With talk of an all-female F1 championship unlikely to get the support it needs, Kate Walker highlights the plight of Simona de Silvestro
Formula One suffers from a myriad of problems, many of them with their roots in the sport's financing. F1's myopic approach to decision-making has led to all manner of bad news stories in recent years, and much ink has been spilled in covering them on this blog. It's getting rather old.
One individual bad news story that has repercussions on the sport as a whole was the missed opportunity relating to Simona de Silvestro, the only current female racing driver with a viable chance of success in Formula One. Having signed up with Sauber, de Silvestro was unable to provide the funding needed to secure any seat time with the team, and after a year spent out of the cockpit she returned to IndyCar for a one-off race with Andretti Autosport in the hopes of securing a longer-term deal.
Of course, had de Silvestro managed to complete the deal with Sauber last year, the Swiss team would have found themselves with an even greater glut of contracted drivers than was the case at the opening round in Melbourne. In some respects, it represented a lucky escape for the woman who sat out of racing for 2014 with the aim of breaking in to F1.
"I'm not a victim; I think just that Formula One right now is a lot about money," she told the Tampa Bay Times in the run-up to last weekend's IndyCar round in St Petersburg, Florida. "Unfortunately I wasn't able to raise that money. There's a lot of really talented drivers out there who are not really getting a shot right now. I think that's what IndyCar is doing right, they are giving the opportunities. ... A lot of us got promised a lot of things that didn't happen [at Sauber]. F1 is a dream, but I want to be racing. "
Unlike Lotus development driver Carmen Jorda, Simona de Silvestro has a creditable racing career. In 2009 she finished third in the Champ Car Atlantic championship, collecting four wins, four second-place finishes, and a third place, finishing nine of that year's 12 races on the podium. Her IndyCar career has yet to deliver a win, but 50 races have seen a dozen top-ten finishes and one second-place.
Given competitive equipment there is no reason that de Silvestro would not score points in Formula One, even if few would call her a champion in waiting.
A competent female racing driver is exactly what the sport should be seeking at the moment. De Silvestro's lack of personal funding would be mitigated by the increased fan and sponsor interest in the sport once it became apparent that the Swiss racer has the talent to back up the inevitable media interest in a woman competing in a man's world.
Susie Wolff receives acres of coverage for her work with Williams, despite her cockpit time being limited to the occasional outing in FP1 and test sessions. To have de Silvestro lining up on the grid in the heat of competition would be broadcasting gold, and any team with the nous to take her on without demanding piles of personal sponsorship would soon find added interest from blue-chip companies keen to trumpet their female-friendly credentials.
Gender disparity is not just found on racetracks, after all, but also in the boardrooms of those companies F1 would like to see as sponsors. Trumpeting support of a female racing driver may not be a replacement for putting women on the board, but it is a handy - and relatively cheap - distraction with which to placate the general news media.
Given his willingness to trumpet F1's need for a talented female competitor, it is a shame indeed that Bernie Ecclestone has chosen to give his support to Carmen Jorda, and not backed the one current contender with a realistic chance of on-track success.