Trying to look back ‘N forwards - as I’m firmly convinced that Maria de Villota was simply out of her comfort zone and trying to rush too fast into the pantheon of motorsports by becoming the first Femme Fatale in Formula 1 in two decades - when Giovanna Amati drove for the faltering Brabham team; attempting to qualify three times for the past world beaters who had become a mere shadow of their former glory all those years ago...
Obviously zillions of racing drivers around the globe wish to reap the golden nectar of securing one of these very elusive and highly coveted racing seats, surely Maria must have known the odds were stacked against her - as I find it hard to fathom that she’d actually have graduated to a Marussia race drive unless she had a massively large cheque; which in fairness is also how current driver Charles Pic got his ride, right?
And I must confess, I’ve never heard of this driver previously, having stumbled upon her interview as another woman of pressdog; DAMN YOU ‘DAWG! Quit hogging all the ladies, will Yuhs; Hya!
As I wish the young Alice Powell nothing but the best - and would ‘LUV to see her break the dam and land an F1 drive sometime in the future; BUTT! Will she be given a proper chance? As in when will a frontrunner Constructor ever give a female driver a real shot at showing her wares? As I’d presume it would be nothing more then a PR exercise with another Minnowesqe ‘Back marker team, nee HRT or Marussia...
Yet I’d ‘LUV to see either “Symona-Symona” (Simona de Silvestro) Thy Leggy ‘Juan (Katherine Legge) or Cyndie Allemann get a shot at a Formula 1 race seat, albeit I’d suspect that both De Silvestro & Legge are quite happy in Indy Cars currently. Whilst the name Vanina Ickx just sprang to mind as another potential candidate; while obviously I hope for nothing but the best for Maria de Villota’s post-racing career and totally agree with her that F1 needs more female competitors in the near future, as hopefully we’ll see her back at the track in some sort of team capacity with Marussia or another Formula 1 team?
Meanwhile, Team ‘Willy went ahead and pushed the envelope a ‘Wee bit by giving simulator ‘Jockey (development driver) Susie Wolff her maiden run in a F1 car, when she drove a FW33 at Williams Partner’s Day at Silverstone on October 17th. Although apparently thee Iceman wasn’t invited to the shin-dig, as thy ‘Kimster was busy celebrating his 33rd birthday with his Oomphlats somewherez else. NO word on whether or NOT Jean Todt sent him a bottle of Johnny Walker? Hee-hee-hee...
Wolff, the 29-year old “better-half” of Team Willy’s Toto Wolff has been driving in the DTM for several years now and was the star attraction at the day’s event which also featured the team’s race drivers Pastor Maldonado & Bruno Senna who drove a pair of past Williams Grand Prix machinery...
And lastly, but definitely not least, in another encouraging sign, Peter Sauber has turned over the reigns of his great little Sauber F1 team to Monisha Kaltenborn, who’d previously been named CEO and has now been named as the Team Principal, becoming the very first ever female to hold this position and will return home to India pushing her team to grab another bucket load of points...
So, the future is looking very bright for le Femmes in Formula 1, as hopefully we’ll see one be given a competitive seat at a midfield team one day in the near future...