it is not april Ecclestone calls for separate F1 series for women

[Mark]

http://youtu.be/46ehrFk-gLk

You're right that 'he' is the default gender. However there has been a move to singular 'they' in recent years. Some say it's not grammatical but it's here to stay and IMO a necessary feature of English in the modern world where all the information you may have on someone is a gender ambiguous user name.

[Tazio]

If you only want to put it on the card as a preliminary race similar to the vintage F1 car race I guess it is OK, and they can call it whatever they want. But it would not be financially viable on its own like women's golf, basketball, or any other stick and ball sport that doesn't involve enormous sums of money just to participate. Also it could end up being a setback to women that are competing seriously against men in lower formulae in hopes of earning a legit ride in F1, as it would certainly have scheduling conflicts with the feeder series'.

[anfield5]

To be honest, having a seperate race series for women is stupid. Why should women drivers be unable to compete against men. It is no like the old days where cars needed to be driven by a brute with the strength os 12 normal people, to haul the thing around corners. F1 should be about the 20 (more or less) best single seat racers in the world competing, race, religion gender, hair colour, fav football team etc shouldn't be an issue

[Jag_Warrior]

So I take it that most here would not be in favor of the idea floated by the racing blog writer, who suggested that each (male) driver should have to sit out one race each season. And in his place, each team would be mandated to insert a female driver in his place. So in a 20 race season, Hamilton would get 19 races and a (token) female would get one of his races. Same for all the others. The curious thing about this blog writer was that he/she(?) was very much against Ecclestone's separate series idea... calling it "sexist". But he/she came up with this affirmative action racing fluff. Unfortunately, I pulled this blog post up on my iPad and I can't locate it on my computer right now. Some ideas are so incredibly stupid that you hope it's being suggested in jest. I'm not familiar with this writer, so I don't know if that was the case or not.

I'm in favor of F1 getting the distribution of income right and/or increase the value/ROI of team sponsorships, so that smaller teams don't even have to hire (male) ride-buyers, much less be forced to employ people based on gender, or any other superficial factor. Once F1 stops being about watching the (for the most part) best racers in the world compete, I'll be happy to stop watching.

Here lies an F1 Fan: From 1973-?

[Tazio]

I'm in favor of F1 getting the distribution of income right and/or increase the value/ROI of team sponsorships, so that smaller teams don't even have to hire (male) ride-buyers, much less be forced to employ people based on gender, or any other superficial factor. Once F1 stops being about watching the (for the most part) best racers in the world compete, I'll be happy to stop watching.

Here lies an F1 Fan: From 1973-?

This!!!

It never ceases to amaze me the way that Bernie tries to deflect the real issues of F1, which foremost to me is the solvency of the lesser funded teams, by constantly insulting us with all of these stupid gimmicky ideas. How can the most popular sports series in the world have teams in financial peril? It boggles the mind that the leader of this series hasn't been able to hammer out an equitable means of profit sharing. The teams are also huge enablers. Their is just enough greed up and down the paddock, to sweep this problem that is destroying F1 under the carpet. F1 needs a strong commission that represents all the teams equally. If I didn't enjoy Grad Prix racing as much as I do, and wasn't totally consumed by it, I'd be out of here. But I'm not giving Bernie the satisfaction of chasing me off, at least not yet. F1 is my favorite form of entertainment. I have faith that their are enough "sensible people" associated with the teams to iron out the real problems this series faces, because I honestly don't think it needs to be sold to the public, in any other fashion, than providing the best open wheel racers and cars in the world. Their already is something in it for everyone that enjoys the competitive and technical aspect of auto racing. Some of the reg's are controversial, like engine freezing, DRS, and the current tire arrangement. However I can roll with that, because I have faith that the formula can maintain a good equilibrium over the long haul with common sense, not bullsh*t gimmicks. It should be pure, and stable, not convoluted by the guy at the top,

[anfield5]

So I take it that most here would not be in favor of the idea floated by the racing blog writer, who suggested that each (male) driver should have to sit out one race each season. And in his place, each team would be mandated to insert a female driver in his place. So in a 20 race season, Hamilton would get 19 races and a (token) female would get one of his races. Same for all the others. The curious thing about this blog writer was that he/she(?) was very much against Ecclestone's separate series idea... calling it "sexist". But he/she came up with this affirmative action racing fluff. Unfortunately, I pulled this blog post up on my iPad and I can't locate it on my computer right now. Some ideas are so incredibly stupid that you hope it's being suggested in jest. I'm not familiar with this writer, so I don't know if that was the case or not.


Here lies an F1 Fan: From 1973-?

Why stop at this, why not mandate that in a second race an Asian driver has to be given the seat (not being racist, but Bernie the House Elf is moving F1 away from its traditional base in Europe towards Asia, so to slime around his new play mates, he could offer them this as a way to make them give him more money)

[Tazio]

:
Well played Annie', and if you take it to the next logical step, the pilots that are not racing in an event should be strategically located around the track, watering it down to add that final element of excitement that a wet race provides.

[Tazio]

This probably deserves its own thread but it involves Bernie, and his forward thinking:

The fact that some teams cannot see an urgent need for change, however, is a major frustration for Ecclestone.
“Usually, you can make up for your mistakes. But we are not even trying,” he said.
“We are sitting and waiting for formula one to disappear.”
Pointing his ire directly at Wolff, Ecclestone charged: “Toto can have a lovely inscription on his gravestone that says ‘I helped to kill formula one’.
http://www.inautonews.com/ecclestone...-wolff-kill-f1

Not that I disagree with what Bernie, and Max are saying, but
it's been happening on your watch Bernie!

In the FWIW dept, the US marketIncluding the Australian Grand Prix, which was the first race of the season, NBCSN’s 2015 F1 coverage is up 31% vs. 2014 through two races, and up 163% vs. 2013 through two races.

[Caroline]

Why is anyone at all surprised at what Ecclestone says? Surely something would be wrong if he didn't spout nonsense on a regular basis. As mentioned above he should think about how to stop teams leaving F1 and ensure he has a full grid each race weekend. Strange to think he has such antiquated ideas about women in society - just Google some of his past comments - when he has 2 daughters of his own!

[Whyzars]

Just Bernie generating a headline.

I'm holding out for the FatnFiftyF1 series.


Lets face it, there is nothing else to write about - we are listening to the overrun braking soundtrack of a sport that has been taken out the back and shot.

I woke up to the usual "Hamilton vs. Rosberg - fighting again" headline and went back to bed. They could've written that copy middle of last year and just keep running it over and over.


No testing news, no mid season innovation, no overnight car repair news, nothing. There is no news in F1 - period.


And that boys and girls, is why F1 is a twitching corpse of its former self.

The environmental's must be soooo happy.