Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsOpinion

Susie Wolff defends Ecclestone over female driver comments

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Susie Wolff has defended Bernie Ecclestone following comments he made regarding future female F1 drivers.

Speaking during the Advertising Week Europe conference, Ecclestone claimed women are "not physically" able to drive an F1 car fast and "would not be taken seriously" if handed a race seat.

Wolff - who recently was a Williams test driver before her retirement - has set up the Dare to be Different campaign in order to try and promote female talent in motorsport and says Ecclestone is a supporter of the initiative.

"After hearing Bernie’s comments in context & speaking to him today, it’s clear we both have the goal of getting a female driver to F1," Wolff tweeted. "Through my years in motorsport, he was supportive of my mission to make it onto the starting grid in F1.

"Last week, he agreed to come onboard with @D2BDofficial & support the next generation of girls aiming for the top, on & off the track.

"For me, actions always speak louder than words. @D2BDofficial is about driving female talent & Bernie is with us."

While the likes of Monisha Kaltenborn and Claire Williams currently hold high-profile roles in F1, it has been 40 years since a female driver started a grand prix.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.