David Coulthard has achieved a lot in over 30 years in professional motorsport. He never won the F1 world championship, but he’s determined to help a female racing driver to reach that level. His sister Lynsay was a formidable kart racer, who was given the same opportunities as a child by his scrupulously fair parents. But she slipped out of the system as a teenager as so many girls do.
There have been many initiatives in the last decade launched to address the most asked question in F1 – why are there no women F1 drivers? From the FIA Girls on Track program to the W Series, of which Coulthard is a founder partner, the opportunities are growing. But they don’t address the fundamentals of what is needed to make the breakthough to F1 which are: better talent detection at an early stage and then funding and other professional support for a defined programme through to F1. This is what most of the household name male drivers from Lewis Hamilton to Lando Norris have benefitted from one way or another.
