserve deal with Force India.
It's not, and never will be in my opinion, about what you've got between your legs. We're living in a world that generally provides equal opportunities (some countries are a bit backwards, but let's ignore that for the purposes of this conversation), and everything should be based on talent. So what if Wolff's a woman? Her results have been lacklustre; none spell F1 quality. You would never hire someone on the basis that they've scored four points in seven DTM seasons. Paul Di Resta's won the series. Is he in an F1 seat right now?
On the flipside, I'm looking forward to seeing how well Simona de Silvestro can do if she's granted the opportunity to do some FP sessions this season. She's actually got the results to back up her appointment as the "affiliate driver" at Sauber. Although I've only ever watched IndyCar once in my life, the members here who do watch it have been very positive about her signing, and considering she's younger than the majority of her contemporaries in IndyCar she's doing a grand job.
To contradict my previous point somewhat, what if Susie Wolff WAS a bloke? Would he/she be anywhere near an F1 seat? Probably not.
Am I bitter that she's got job security and Jaime Alguersuari is still piddling around in a Pirelli test hack? Probably.
Now you finally sound like a person to reason with!
And, believe it or not, I'm right with you there. So many hopeful talents never even get close to F1 or (like Alguersuari) never come back, although they definitely deserve the chance. It's rare enough to see good drivers like Kobayashi return after they were already "filtered out" - or let's be blunt: replaced with walking money.
And no, you're not bitter. I can relate. But the world of F1 is VERY unfair (and always was), especially in times like these, when most teams are in desperate need of money to survive. Let's hope, Sauber finds some under the same rock the Russians from the Sirotkin-deal are hiding right now, or Simona might lose all her chances to some unknown Chinese driver with bags full of cash. It could happen...
I'm really glad, your not as sexist as your early post could have implied. But since I'm a woman too, I read some comments in a different way, simply because I've been through a lot of sexist and totally hateful arguments before, when it comes to women in motorsports. You'll never hear me say, that any women should be allowed in F1 (or any other sport, for that matter), simply because she is a woman. That would be the dumbest thing I could do. It was just the way the "argument" was presented, that somehow offended me a little.
Given the historically difficult attitude towards female figures within the sport, it is understandable why you are rather sensitive to the comments that are sometimes flung around at times like this.
The prejudice against female drivers is perhaps thrown into sharper relief due to the highly public nature of the role, but the issue can be more widespread - Kaltenborn once recounted how, when she first joined the board at Sauber, she attended a meeting with Bernie as Sauber's head of legal affairs. Unfortunately, the meeting got off to a rather awkward start when a senior motorsport figure (whom Kaltenborn took care not to name) mistakenly thought that Kaltenborn was one of Bernie's assistants, since it seems that it never occurred to that particular figure that she could be a senior figure within a motorsport team...
Now, whilst Susie Wolff's appointment may be very much in line with the antics of some reject drivers of the past, it still feels a bit awkward to celebrate a move that so openly reeks of nepotism (given Toto's role within the Williams team) when in most other circumstances we would utterly repudiate it. It is the fact that it somewhat smacks of only getting somewhere because of who you know, rather than what you know, and therefore that it might be depriving a better driver an opportunity to prove themselves, that causes some discomfort.
Given the strong backlash from the F1 fanbase against pay drivers, it is perhaps not surprising that there has been a strongly negative response to her promotion to testing duties. After all, Amati's colourful career might have provided plenty of interesting anecdotes for the F1 Rejects website, but many would argue that the perception that she created - that of female drivers trading on their relationships with key figures and marketability rather than their talent - set back the prospects for many aspiring female drivers who were tarred by the same brush. Susie's appointment, similarly, smacks of those same elements and risks stirring up those same negative perceptions again at a time when it finally seems like some progress is being made on female participation in motorsport.
As for Simona, I do hope that she does at least get an opportunity to test the car and demonstrate her ability in a powerful open wheeled car - the coverage for her appointment, and the reaction from the fan base, does seem to have been more favourable given that she has done a respectable job in IndyCar racing. Out of the two figures, Simona seems like the much more inspirational figure for young female racing drivers - whilst Sauber's perilous financial situation means that sponsorship opportunities may have played their role, it still feels like their decision has been motivated more by competence than cash.
Klon went there.
) happy to see Susie Wolff get a chance, even if only it's another chance to prove me and Turbogirl wrong about her...
Sorry, but I've got to tell you: You're wrong, dear Sir. Susie did NOT get the chance, because she's a woman. She got the chance, because she's married to the guy who "owns" the Mercedes engines Williams needs to survive / finally score decent results again. It's the same thing like Nakano and Ligier or Sato and Jordan, etc. Teams hire the guys (and now girls) that come with the engines, otherwise they can kiss the engines goodbye. No other reason than that.
