Formula 1 has seen men dominate in the sport for generations. It was only in 1992 that Formula 1 saw a woman driver. Giovanna Amati would be the last female driver to actually race and not just remain as a test driver.
However, F1 has seen major developments in encouraging women to join the sport. F1 drivers like Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, and many more have also voiced their opinions on having women dominating the sport just like men.
The sport has recently seen evident growth which has brought in women working in the garage or back at the factory, while some report all-day live. Formula 1 has also introduced F1 Academy which will have a live coverage of it’s own moving forward. The F1 Academy has Suzie Wolff and many sensational women who have made their name in the sport as team principals.
As Formula 1 takes only another step further to bringing gender inclusivity in the sport, the drivers only encourage the cause more and more. There have been tons of situations where women have been told they are not capable of surviving in the motorsport industry. However, more and more women can be seen entering the sport.
Lewis Hamilton asks to bring women to the sport
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have also entered the discussion of women being F1 drivers. It wasn’t until a while back when Hamilton said that the sport needed more women. He emphasized how men have been leading the sport forever. This take, however, only upset him further as he asked for more prominent action taken towards inclusivity and gender neutralization in the sport.
According to the publication Hola!, Lewis Hamilton commented on the issue saying, “There have only been men since I’ve been here. In fact, we haven’t given enough importance to the problem, but it’s definitely not encouraging to hear that,”
The Mercedes star was not too surprised by the minimal effort taken to include women in the sport. His love for his women friendships in the sports industry is why he believes in the cause. He justified this by talking about he has only seen men in the sport ever since he has been there. However, Hamilton’s ex-teammate and rival had some beliefs about the cause. He went on record saying,
“First of all, I think there’s some equality issue. Females do not get the same chance to have success and grow through the ladders. But also there’s naturally a little bit less interest from women in our sport, unfortunately, but that’s the way it is,”
However, the ex-Mercedes driver backed it up by saying, Formula 1, Extreme E, and many other motorsport categories have started the work towards more inclusivity.
However, women are only starting in the sport. With the help of the drivers and more backup, the cause can bring in the sport again. Some of the women conceding in the sport are Lissi Mackintosh, Suzie Wolff, Bianca Busamente, and all the other minds behind making this sport work.