There seriously need to be some women driving in f1... Up and comers?

{ facepalms }

Don't give us Yamamoto. Do not want.
 
The big reason that women aren't competitive in F1 (yet) is due to the lack of power steering. As women statistically do not have the same upper body strength of men, women did not become competitive in many forms of racing until power steering appeared in those categories. See this article.

This is a shame, because in related categories where physical strength is simply not an issue or important, women are often better than men. Women usually make for better pilots due to a better inherent grasp of spatial mechanics and are often inherently better shots than men, for example.
 
F1 regulations said:
Power steering systems are allowed, but these must not be electronically controlled or powered. Four-wheel steering is forbidden. The car?s steering wheel, steering column and steering rack all have to pass an FIA impact test.
Click to expand...
There's no rule banning power steering. I think it's not used cos it reduces the feel of the car to the pilot drastically, and it must weigh a ton and disturb the balance of the car. Also F1 cars have hydraulic steering, it's not like a go-kart where the column is attached directly to the front axis...
Then again, a woman weighs anything between 25 and 30 kilos less than a man, so they could implement it if they really wanted to.
What about very high level of Moto racing? there's no power steering required at all, yet women are very scarce and the few who are there are not top runners.
I don't think it's a matter of upper body strength at all, I still think its the way our brains are designed.
 
Last edited:
Women are also a small minority of motorcycle riders outside of the racetrack, so they are (unfortunately) more or less proportionally represented.

Also, note the power steering rules for F1 *require* a heavy hydraulic system ('must not be electronically controlled or powered') which would add much weight to the car and therefore be uncompetitive.
 
Last edited:
It all depends on the system. I will put my hands on the fire saying if they cared enough, F1 teams would develop such a system under 30 kg which is the normal difference between a woman and a man, they just can't be arsed when there's so many male drivers out there that can live without it, why spend millions in development?
 
There's any number of ex-F1 drivers that have commented that power steering would have been a great asset, yet nobody seems to have bothered with developing one.
 
Cos new drivers don't seem to be complaining, and makes cars faster not having one.. pretty simple...
 
Also because they keep watering down the cars. The turbo cars were much faster, much more powerful, and far harder to drive.

Eventually, the watering down of F1 will reach the point where even without power steering women will be competitive, IMHO.
 
These cars are by no means easy to drive. The lap times now are close if not faster to those in previous years, and light years away from the turbo cars ... Example, Senna, fastest lap in Monaco (which is about the only track that hasn't changed much), 1988 with a very much supercharged McLaren MP4/4: 1:26.321
This year Vettel did a 1:15.192. That's 11.2 seconds faster, an eternity in F1

The cars aren't getting any slower. The main difference is how far aerodynamic research has come, and if anything, that means the cars grip more and women would need even more strength to turn them I think.
 
Downforce does make a big difference, but if it was the only reason, then there should be plenty of female sedan and sports car drivers. There are some, but it's a very small percentage.

Women just don't seem as interested in racing wheel to wheel as men do. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
 
F1 cars have had power steering for quite a long while. Even 6-7 years ago it was only a couple of teams that didn't have it, and they were probably back-of-the-grid teams (i.e. Minardi). Right now I think it's pretty much universal.


There was some controversy around the weekend of Imola related to power steering, Damon Hill was told to switch his system off as a precaution after Senna's crash, which pinpoints to the fact that the system already existed. Also, several drivers have complained over the years of having to retire when the power steering failed... plus the steering pump is integrated in the whole hydraulic system of the car.
 
Last edited:
mpicco said:
I was thinking further about this and I remembered.... most F1 drivers are brought up as racers from a very young age... Karting since they're 4 and such. No girl is karting at 4, they're playing tea time with their teddy bears.
Of course this is a general rule and there's always an exception to every rule, but finding it will be one hell of a job.
Click to expand...

this is the most logical reason to me why we are not seeing more women competing in the top end of motorsport. People who race at this level have been doing so their entire lives. When I was a kid I knew plenty of guys who raced in one form or other... and not a single girl.

Hopefully this changes over time... I see no reason why women couldn't do this if they got into motorsport at a young age as well.
 
Cold Fussion said:
By what measure? F1 cars of today do significantly faster lap times. The turbo cars are only faster in a straight line.
Click to expand...

this.

as long as laptimes are getting faster, i don't care they get less powerful
 
rootrider said:
Hopefully this changes over time... I see no reason why women couldn't do this if they got into motorsport at a young age as well.
Click to expand...

Why hopefully? Girls will do what girls want to do, same as guys. If they don't want to drive race cars then that's fine, great even. Women in motorsport isn't some kind of barrier, nothing is preventing them from being racing drivers, they're just not that interested.
 
Yeah we don't need political correctness in motorsports. Its about what you wanna do with your life, and you won't see many girls because of this, overall. Still there are always exception to all rules and it'd be really interesting to see a woman up there. I think women would even be interested in seeing a female racer to blow the whole "Women are bad drivers" clich? off the map :D

About Power steering in F1, I really don't know if you can call the systems they use power steering per se? From the F1 website; - Power steering: power steering has been permitted since January 1st 2002, but without electronic control.
Interesting thread on the subject; http://www.speedtv.com/forums/viewthread/466294/
http://machinedesign.com/article/ultralight-servohydraulics-for-formula-1-0413 said:
A rules change several years ago banned electrohydraulic power steering (in what was reported as an economizing move). This forced teams to revert to hydromechanical control, for which Moog developed a precision rotary power-steering valve. It features two concentric sleeves connected by a torsion bar in the load path of the steering column. Torque applied in either direction rotates the inner and outer sleeves relative to each other. This, in turn, opens flow-metering ports that direct high-pressure oil to one side of the assist actuator. Closed-center operation minimizes energy consumption and offers high accuracy and repeatability. The valve generates high flow with small angular inputs, giving high steering stiffness and virtually instant response.
Click to expand...
 
Its not about political correctness or some kind of quota, i just think women should have plenty of upper body strength to drive a modern f1 car, its hard, but its not THAT insane. Driving fast is for the pros, but they put richard "Tiny lady boy" hammond in the car and he was steering it around just fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top