Motor sport’s governing body has given a lukewarm response to Bernie
Ecclestone’s suggestion that Formula One teams should launch a championship
series for female drivers.
“The idea of an all-women competition is
not something we would dismiss without proper debate and research,” the former
rally driver Michèle Mouton, president of the FIA’s commission for women in
motorsport, said on Thursday in a statement. “But from my own experience as a
competitor, I truly believe women want to compete on an equal level with their
male counterparts. They have proved through the decades that it is possible,
even if only a few.”
In comments reported in British media,
Ecclestone said “a showcase” championship for women “would attract a lot of
attention and publicity and probably a lot of sponsors.”
Mouton noted: “Motor sport is just one
of three sports, including sailing and horse riding, where men and women
compete alongside one another with the same rules and classifications. This
level playing field provides a real indicator of performance and pushes
athletes to be the best in the world, regardless of gender. We have to continue
promoting the fact that motor sport is open to all, with the same prospects and
potential to succeed.”
The statement was more tempered than an
earlier email Mouton sent this week to the AP. In that, she wrote: “Maybe when
he sees the F1 audience decreasing he thinks about solutions and about women
only for the show! I am annoyed and very disappointed!” she wrote.
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