Coulthard passionate about diversity in motorsport: ‘It’s utter bulls***’
F1 News
As Formula One has become increasingly popular over recent years with a growing female audience, the calls for diversity in the sport have been louder than ever. While the top racing series is still without a female driver in the modern era, former F1 David Coulthard has shared his view on whether women will ever be able to race in the sport.
Speaking on whether there will be women racing in Formula 1 in the future, Coulthard shared to the Mail Online, “Of course it will happen. Without question.”
One argument against having female drivers is that they do not have the physical capabilities to handle a Formula 1 car, a claim that Coulthard strongly refutes. "It’s utter bulls*** that women don’t have the strength to do it. Anyone who doesn’t train doesn’t have what it takes to perform in motor racing — whether you’re a man or a woman.”
Coulthard expanded upon the physical demands of the sport, “An untrained person doesn’t have the strength to do anything. I’m 53 and I wouldn’t be able to drive an F1 car quickly for more than 10 laps in my physical condition, now that I’m on the other side of my peak of fitness. I had to train like an athlete twice a day, with a trainer, for years, to be able to do my job.”
What happened with the W Series?
Coulthard was heavily involved in the W series, which he claims a lack of fitness was a major aspect in the struggles of the championship. "One of the things I saw with the W series was that we took the best women available to try and qualify to become part of the championship — and some of them just weren’t fit enough. I looked at them, going: “What’s your excuse for not training? You have to present yourself as being serious as a pro and that means training like an athlete. ’Therein lies the issue. There’s no physical reason they can’t do it. We know what it takes to be physically strong enough to be a racing driver and all of the data shows that women comfortably fit within that category of physical performance."
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