Ecclestone proposes a women’s F1 championship, Susie Wolff is against it
Bernie Ecclestone wishes to create a women's F1 championship to reignite interest in the sport. Williams test driver Susie Wolff believes this idea is bad.
Until now, F1 team bosses have been reluctant to give a chance to a woman. Yet, F1 has two women in its ranks: Susie Wolff at Williams as a test driver and Carmen Jorda as a development driver at Lotus.
« I thought it would be a good idea to give them a showcase. For some reasons, things don’t happen [to race in F1] – and not because we don’t want them, » commented Ecclestone in Sepang, as quoted by Sky Sports F1.
However, Susie Wolff, quoted by the Daily Mirror, wants to change things: “I am aware that people are looking for different options, but for me, it’s not a good thing.”
She explains why she wants to compete against men: « Firstly, I don’t know where you can find a full grid of women who perform well enough. Secondly, I’ve spent my entire motorsport career in the male world. Why would I have sought a race where I would only be facing women? I don’t even know if a handful of women would be competent to compete at a high level, and I don’t even understand the idea. »
Furthermore, she does not wish for the creation to be exclusively female: « There are different ways if you want to help the women’s cause, but currently organizing a race with only women is certainly not the way to go. »
The F1 community should not do more to promote women in F1, a meeting took place before the Malaysian GP.
As a reminder, Williams has hired Adrian Sutil as a test driver, which should decrease the chances of seeing Susie Wolff as a race driver during a Grand Prix weekend.
