Will help women for Formula 1:

Red Bull boss Christian Horner, 48, believes gender is irrelevant in motorsport. She herself likes to imagine being the team manager for a female driver at Red Bull.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner. Here with former footballer David Beckham during the Miami Grand Prix early May.

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– We want the best drivers. Background and gender are irrelevant. If the talent is big enough, the road to Formula 1 will open up, Horner said in an interview reproduced by the website racing news365.

More than 900 drivers have participated in Formula 1 since its inception 73 years ago, but only two of them are women. It happened to Maria Teresa de Filippis in 1958 and Lella Lombardi in 1975 and 1976.

Now women are driving in a separate Formula W series, with Norwegian-Swedish Ayla gen among others driving in 2021.

– I was actually very surprised by the response of the Formula 1 circus. This also applies to the fans. People are obviously curious about us. “This is definitely a step in the right direction for the sport, and an opportunity we should take,” said Gren in one interview with VG last summer.

Horner is a huge fan of the series and is now working on making the dream formula more accessible to women.

– I think it’s a brilliant initiative. It’s still developing, but still evolving. I hope this series gets more girls started with motorsport. It’s at the grassroots level that has to happen first, said the Red Bull boss.

DRIVED IN THE W SERIES: Norwegian-Swedish Ayla gren during last year’s season.

Horner believes the relatively recent investment will help make the shorter path to Formula 2 and Formula 3, which has historically been dominated by men, much easier. Therefore, he also believes that go-karting, which is the origin of most formula racers, is very important, does not discriminate between genders.

“There will always be debates about whether women and men should compete with each other, but I don’t think there should be boundaries and barriers around this in motorsport.”

The Briton said Red Bull was working hard with recruiting the girls, and that he hopes they can have female drivers at the stables in the future.

– We have sponsored and contributed financially to women’s initiatives in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. It’s just a matter of helping the right talent.

Several women in Formula W have secured roles in Formula 1. Jamie Chardwick, who won both in 2020 and in 2021, is signed by Williams and is part of their academy. Jessica Hawkins works as an ambassador for Aston Martin.

Henrietta Fairbank

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