Women in Formula One
Ayrton Senna, Max Verstappen, Christian Horner, Toto Wolff, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg, Martin Brundle, and David Croft are some of the most popular names in Formula 1 history. If you take a closer look, you might notice that not one of those names is a woman.
Formula 1 has been the pinnacle of motorsports since the 1950s, with growing numbers of fans each year. Stereotypically, this sport has shown high numbers of male dominance in the engineers, pit crew, drivers, and even the grandstands.
According to Forbes, only around 10% of total motorsport participants are women and 40% of total fans and workers are women as well. Beneath the high-speed glamor of Formula 1, there is sexism rooted in the sport and the fans that follow it.
Susie Wolff, Lissie Mackintosh, Bianca Bustamante, Chloe Chambers, Maria Teresa de Filippis, Hannah Schmitz, and Angela Cullen, are all women who have powered the sport, yet their names seem to disappear behind their male colleagues. Despite the skewed statistics of inequality when it comes to the male-to-female ratio, women are breaking barriers to have their voices heard.
The imbalance of gender not only affects the women working in motorsports but the female fans as well. They tend to face sexism and stereotypes for being a woman who loves a sport dominated by men.
Joselyn Henriquez is a devoted female fan who has loved the sport for years. She has experienced the stereotypes within Formula 1 firsthand.
It all started when she noticed her sister watching a race, “I asked her, ‘What are you doing? You're just watching cars go around in circles,’” Henriquez said. “But then one week, I decided to just watch with her. And after that one race, I was immediately hooked. And I've been a fan ever since.”
That one bonding moment with her sister on a random Sunday fueled a passion for the thrilling sport.
As women, many face discrimination from men for not knowing about Formula 1 on a deeper level. Even though sexism follows her and her love of Formula 1, she does not let anyone walk over her passion for it.
While looking back on her love of the sport she exemplified the one that has stood out the most, the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
“I have many, but the one that comes to mind is the Las Vegas Grand Prix last year. It was the last lap, last corner,” She said. “Throughout the race, Checo [Pérez] and Charles [Leclerc] were just fighting each other for that second position, and it was so back and forth. It seemed as if like [Leclerc] was just gonna give up. But he saw an opportunity and took it. I feel like [that moment] resonates with me so much, because at times it seems like you're just fighting for something and you keep losing it, you have it, then you lose it. But when you least expect it, the opportunity arises, and you just have to take it.”
The topic of women in motorsports has been a pressing conversation many are intimidated by. Female fans all over the world are hoping to change the narrative of how it used to be. F1 Academy, an all-girls grid was brought into the motorsport world in 2023 to help change the narrative.
“We didn't get as much representation as we should have, but I feel we are making change, even if it's little by little,” Henriquez said.
There are many misconceptions of why women watch Formula 1 and when they are trying to gain more of a voice they are silenced by the perceptions. Media has taken an important role in the representation of women in motorsports so it is time Formula 1 makes their changes as well.
“[On one hand] we have women who are trying to empower and bring a whole new light into women in motorsports,” she said. “[On the other hand] we have these [female] influencers who are getting invited to the Grand Prix at the US locations, and they don't really know anything [about F1], they're just commenting on driver’s looks. So it just brings that stereotype onto us. It just makes us look like a joke.”
It would make a huge change if there were more interactions between F1 and F1 Academy drivers. It would showcase unity between aspiring young women and current women in the sport.
“I would love to have more races and the F1 Academy calendar, especially when it overlaps with Formula One’s schedule,” Henriquez said. “[They could hold] it in the off-season of Formula One, because that is when people want to see it, [since there are no] weekly races.”
Though it has been an uphill battle for women's representation in Formula 1, many are optimistic when it comes to voices being heard and changes being made.