Previous Williams test driver Susie Wolff says F1 manager Bernie Ecclestone is not against female drivers but rather feels she has refuted his view that ladies are not sufficiently solid for the game.
Ecclestone has additionally expressed that ladies would “not be taken seriously” in F1.
“My belief is that a woman can be successful in Formula 1,” said Wolff.
“A woman can be physically fit enough to drive a Formula 1 car. I did the race distance in Barcelona so I have proved that it is possible.”
Wolff has established Dare to be Different, an activity which intends to build the quantity of ladies in motorsport.
The 33-year-old uncovered she had addressed F1 manager Ecclestone on Wednesday in regards to his dubious remarks, made at the Advertising Week Europe meeting in London.
Ecclestone’s comments incited a savage kickback. American Leilani Munter, who races stock autos in the ARCA Racing Series, has depicted Ecclestone as “an embarrassment” and “just a sad, pathetic, sexist old man with pre-historic views of women”.
Wolff told “Like anybody else, when I heard the comments at first I thought ‘wow, how could he have said that?’ But when I looked into it, the comments are taken completely out of context.
“There was a much wider interview around the topic and actually his comments weren’t as bad as they sounded.
“I’m not on the defensive for Bernie here. We agreed on some topics and I can only be completely honest that every step of the way in my quest to make it onto the Formula 1 starting grid he’s been supportive.
“I don’t think it’s fair to say that’s he’s against women being in Formula 1 and he also did say in the interview that it would be the best thing for F1 on the commercial side to have a successful female driver.”
Wolff began working with Williams in 2012, in the wake of hustling for a long time in the German Touring Car Championship, before resigning a year ago.
She put in three years included in test and advancement work and drove in four practice sessions over the 2014 and 2015 seasons – turning into the primary lady to join in an amazing Prix weekend for over 20.
“One of the whole reasons for starting my initiative, Dare to be Different, is about getting more girls interested in motorsport and that’s everywhere, not just driving on track but creating a network where they have the support around them,” added Wolff.
“In a situation where they may feel negative after reading such a thing [as Ecclestone’s comments] they can tap online into the community they’ve joined and get support from lots of other women who are successful in the sport.
“I think we are seeing developments, possibly not as much on track as off track but it’s happening organically,
“I would like to think we are much closer to a female F1 driver but I could never give you a time-frame”.
