A recent report by More Than Equal explored the data involving women and girls in motorsport and identified two key challenges for female drivers - the participation gap and the performance gap.
The performance gap was highlighted by the fact that their research found that women currently represent on average just 10% across all categories of competition, with the highest in karting – a format that contributes 40% of overall female participation.
Around 13% of participation in karting came from female drivers, which dropped to 7% in formula and GT racing.
The More than Equal initiative, founded by 13-time F1 race winner David Coulthard and entrepreneur Karel Komarek, aims to help develop find and develop a first female F1 world champion.
It is seeking to do so through focusing on four key priorities – being evidence led and providing the research and insight to help break down barriers in motorsport for women; scouting globally for young female talent; building a female driver development programme for young driver with high potential and connecting that talent with the right opportunities to help them to progress.
Their first piece of research, hosted in part by Motorsport Network, also found that as current female drivers continue to compete, they are not progressing at the same rate into the top talent rankings, where female drivers represent a tiny percentage – currently just 4%.
Clearly, to have more women competing at the top end more consistently, the sport needs more women racing at grassroots and continuing up the ladder.
British Touring Car Championship driver Jade Edwards was the first woman to compete in the series for over a decade, and is still the only female driver on the grid.
Speaking to Motorsport.com, she agrees that the fact there are a smaller number of female drivers in the pool to begin with is where the issues arise.
“I think, for me, personally, I think it's less to do with being male or female it’s more that there's just less females in the pool to begin with,” she said.
“So when we get to my level or above, when you've got, say, 50 men, and you've only got five to 10 females, most of those men are going to drop out as well, but because there's more of them to start with, it's less noticeable.
“I've raced with females and males from the early days, and a high percentage of all of those are now not racing, or they're not in motorsport at all. But there were probably only one or two females within the championships I was racing in, as opposed to 20 or 25 males. Financially as well, I think it makes a huge difference, I don't necessarily think that it's male or female related, other than the fact that there's less of us to begin with.”
Female drivers are dropping out much earlier than their male counterparts, with female careers lasting on average between one and five years, whereas male careers are more likely to last over 12 years.
If they do stay racing, women are unlikely to appear in the top 20% of any rankings. Female drivers are more likely to finish within the middle 70% of races but are twice as likely to appear in the bottom 10%.
Asked why she thought that was, Edwards added: “Again, I think comes down to numbers, because if you took the ratios from the 20 men that joined the grid, how many of those 20 are at the top of rankings? How many of those 20 do more than one or two seasons? It's probably quite a low number as well.
“There’s more of them, so we don't notice it as much. This industry is hugely financial, and a huge percentage of male drivers struggle financially, not just females.
“So I get that women seem to be dropping out, but there's less of us to begin with, so therefore, it highlights it a lot more.”
Ferrari junior Maya Weug, who currently competes in the Formula Regional European Championship, agreed that low numbers of participation is a key challenge.
Having started racing aged just seven, she joined the Scuderia in 2021 after becoming the first winner of the FIA's Girls on Track competition.
Asked why she felt there were higher drop out rates among female drivers, she told Motorsport.com:
“Financially it's a difficult sport, but there's so many factors that it's probably not dependent on any one thing, and not because they don't want it or anything.
“There are so many less girls starting that there's also so many guys that stopped by those ages, but with being so many more you don't really see it as much.
Discussing the challenges she has faced as a young female driver, Weug said: “Well, physically, it's a demanding sport. I have to train lots, everyone has to train a lot, but it might take more time for me to get to that level physically, or more effort that I have to put in.
“But in the end, if you like, something you will put in whatever you need to put in. So I think it's not a big issue for me.
“I started racing since I was seven, so I got used to being around the boys and in this environment. The more I've been growing up, the more girls have been involved in racing and so on.
“Getting used to it from so it's such a young age, you don't really think about it so much sometimes.”
Asked whether she felt that she had ever been treated differently because of her gender, Weug said “I think when you're young, you don't think about those things so much.”
She continued: “So I never really like when I was driving when I was seven, 10, 12, whatever, I was just driving and the only thing I found out that it's just said guys don't like it when girls finish in front of them.
“So you just have to earn the respect on track, and then once they respect you, I think it's all fine. But I've never been disrespected or felt like they did something to me because I'm a girl. You just have to be fast and show that you're capable of doing it.”
More than Equal CEO Ali Donnelly said that simultaneous efforts to grow participation across the sport, combined with work to support the most talented female drivers, like her organisation is doing, were crucial.
“Our research shows how statistically challenging it will be to find a female F1 champion with the current numbers of girls taking part in competitive motorsport. This needs to be urgently addressed and we are now seeing some positive initiatives being introduced in recognition of this.
“It’s true that low participation is a driving factor for the performance gap and that this hampers the success of female drivers, but there are others, including the fact that women and girls they do not receive the same backing, especially financially, as their male counterparts, and that there is not enough early support for those who show high potential.
Donnelly added that More than Equal’s plan to introduce a gender and age-appropriate driver development programme for young female talent would help address the performance gap, by producing a cohort of drivers in the coming years better equipped than ever to reach the top.
“That work is underway right now as we seek to shortlist a cohort of talented young girls who are competing and showing high potential. We’re excited to get their training underway next year as part of our long term plan.”
