The real barriers to women reaching F1
The newly-launched single-gender W Series is being billed as the radical action needed to fast-track women towards Formula 1. But the flawed situation that makes such a championship necessary is going to limit what it can achieve.
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Football? Segregated. Basketball? Segregated. Cricket, tennis, athletics, rugby - all, to greater or lesser extent, segregated by gender. Motorsport is not, although if the purpose of not doing so is to allow the very best to fight one another in a fair environment, then to all intents and purposes its upper echelons might as well be. It's almost impossible for a female racing driver to reach Formula 1.
Hence the launch of the female-only W Series last week, an agent of change enforcing positive action, to a predictably spectacular division of opinion. Proponents love the idea of driving change, critics hate the idea of unequal treatment and sending a bad message. The middle-ground probably considers the intention laudable but also thinks the execution and/or targets could be flawed.
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