F1 to get first female driver since 1992?

DANICA Patrick is the most attractive professional racing driver in the world - as her latest shoot for Sports Illustrated shows - and as such she is a hugely marketable sportswoman.

So it’s no surprise that F1’s next team, the American USF1 outfit which plans to race from 2010, has offered Patrick a test drive.

It’s a shrewd move by the suits behind USF1 - even if they have no intention of giving Patrick a seat, the fact they are willing to give her the chance has already generated plenty of publicity.

F1 hasn’t featured a woman driver since the 1992 season, when Giovanna Amati attempted to qualify for the first three grands prix of the year in a truly awful Brabham. She failed to qualify for all three and was replaced by a certain Damon Hill.

There has been much interweb debate about Patrick’s merits as a driver (she has a great chassis, we can see that much). She has won one race in her time racing Indy Cars in the States, but there are at least ten better drivers than her in the Indy series. If she was to race in F1, there’s no doubt she’d figure at the wrong end of the grid. But in terms of revitalising a sport that is struggling to hang on to crucial sponsors, her participation can only be a good thing.

Anorak

Posted: 19th, February 2009 | In: Sports Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink