The Challenges Faced By Women In Motorsport

Formula 1 has usually been seen as a career dominated by males, however, recently we have seen a major rise in participation from females as well. The beauty of motorsport is the fact that once a driver puts on a helmet everyone is equal, it does not matter whether you are a male or a female. X1 Racing is the worlds’ first professional franchise-based motorsport league. X1 Racing has kept the idea of women empowerment in mind and hence allowed women and men to compete against each other on a common platform. There have been many challenges for women racers but a lack of inspiration is not one of them. Women have been drawn to the thrill of racing since the early 1900s and even as early as 1958 have been part of F1. Maria Teresa de Filippis leading the onslaught by becoming the first woman to ever participate in the F1 Grand Prix.

Even though women have been competing in this male-dominated sport in the last hundred years, they still make a minority in the current motorsport demographics. Women have not been encouraged to participate in this heavily male ruled world because of the popular belief that, they don’t belong there. Former racer Susie Wolf rightly believes that the sports is performance-based and gender is irrelevant and that by encouraging girls to attend karting academies with the view of encouraging them to sport will definitely see a surge in female racers. This theory has proven itself where Mira Erda and Sneha Sharma from India are creating milestones in the field of Motorsports. Both the racers started at karting circuits as teenagers and never looked back. Mira has to her credit the badge of being the first-ever Indian woman to participate in the Euro Championships in 2017, also being the youngest Indian female F4 racer. Sneha has also won the Volkswagen D Polo cup among many others. These women are pioneering a generation of women racers by their inspiring achievements. 

 One of the major challenges that women face in Motorsports is an opposing view of the women drivers themselves regarding the sport. Where on one hand it is believed that gender does not matter, on the other, it is believed that women are unable to compete against men on the same playing level. This has resulted in calling for a women’s only competition which has received commendations and also criticisms equally. Creating a mandate for or against creating separate categories for men and women seems to the need of the hour but most of the celebrated racers believe that the “women only” initiative will be short-lived like the ill-fated Formula Women series launched in 2004 which was canned after stuttering along for 4 years. In 2019 an all-women single-seater racing championship was launched consisting of 20 drivers contesting in 6 six races. More and more initiatives like the W Series are required to usher in a new era of equal opportunities for women in motorsport.

 The Dare to be Different campaign by the UK based Susie Wolf aims at finding the not just the talented female racing driver but also providing knowledge about the varied disciplines of the sport, for young girls to understand and to remove the misconception that Motorsport is only for boys.

Carmen Jorda, another woman achiever, believes that women will never be on the same level as men and are unable to endure the grueling grids of the many international racing circuits and events. There is a tiny number of F1 drivers that support her view and believe that the sport is not just mentally but also physically exhausting as many post-race Images of F1 drivers prove this. They imply women are genetically unable to cope with the stress levels of the sport. Michele Mouton (President of FIA’s Women and Motorsport Commission) believes that it is marked the physiological difference in the performance levels of men and women, on one a hand where men are more inclined to be spontaneous and risky women are naturally cautious, however, she concludes that ultimately there is no difference between them as she has proved with her exemplar career.

The major hurdle that the sport faces regarding women competing in F1 level are the lack of categories and participation at junior levels. For example, if there are 10,00 young boys participating in karting globally more than 100 are likely to reach the pinnacle; similarly, the number of young girls participating globally is barely in 100s, therefore, those reaching the top are an insignificant number.  Statistics have proven that there is a marked difference between female and male participation at junior levels, the ratio in Britain stands 14:1 against women. A similar statistic is applicable across the world. Peer opportunities seem to be crucial in the pre-teen years. More boys than girls are likely to have access to karts than girls. Therefore, giving the boys more opportunities at competition levels. Mouton believes that both genders have the ability to be talented.

Talent is not specific to men. The main problem is that not enough women are trying or not being given the same opportunity or equipment. If the women are given the same opportunity and have the resources, they would be motivated to take up the sport and give equal competition to males. Thus, the absence of women in F1 could be not just a simple gender or equality issue, neither a physical nor talent question …but more to do with OPPORTUNITIES. Unless adequate support is being provided to the racers from the grassroots level, there is a possibility of those racers not achieving the goals they have set out of being a F1 Champion.