Autosport – 22 August 2019

BA

GN

AL
TE How crucial is it to make sure there is a diversity in L
options for women to fi nd a career?
SW Let’s take the example of this race in New York. There are 22
drivers on the grid, but there will be at least, from a rough number,
about 5000 people involved in the running of this event, from
the teams and the organisation and the technical side. Take a
Formula 1 race; you’ve got 20 drivers, you’ve probably got 10,000
people involved in that whole event. So if we’re only going to
focus about the on-track, that’s great from a visibility aspect,
but that’s not motorsport – there’s so much more.
That’s where we really tried to make the sport more accessible,
really try to break down the barriers of people thinking it’s just
a man’s world, and taking role models of successful women in all
the diff erent areas, and showcasing that to the next generation.
It’s had such a positive impact already. Some of the letters I get
from teachers, and parents, it’s really having an impact on these
young girls. That’s positive for the sport.

TE It’s tough to measure by numbers, but what would you judge
as a success for Girls on Track four to fi ve years down the line?
SW As you said, it’s very diffi cult to judge it purely on numbers.
My vision is that in fi ve years’ time, there’s a woman working
somewhere in motorsport that says, ‘I’m here, and I was inspired
by Girls on Track, they came and showed me what was possible,
I got inspired, and that’s why I’m doing the job that I’m doing now’.
We already have a couple of stories of young girls studying
engineering because we went in and showed them the possibilities
through a work placement. We connected them with an engineer
in an F1 team. So we already have these standalone success stories
which build up and build up. The more of those there are, the more
change in the long term that we’ll be able to quantify the diff erence.
It’s very diffi cult to put a number down of what we’ve created.
If nobody does anything, nothing is going to change. So we’ve
got to be proactive, we’ve got to make the sport more accessible,
we need to get the FIA on board to make sure the sport in the
long term is more diverse because, in the end, you’re missing
out on 50% of the population.

TE Moving on to Formula E, how have you found the
challenge of being a team boss?
SW I’ve loved the challenge. I’m defi nitely really happy with

having come in and taken the job. There were certainly diffi cult

moments that I felt we had to climb, but we had our fi rst win

[through Mortara in Hong Kong], podiums [notably Massa

in Monaco], so I think generally it was a positive fi rst season.

There’s a lot more I want to do next season. But overall, it’s

been a great learning curve but also a great challenge.

TE Any surprises or elements you didn’t expect to occur

during the season?

SW No, I think I knew what I was getting into. Having

watched my husband [Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff ]

and what he does, there wasn’t anything I was unprepared for.

There were certainly diffi culties along the way, which I had to

learn very quickly. I’m someone who loves always developing

and progressing, and I love pushing myself out of my comfort

zone and learning new things, working with great people.

And from that perspective, this has been a really great

role to take on.

Female licence holders in UK motorsport

“If nobody does anything, nothing’s going to

change. So we’ve got to be proactive, we’ve

got to make the sport more accessible”

2014 2018

LICENCE MALE FEMALE MALE FEMALE CHANGE

Racing 10104 310 (2.98%) 10760 318 (2.87%) W 0.11%

Karting 3697 129 (3.37%) 2521 109 (4.14%) ▲ 0.77%

Rallying 6638 357 (5.10%) 5354 283 (5.02%) ▼ 0.08%

Speed events 1353 91 (6.30%) 1141 76 (6.24%) ▼ 0.06%

Off icials 2604 418 (13.83%) 3469 559 (13.88%) ▲ 0.05%

TOTAL 24,396^1305 (5.08%) 23,245^1345 (5.47%) ▲^ 0.39%

Have Dare to be Diff erent

and other eff orts to

increase female

involvement in motorsport

worked in the UK? We

asked Motorsport UK, the

country’s governing body

of the sport, for its 2018

figures on licence-holders,

and compared them with

2014 – the last full-season

statistics available when

we last ran a Women in

Motorsport special in 2015.

While there were more

women in car racing last

season than four years

earlier, their percentage

of the total had decreased

by a fraction, as it had also

done in rallying and speed

events (hillclimbs and

sprints). There was a minor

increase in the percentage

of females off iciating. But

the best news is in karting

• where the future stars
  are to be found. While this

branch of the sport

has taken a big hit on

numbers overall since

2014, the ratio of females

to males has increased

substantially. But there’s

still a long way to go...

10104

3697

6638

1353

2604

24,396

310 (2.98%)

129 (3.37%)

357 (5.10%)

91 (6.30%)

418 (13.83%)

1305 (5.08%)

318 (2.87%)

109 (4.14%)

283 (5.02%)

76 (6.24%)

559 (13.88%)

1345 (5.47%)

10760

2521

5354

1141

3469

23,245

5.47%

PROPORTION OF FEMALE

LICENCE HOLDERS IN

UK MOTORSPORT

IN 2018

5.47%

22 AUGUST 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 25

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT