Gasly believes in a female F1 driver within the next few years
Pierre Gasly believes he has a good chance of facing a female Formula 1 rival during his career.
Although Formula 1 is a unisex sport, no women have attempted to qualify for a Grand Prix in over 30 years. However, in recent years, new efforts have been made to encourage more women to participate in motorsport.
A single-seater championship exclusively for women, the W Series, was founded in 2019 but collapsed last year. A new women’s series, supported by F1, was created last year. The F1 Academy will exclusively feature on the support bills for next year’s Grand Prix.
With few women expected to compete in the series that will allocate the most FIA superlicence points next year, the chances of a female competitor appearing in F1 anytime soon are slim. However, Gasly, who made his F1 debut in 2017, sees a realistic opportunity to compete against a female rival later in his career.
(I) I wouldn’t be surprised. I think it’s quite possible.
« Many efforts are put in place by the organization, by our team to support women in our sport category. I am confident that if a woman truly demonstrates the speed and talent to be among the top 20 drivers in the world, I am sure she will have an opportunity. »
Gasly is driving for Alpine, which has launched a program called « Rac(H)er » in 2022, to encourage more women to participate in motorsport as drivers as well as engineers and mechanics. Their list of junior drivers includes several female racers: Sophia Floersch, Abbi Pulling, and several karting girls.
Max Verstappen, three-time reigning Formula 1 world champion, believes that involving more women at the amateur level is crucial to increase female representation in F1.
« If you look at the percentage of men and women in racing, I think that already for men, the chance of entering Formula 1 is very low. So naturally, of course, for women, it’s even more difficult because there are fewer of them.
« I think that physically driving an F1 car at certain places is quite difficult, but I believe that it can all be worked on if you train hard for it. But it is obviously a bit more challenging for a woman ».
« But if you have enough talent, then of course, it’s possible because I don’t think team leaders are people who make decisions regarding the selection of their drivers and look at things like “oh, no, we only choose men”. If there’s a woman who beats everyone, then naturally she will have the opportunity to reach Formula 1, but it’s just that there are fewer women in this sport and naturally, of course, the percentage to reach the top is lower. »
