Formulas should work for everybody
Worldwide paddocks should be more gender inclusive.
I am a Formula 1 fan, and for those who are new to the term, Formula 1 is a motorsport championship where twenty lucky drivers get to fight on circuits to reach the highest place on the podium. In the sport, we find some very known names such as Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull.
I like kind of everything about the sport: the adrenaline of high-speed corners, strategies, pitstops and victory celebrations. There is just one “tiny” aspect that upsets me personally and that is, there are no women involved in the sport. I think that in 2020 we must break the “women don’t know how to drive a car” stereotype because, as a matter of fact, we do know. And we do drive perfectly.
The organization (with Chase Carrey as CEO) itself tried to avoid any possible speculation by creating the so-called “W Series”, in 2019. This means it took them 69 years – first race was held in 1950 – to accomplish the fact that motorsport could have been of female interest too. Better late than never, someone once said.
However, I do not feel like it is on the same level as Formula 1 and the reason why I do so it is because it is not. Never broadcasted nor advertised: I came across it casually. SkyF1 (which is the format dedicated to Formula 1 of the TV colossus “Sky”) only focuses on the main categories (Formula 1,2,3 and E) without even mentioning there is one where women are protagonists. It is a shame, because the message – intentional or not – that stands behind this is “women do not belong in a single-seater”, when there are honourable mentions that would deserve a place in the sport.
Like Sophia Floersch, class of 2000: German and proud. She is indeed an icon for all the young girls dreaming of gas stains and balaclavas. At the age of 17, she entered the ADAC championship, becoming the first woman to ever score points in Formula 4. She then moved to Formula 3 in 2018: in that same year, she had to undergo an eleven- hours-long surgery for a bad race incident, which caused her the fractures of many vertebras. Only one year later, she stood tall taking part into the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) Formula 3 championship. She also participated in the unfathomable “Le Mans 24h”. She is great and I look at her as role model for younger generations of little girls striving for a spot in the sport.
We got all that is needed to be an active part of this machine. We do not ask for our personal championship, as we want to fight against the best ones. We deserve to show to demonstrate our value, how we are capable to be great in this sport and in every other field of life. I say this as fan but above everything, I say this as a young woman.
Sometimes it can be overwhelming to see that gender discrimination is rooted in every field of our life, in every layer of society. We ask for equality and we will not stop in front of anything, this I promise.
Is this ever going to be easy? No. Will it ever be worth the pain and the struggle? Always, even if only just one woman will live her life with same opportunities.
It is lights out and away we go.
Articolo a cura di: Victoria Pevere