Ferrari and FIA to Work Together in Search for More Female Racing Drivers

The world of motorsports has been pre-dominated by male racers owing to the fact that it's first and foremost, a dangerous world for any human of any gender. But that doesn't mean women cannot race. In the Indy Car series, Danica Patrick is hailed as the most successful woman in the history of the American open-wheel racing even though the now 38-year old Patrick has only registered one win which took place during the Indy Japan 300 in 2008. Of course, most Filipino motorsports fans would know Michelle Bumgarner who in 2008, won the championship in the Rock Island Grand Prix in Illinois which is the largest street karting race in the world- marking Bumgarner as the seventh foreigner to win that championship in its 14-year history. She went on to defend that championship in 2009.

In Formula One, only a handful of women were able to enter an F1 Grand Prix and only a fewer number of women were able to be successful in F1. Leila Lombardi owns the distinction of being the woman with the most number of F1 races entered- amounting to 17 races entered and 12 starts. And yes, a woman has already won an F1 race and that woman is Desire Wilson who won at Brands Hatch during the 1980 British Aurora F1 Championship. Of course, F1 fans of today would know that there's a woman who is serving as deputy team principal in a legendary team: Claire Williams, daughter of the legendary Frank Williams. And F1 fans of today shouldn't that Susie Wolff, husband of now Mercedes AMG Petronas Team Principal Toto Wolff, has participated in multiple practice sessions in 2014 as a development driver for Williams too. But seeing a woman jumping onto an F1 cockpit on a regular basis, we haven't seen the light at the end of the tunnel with regards to that. Yet.

Fortunately, initiatives are now being taken to hopefully find the next woman who would make Lewis Hamilton sweat it out.

Scuderia Ferrari team has set-up a joint initiative together with the Federation Internationale de I'Automobile (FIA) in hopes of finding the next woman who will race in F1. In the said initiative that will be a part of a four-year deal between Ferrari and FIA, Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) working hand-in-hand with the Girls on Track Rising Stars Programme of the FIA which aims to find young and aspiring female drivers aged 12 to 15 years old and that, the initiative will support these girls as they go through the junior categories of the sports. 

The selection for the said initiative will lean heavily on the support of the FIA's national sports associations who will choose a candidate from a shortlist to join the FDA and then, enter a national Formula Four championship next year. The selection process will run again in 2022 which would then give the FDA two additional new female drivers under its drivers' program.

Expressing being pleased about the FDA's collaboration with the FIA, Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto said that they "felt they had to make a further effort to expand our area of operation to include female youngsters who want to get in on motorsports" Binotto also noted that even though there's no barrier that will stop women from participating in motorsports, they are aware of the fact that it's harder for women to make progress in this sports.

If this initiative by both Ferrari and FIA, we might be able to see a female racing driver in an F1 seat. Although this might take longer, the good news is: there's an initiative being taken to enable more women to enter F1. And considering that more and more women are becoming successful in sports, seeing a woman outdoing what Desire Wilson and Leila Lombardi did, will be an amazing feat for all of us to bear witness. 

Photo is from Jalopnik