Given that young women have reflexes as good as those of young men, why are there not more women (even if just a few) at the very top rungs of auto racing? Not talking about women racing other women (is that a thing in auto racing?), l am talking about women racing men.
If you weigh in, just an fyi, l know little about the behind the scenes details of motor racing, well, except that l have seen a few seasons of Drive to Survive.
I’m not a hardcore fan but, from what I understand:
there is a physical strength component that would probably eliminate some/many women
most driver academies are working on bringing in young women, but it takes like 15+ years to develop top tier drivers, so this is probably something that is just going to take time to a) get more young women in to the sport and b) develop them to top levels. But it is coming.
I assume you are referring to NASCAR.
Consider 2 of the current greats started when they were 6 & 7 (Logano & Larson).
How many little girls want to play with toy trucks/cars etc?
Also consider how many current racers had fathers or uncles racing and little boys want to be like their dad or uncle.
Unlike other sports - you don’t play “in school” so your parents have to be into it and then you have to be in it and you need a fair amount of money
All that said - consider NHRA (a lot more reflex as the race last under 4 seconds) land you have Shirley Muldowney & Brittany Force that have won the Top Fuel Championship and a fair number of other women have won events.
Not just Nascar, but formula 1 also seems to have zero women in the 20 or 22 racer field.
About the family having to be in the sport, that totally makes sense. But it seems there must be a least a few such families in the world where they have all daughters and get them in the sport?
First, cultural pressures tend to push girls to other interests aside from motor sports. There are relatively few female role models to aspire to, it can be tough for young women to get the financial backing to make a run at it, etc.
Physically, women can come up against a challenge in mid tier circuits where cars are designed for men. Some tiers on your way to F1, for example, don’t have power steering, which requires quite a bit of strength to manage. It probably means women can get strong enough to drive well, but it might happen later for them because they need to mature a bit more before they can build that strength, which a male could do earlier in his development.
Within the sport, there’s still some resistance to female drivers, from an ego and sexism perspective. Drivers don’t want to get passed by a woman. They don’t want to lose to a woman. My perception (which may not be accurate) is that this is particularly clear in European driving. I can’t speak to NASCAR or other American racing circuits, but I would assume it exists there as well.
Over all, you have a small initial base of female drivers at young ages. The path to elite status is harder for them in the earlier stages due to physical limitations, and because of residual resistances in the racing culture. So the chances of getting elite female drivers is much smaller.
F1 brakes aren’t power assisted. I just looked it up and drivers need to exert up to 400lbs of pressure on the pedal, while resisting up to 6G through the corners.
That’s a lot more physical than most people realize, and the pool of 18-20 year old women who can do that who are also motorheads from a young age is probably very small.
My oldest brother and I used to race go karts. It was admittedly 30 - 40 years ago, there were virtually no women there. No moms, no daughters.
It just seems to be a cultural thing that young girls don’t go out in the shop and get greasy tearing apart small engines with dad and going racing. You don’t just get up one day and drive, you probably started in the shop working on motors/cars/go karts.
If you never try it you’ll never have any idea if you are good at it. Similar to how it is pretty likely the person who would have been the greatest triathlete ever, never got in a pool seriously and/or never rode a bike with intention.
See above - Brittany Force.
Also Hailie Deegan, but no where near the success as Brittany as Hailie lost her ride in the Xfinity series last year. I think she might be racing open wheel. It was too bad, I was a fan and hoped she would make it.
On the family connection. Currently 9 of the 39 racers also had their father race.
Look back in history and there are even more examples including Richard Petty (7 time winner the GOAT - who’s father (3 time champion) and son all raced. Earnhardt and his son….
There are more than zero women in IMSA/WEC sports car racing, which is my preferred format
Basically, ultras, if you will
Pushing on a brake pedal with a force equivalent to 400 lbs is obviously considerable (well, except for an obese person, they could do that easily if they can go up stairs).
But regarding the g force side loads, in F1 at least, aren’t the driver helmets anchored with some kind of external supports?
F1: Academy has women racing women at F4 level. Netflix has a drive to survive style documentary about it. I imagine Susie Wolff’s new autobiography might have some insight.
Interesting, l will look at it.
But why are not at least a couple of women actively racing in the F1 GP circuit?
Not half the field, but maybe 2 women?
There are only 20 drivers in F1. Only 2 women have ever driven F1, and only 1 has scored any points. Having 2 in the current field would be hugely abnormal.
Damn! I knew theyre were physical demands but not that level. Though it makes sense.
In addition to the reasons discussed here, I wonder if there is any risk-assessment involved. I’ve read women are generally more risk averse than men, and also tend to speed less than men. Racing is not for the risk-averse.
If there’s any truth to what I’ve read there, I have to imagine it plays into the considerations.
Yes, that the basis of my question, why is it abnormal, given that driving a car is a skill sport in which women have no major disadvantages.
Also, starting in 2026, in F1, won’t there be 22 drivers? Plus 11 reserves?
I can totally see that.
But there are women out there that speed like maniacs and there are women out there that happily jump off cliffs in those insane flying squirrel suits.
The risk averse part explains why women in auto racing do not comprise 50% of the competitors. What l am wondering is why they don’t even seem to hit 5%.
Yes, next year they’ll add a team to F1.
Several people have explained the disadvantages women have in motor sports. Some are physical, some are cultural.
Sure, l can see those disadvantages as to why women are not equally successful as men in racing. But it seems surprising that those mild disadvantages would be the cause of participation in high-level “open” racing (both genders allowed) to be zero, or near zero, for women.
I don’t think the cultural disadvantages are particularly mild, in terms of effect. I think about 10% of all motor sports participants are female. It’s higher in some areas like Karting, and lower in some like Formula racing. It’s just tougher for female drivers to develop, get financing, move through the circuits, etc. And when you start from a smaller entry pool, you get very low numbers at the higher levels.
I’m not sure why this is so surprising to you.