Exciting times for women in motorsport?

From Maria Teresa de Filippis to Sir Stirling Moss and everything in between.

You’ll have heard of Sir Stirling Moss? Of course; one of Britain’s sporting greats.

He’s been in the news recently for comments he made on a BBC Five Live programme on women in motorsport.

“I think they have the strength, but I don’t know if they’ve got the mental aptitude to race hard, wheel-to-wheel,” he said.

This article had the potential to become a rant against Moss’s “archaic headline-making tripe” as Suzi Perry aptly puts it in a piece for The Mirror, but I didn’t want that.

So, this is a tribute to those women who have blazed a trail in Formula 1 or motorsport generally, hopefully leaving the reader with the message that progress has been made and more is surely to come.

So yes, you’ve heard of Sir Stirling Moss.

And before we leave him trailing in our wake, here are a couple more of his bon mots from the programme.

On his female contemporary Maria Teresa de Filippis, noted as being the first woman to race in Formula One: “I used to blow a kiss if ever I’d lap her.

“The good news is she knew there was a race going on around her and she’d keep an eye on her mirrors and she’d always pull over. Her manners and everything were terrific.”

On women in motorsport: “We’ve got some very strong and robust ladies, but, when your life is at risk, I think the strain of that in a competitive situation will tell when you’re trying to win.”

That’s enough from Sir Stirling. More than enough.

As driver Susie Wolff put it, “it makes me cringe hearing that.”

So, have you heard of Dorothy Elizabeth Levitt?

No?

I’m not surprised, but in her day Levitt was an adventuring, motoring, star.

Born in 1882 or 1883 (the records are not clear) she became famous as a racing driver, speedboat driver, motoring writer and activist.

At one time she was holder of both the water speed record and the women’s land speed record.

She would have laughed at Moss’s put-downs.

“I never think of the danger,” she said in 1906. “That sort of thing won’t do. But I know it is omnipresent. The slightest touch of the hand and the car swerves, and swerves are usually fatal.

“But I am a good gambler, and always willing to take the chance.”

Since then women have not made the progress they should, it is true. But then we can say this about many walks of life.

More recently, motorsport has been seen as only a man’s sport. Most women around have been hanging ‘decoratively’ on the arms of their driver boyfriends, ‘adding glamour to the paddock’.

Indeed, it is 38 years since a woman last drove in Formula 1.

The first woman to take part was the aforementioned De Filippis, who started just three races between 1958 and 1969.

Next came Lella Lombardi, with 12 starts between 1974 and 1976.

There were then three drivers, Divina Dalica (1976 and 1978), Desire Wilson (1980) and Giovanna Amati (1992) who between them went into qualifying for seven races but didn’t qualify for a race itself.

Currently, in driving terms, we may have lost Maria de Villota as a driver, hopefully only temporarily, but Susie Wolff is testing for the Williams F1 team and rising star Alice Powell, racing in F3 cup and GP3 at the moment, is hoping to break into F1 soon. Red Bull has also just signed its first female test driver, Beitske Visser.

But there is more to motorsport life than Formula 1.

Danica Patrick is making waves in both Nascar and Indycar in the United States, taking her first pole position at the Daytona 500 in 2013.

Katherine Legge has also gone from karting to Indycar.

Steps forward may be painfully small and frustrating, but they are there all the same.

Formula 1 head Bernie Ecclestone admitted in the Five Live programme that “there’s no reason why a woman shouldn’t be able to compete with a man.”

But he then went on to say, “Unfortunately, the way things are, I don’t imagine a lady will ever get the chance to drive a Red Bull or a Ferrari.”

This is a disappointing, but realistic view, as top teams are reluctant to put money into untried women drivers who they perceive to be more of a risk than men.

The area in which women are making real progress is in administration.

Monisha Kaltenborn was appointed team principal at F1 team Sauber in 2012. In the last few weeks Sir Frank Williams has named his daughter, Claire, as deputy principal at Williams, with a view to her taking over as principal on his retirement.

“With Claire being appointed deputy team principal, I know the future of Williams is in extremely safe hands,” he said in an interview with the BBC.

Claire is clearly up for the role.

“I feel well equipped for this new challenge. I understand the commitment that every person within the team gives each day to see our car out on the track and I am determined to see us back at the top,” she said.

“I don’t underestimate the challenges that lie ahead but I have the full support of the Board and a very talented executive committee … it will be a privilege to play a part in taking the team into what I hope will be a successful next chapter.”

Women are also making their name in motorsports broadcasting.

Suzi Perry and Jennie Gow are confident, knowledgeable assets to the BBC’s F1 coverage.

Suzie Wolff will lend her expertise in the commentary box during qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

It would be even better if someone else was commentating on her driving on the track, but this is still progress.

These are exciting times for women in motorsport. A regular female F1 driver in under ten years – probably.  More women in all aspects of motorsport – definitely.

We should never accept less than we deserve, but we must take our triumphs, however small, where we can, and celebrate them accordingly.