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INDYCAR driver Simona De Silvestro may get 2015 Sauber F1 seat


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#1 FullThrottleF1

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 10:41

Just heard news on F1Fanatic (can't post link for some reason) that Sauber want her in a F1 seat for 2015!

 

Will we finally see a woman driver? :clap:



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#2 SophieB

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 10:46

Sauber website: Simona De Silvestro becomes Sauber F1 Team affiliated driver
 

This year she is taking the next step in her career by joining a preparation programme with the Sauber F1 Team, with the goal to gain her super licence and prepare for a race seat in Formula One for 2015.

 

 



#3 SenorSjon

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 10:51

Draw a number. How can Sauber (without simulator) prepare all those F1 drivers? They have an enormous backlog te last couple of years.



#4 Muppetmad

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 10:51

I highly doubt anything will materialise from this, although I hope for Simona's sake to be proven wrong.



#5 TimRTC

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 10:52

Great news, if we get a new woman driving in F1 it needs to be someone who got there through talent and not just marriage...

 

Lets just hope that she doesn't just end up becoming another F1 reserve driver who wastes two years of their career not to get anywhere.



#6 Slackbladder

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 10:53

I'll believe it when I see her in the car, as with so many of these 'associated' drivers.

 

What happened to that 17/18 year old Russian kid which was with Sauber?



#7 SonnyViceR

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 10:55

Wow. If this actually becomes reality (not that the chances really are that high but you never know) I might actually be forced to... watch... some of the F1 races at that point.

 

austin_omg.gif

 

 

Being a female raises up PR so chances are better than with some other drivers nevertheless


Edited by SonnyViceR, 14 February 2014 - 10:57.


#8 Lights

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 10:56

I bet neither De Silvestro nor Sirotkin will drive in F1 in 2015.



#9 pedrorito

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 10:58

I'll believe it when I see her in the car, as with so many of these 'associated' drivers.

 

What happened to that 17/18 year old Russian kid which was with Sauber?

 

Perhaps the agreement with Russian companies fell down?



#10 Richard T

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 10:59

I have read this somewhere before?!

 

Oh yes!

 

"In particular, a development programme will be set up for the Russian driver Sergey Sirotkin to prepare him as a racing driver for the team in 2014."

http://www.autosport....php/id/108789/

 

At least it might lead to a couple of cash injections before they dismiss her  :cry:

 

Edit: I had no idea she was Swiss! That might atleast give her half a chance in a national-sponsorship agreement.


Edited by Richard T, 14 February 2014 - 11:06.


#11 Prost1997T

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 11:31

Scott Dixon apparently wasn't good enough for F1 but De Silvestro is...err, sure. :drunk:

 

Then again, if they were prepared to hire Sirotkin...



#12 rhukkas

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 11:36

She/they have to say their eyeing an F1 race seat to ensure this press stunt gets wide coverage. What the **** 'affiliated' drivers is when it is at home I have no idea.



#13 noikeee

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 11:59

Sirotkin with boobs?

 

Okay that was enough casual sexism. She's not bad at all, certainly a contender for best open-wheel female driver in the world at the moment. But F1 driver on merit? Probably not. I'd back her to beat Chilton but out of the current F1 grid, that's it tbh.

 

Not that I think she'll actually get a race seat, this is probably a publicity stunt.



#14 froggy22

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 12:09

I think she is certainly capable, she has impressed me in the last few seasons of Indycar. She is just about the best female driver around atm. I don't think she is quite a standout driver (I'd love to be proven wrong) but i don't believe she needs to be.



#15 OvDrone

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 12:16

omg, Hope is gonna' splush all over when he sees this.



#16 billm99uk

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 12:23

Well I'm not sure if she's due an F1 seat yet exactly, but at least she's in another class to Susie Wolff.



#17 Sheepmachine

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 12:27

I presume this means means she won't be in indycar this year then. I think it's great news maybe we will see her in a few practice sessions this year. :)

#18 OvDrone

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 12:28

For any of you dudes/dudettes who are interested:

 

 

She had a couple of neat and exciting races in Indy. Especially last year at St. Pete, which springs to mind.



#19 Imateria

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 12:46

Well this was a surprise. I just hope that she actually does get some seat time, Sauber aren't exactly generous in this area but with increasd testing this year she does have a chance at least.



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#20 Bloggsworth

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 12:59

Er, no - In all probability, Sauber just want her to generate funds in Switzerland, Sauber being the Swiss national racing team. She is pretty good but we won't know how good until she gets out in a Friday session whether she can handle herself in the F1 environment. I hope she gets the chance as there is a lot of rubbish floating around in the various motor-racing fora, most of it just plain sexist, so it would be good to have a real baseline from which to judge.



#21 RuleyRamundo

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 13:03

No Indycar this year for Simona then?



#22 Dmitriy_Guller

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 13:41

I'm skeptical, unless things really go pear-shaped at Sauber, and her funds is the best they can get.  Simona is not that bad in Indycars, but a lot of drivers who were much better than not that bad have failed utterly in F1.



#23 jjcale

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 13:54

Wow ... gotta give you guys credit.

 

It took till post 23 for someone to note that she's also easy on the eyes.... that alone makes her seat worthy IMO. She would be great for the "sport".



#24 Prost1997T

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 14:10

Simona is not that bad in Indycars

 

Just so there's no confusion here, she placed 19th (2010), 20th (2011), 24th (2012) and 13th (2013) in four seasons of Indycar. Rubens Barrichello finished 12th in 2012, if you're looking for an F1-centric reference point.



#25 Rybo

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 14:19

I think she is certainly capable, she has impressed me in the last few seasons of Indycar. She is just about the best female driver around atm. I don't think she is quite a standout driver (I'd love to be proven wrong) but i don't believe she needs to be.


Who cares if she is the best female driver? Either your a top driver or you aren't, gender has no bearing in ratings. If she's quick enough then game on, if not then better luck next time.

#26 Deluxx

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 14:28

Alot of that was her equipment though.

 

Can't wait to see cuz she's pretty hot



#27 FatHippo

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 14:33

Who cares if she is the best female driver? Either your a top driver or you aren't, gender has no bearing in ratings. If she's quick enough then game on, if not then better luck next time.

 

There have been women, who are good on Ovals in Indycar. Sarah Fisher was 3rd in Kentucky in 2000, Danica Patrick scored 4 podiums (Nashville, Fort Worth, Indy - 3rd each time, win at Motegi). Simona however has scored a second on a demanding street course, which sets her apart from the others. She also was 3rd in the championship in the Atlantics (USA equivalent of F3). Best comparison is probably her team mate Tony Kanaan, who is a proven winner, but although he has a few more podiums and a single win with KV, his results are all over the place,  meaning that the team is not exactly the most competitive. They certainly don't have what it takes to fight the Andrettis, Penskes and Ganassis.



#28 Wander

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 14:37

A lot of cynicism going on in this thread...

#29 Peat

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 14:49

There have been women, who are good on Ovals in Indycar. Sarah Fisher was 3rd in Kentucky in 2000, Danica Patrick scored 4 podiums (Nashville, Fort Worth, Indy - 3rd each time, win at Motegi). Simona however has scored a second on a demanding street course, which sets her apart from the others. She also was 3rd in the championship in the Atlantics (USA equivalent of F3). Best comparison is probably her team mate Tony Kanaan, who is a proven winner, but although he has a few more podiums and a single win with KV, his results are all over the place,  meaning that the team is not exactly the most competitive. They certainly don't have what it takes to fight the Andrettis, Penskes and Ganassis.


Someone making some sense.

 

Worth noting that she was flying solo in a dinky little team (HVM) for 3 seasons and had some shining performances. You can more or less wipe 2012 from the record books as she was the lone Lotus engined car for most of the season, and they were dreadful.

I was hopeful for last year, but KV were indeed all over the show. They really geared thier campaign around a strong oval car, for TK at least. Her podium at Houston was brilliant, one of the most brutal street tracks they run on.

 

I have no doubt she could be competitive in F1, but i highly doubt she'll get a race seat.

 



#30 FatHippo

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 15:02


 

I have no doubt she could be competitive in F1, but i highly doubt she'll get a race seat.

 

 

Don't underestimate the fact that Sauber is now run by a Woman, who thinks that women should get a chance in F1. Unlike Sirotkin she wasn't forced on them, it was Sauber's decision to take her on. And unlike the last woman in F1, Giovanna Amati, she has proven her talent on the track, not in Flavios bed.

The mere fact that Sauber didn't sign her straight as a 3rd driver, but want to 'develop' her away from the spot-light is a pretty good indicator that they're serious. They know that with her results, she's the best shot a woman ever had at making it into F1 and they don't want to run the risk of throwing her into the deep end too soon. I wouldn't be surprised to see her doing a test day or two and maybe even a Friday outing in the late season. As a long-time supporter of women in motorsports I'm excited by the idea, because Simona has the talent to make it on merit, not just her gender or as a PR tool.



#31 Deluxx

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 15:03

I have no doubt she could be competitive in F1, but i highly doubt she'll get a race seat.

 

This. Unless she encounters $500m USD, gets 10 sponsors and buys off a judge.



#32 Miggeex

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 15:05

Would be very cool to see. If she really is fast, then nothing else matters. And ladies are usually way more committed in everything compared to men anyway.   ;)



#33 Rybo

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 15:17

There have been women, who are good on Ovals in Indycar. Sarah Fisher was 3rd in Kentucky in 2000, Danica Patrick scored 4 podiums (Nashville, Fort Worth, Indy - 3rd each time, win at Motegi). Simona however has scored a second on a demanding street course, which sets her apart from the others. She also was 3rd in the championship in the Atlantics (USA equivalent of F3). Best comparison is probably her team mate Tony Kanaan, who is a proven winner, but although he has a few more podiums and a single win with KV, his results are all over the place,  meaning that the team is not exactly the most competitive. They certainly don't have what it takes to fight the Andrettis, Penskes and Ganassis.


Great post, however it has no relevance on mine. When a driver(or anyone/thing) needs a qualifier, then inherently they aren't good enough. It's like saying Caterham are the best of the non-points scoring teams. They are still worse than the teams scoring points.

If she is the best female driver, where does she rate when everyone is included? Top 10? Top 50? Top 100? If she gets it and dies well, good on her. If not we know why she was chosen in the first place.

#34 FatHippo

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 15:32

Great post, however it has no relevance on mine. When a driver(or anyone/thing) needs a qualifier, then inherently they aren't good enough. It's like saying Caterham are the best of the non-points scoring teams. They are still worse than the teams scoring points.

If she is the best female driver, where does she rate when everyone is included? Top 10? Top 50? Top 100? If she gets it and dies well, good on her. If not we know why she was chosen in the first place.

 

I think she rates high enough not to question Sauber's decision. Everybody, who finishes 4th from 17th on the grid in a car that is Toro-Rosso league at best, for a team that has a third of the budget of the top teams, is a no-brainer as far as sign-up goes. She's scored 14 top 10s in three seasons while driving for a minnow team. 2012 doesn't count as she never had a chance with that useless Judd engine. There's no doubt that she has the upper hand talent-wise over quite a few, who currently enjoy the privilege of running in F1.

 

BTW: I hope you meant 'does well' instead of 'dies well' - we aint on a Klingon star ship  ;)



#35 Muppetmad

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 15:48

There have been women, who are good on Ovals in Indycar. Sarah Fisher was 3rd in Kentucky in 2000, Danica Patrick scored 4 podiums (Nashville, Fort Worth, Indy - 3rd each time, win at Motegi). Simona however has scored a second on a demanding street course, which sets her apart from the others. She also was 3rd in the championship in the Atlantics (USA equivalent of F3). Best comparison is probably her team mate Tony Kanaan, who is a proven winner, but although he has a few more podiums and a single win with KV, his results are all over the place,  meaning that the team is not exactly the most competitive. They certainly don't have what it takes to fight the Andrettis, Penskes and Ganassis.

Without wishing to be pedantic, so did Danica - her first IndyCar podium in fact, at Detroit in 2007, where she finished second.



#36 Andrew Hope

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 16:29

Suffering succotash, maybe we can get her name right in the title?

 

I will take this more seriously if further announcements are made: if this turns out to be some silly **** like she gets a Friday practice at Interlagos and that's it I'm going to be disappointed. Sauber aren't exactly rolling in money, and affiliating yourself with who is easily the best female circuit driver in major motorsports today is not a bad move, even if it may be a disingenuous one. It seems questionable that this partnership to explore the future is coming about when she's nearly 26, not when she's 16.

 

Giving Sauber the benefit of the doubt that they have an honest intention of letting her earn a drive, I think this is a really good move. Simona is everything you want in a driver, and everything you want in a female driver, because let's not pretend those aren't two different things. She's quick but consistent if the car allows it, brave but not Satokaze brave, cute but not bet-she's-only-there-'cause-she's-hot cute, and so on and so forth. Perhaps the best thing I could say about her consistency is that if you're watching an IndyCar race and the camera cuts to her off in the kitty litter somewhere, your first reaction is to wonder what broke on the car, unlike the "Danica binned it again" mantra of previous years.

 

Is she F1 caliber? Talent-wise, certainly. With a year to train, probably physically as well. You need to be pretty damn strong to wrestle an IndyCar around the heat in Houston for two hours two days straight in the middle of June. In equal machinery if you plugged her into the 2014 F1 grid I'd expect 12ths and 13ths with the odd dash into the points.

 

I'll beleive this more if Sauber give me a reason to as the year goes on. We just had the whole Sirotkin thing, it's going to take more than what was said in that article to convince me they're serious about her. But if I owned an F1 team, she might not be one of my two driver selections in the end but she'd be on the short list for sure. I'd be proud to have her drive for it, I believe in her abilities and I'll be disappointed if this turns out to come to nothing.



#37 FatHippo

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 16:39

Without wishing to be pedantic, so did Danica - her first IndyCar podium in fact, at Detroit in 2007, where she finished second.

 

It wasn't her first podium. She was 3rd in Nashville and Ft. Worth before that. You're right, I forgot about Detroit, but you should also say that in contrast to Simona, she was driving for a top team, not a small squad like KV. And Houston is a wee bit more demanding than Detroit. This one podium aside, Patrick usually shone on ovals, while road courses were not really her forte. I would go as far as saying that Simona is by miles the better road racer.



#38 Afterburner

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 16:39

I wish I could take this seriously, but with the latest movements to 'spice up the show', I can't help but suspect that there are other incentives at play in the background here. Maybe I'm being entirely too cynical.

Is it sad that I'd rather see her continue in IndyCar than move to F1?

#39 Ross Stonefeld

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 16:39

Wtf? Detroit and Houston are pretty much interchangeable in street circuit terms. It's not like Danica's Detroit podium is a lesser achievement because of the track.



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#40 Muppetmad

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 16:48

It wasn't her first podium. She was 3rd in Nashville and Ft. Worth before that. You're right, I forgot about Detroit, but you should also say that in contrast to Simona, she was driving for a top team, not a small squad like KV. And Houston is a wee bit more demanding than Detroit. This one podium aside, Patrick usually shone on ovals, while road courses were not really her forte. I would go as far as saying that Simona is by miles the better road racer.

Whoops, that's a pretty bad error on my part considering I was trying to make a correction myself :lol: I'm really having a bad month, I should keep my pedantry to myself. And you're right otherwise, Simona certainly shows more promise on the road/street courses - I just wanted to make sure we were establishing that on the right grounds (although with my sloppy correcting I can't say I succeeded!).



#41 FatHippo

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 16:49

Wtf? Detroit and Houston are pretty much interchangeable in street circuit terms. It's not like Danica's Detroit podium is a lesser achievement because of the track.

 

I would rate the climatic circumstances more demanding at Houston. You're right, a podium is a podium, however doing it with a smaller team like KV is a slightly bigger achievement than in a top car like Andretti. It starts with the fact that Andretti is a 4-car operation, so they have much more options to gather setup data and with a much bigger budget, too. It's still a big achievement, but Danica had it arguably easier.  ;)


Edited by FatHippo, 14 February 2014 - 16:51.


#42 FirstWatt

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 17:06

I wish Simona all the best, whatever direction her career will take.

 

Go for it Simona.



#43 Rybo

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 17:14

I think she rates high enough not to question Sauber's decision. Everybody, who finishes 4th from 17th on the grid in a car that is Toro-Rosso league at best, for a team that has a third of the budget of the top teams, is a no-brainer as far as sign-up goes. She's scored 14 top 10s in three seasons while driving for a minnow team. 2012 doesn't count as she never had a chance with that useless Judd engine. There's no doubt that she has the upper hand talent-wise over quite a few, who currently enjoy the privilege of running in F1.

 

BTW: I hope you meant 'does well' instead of 'dies well' - we aint on a Klingon star ship  ;)

 

Yes. I meant does well. Typing on a iPhone does no favors. 

 

Im in not questioning their decision however I would like to see it come to fruition just so we can judge her on merit. Not because she is a woman. 



#44 Disgrace

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 17:34

I think she is certainly capable, she has impressed me in the last few seasons of Indycar. She is just about the best female driver around atm. I don't think she is quite a standout driver (I'd love to be proven wrong) but i don't believe she needs to be.

 

This. If a female driver is going to make it on talent, SdS leads the way. However, it's difficult not to be cynical about the move given F1's aversion to AOW formulae given the high profile failures of Zanardi and Bourdais (and arguably even JV and JPM given neither fulfilled their ultimate potential). I can't see this leading to anything more than straight line tests and and simulator work.



#45 Andrew Hope

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 17:45

 but Danica had it arguably easier.  ;)

 

I'd say she probably did.

 

rokel on the NASCAR subreddit summed it up nicely:

 

Danica is the epitome of whats wrong in racing today. Throughout her junior racing career, Danica did not win a single race, nor was rarely in position to do so.

1999: Competed in Formula Vauxhall against future F1 test driver Gary Paffett (an example on the other end of the spectrum, a very talented driver with no sponsorship and is now in DTM) and Ryan Dalziel (USCR). She scored 31 points in her first year, They scored more than 125.

2000:

She ran Formula Ford UK that uses the old F1 points systems (10-6-4-3-2-1), she scored 3 points in 14 races. Among those in that series that year were James Courtney (V8 Supercar champion), Anthony Davidson (Former Super Aguri F1 driver) and Marino Franchitti (first year in this series, USCR). Danica finished 19th out of 20 point scores.

2001: He second season in Formula Ford, was even worse. She scored 10 points on the new points system of 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-3-2-1 and finished 25th. Even worse yet, is that this field was rather anonymous and aside from Patrick Long (American, USCR) most of these drivers didn't move very far up the ladder.

2002:

Danica moved back to the US in 2002 to participate in the Skip Barber Dodge Pro Series. She ran half the races and scored 35 points. In comparison, AJ Allmendinger also in his first Dodge Season, scored 189 points in 10 races and won 4 times, dominating the season and winning the championship. For those that watch Indycar and know about the Mazda road to Indy, this would equivalent to the USF2000 series today.

2003:

Despite Danica finishing rather low moved up to the Toyota Atlantic Series (today's Indy lights). There she finished a respectable 6th place, with 2 podiums. Ahead of her were AJ Allmendinger also in his first year, who won the championship. Ryan Dalziel who finished 2nd, Joey Hand (DTM/USCR BMW Driver) who finished 7th in his first season (in a car that lacked funding and had finished 3rd in the championship 2 years prior with Joey Hand).

2004:

Danica finished 3rd in the Atlantic series with 1 pole, 3 podiums but she lost the championship by a large margin and the battle came down to Ryan Dalzeil and Jon Fogarty (USCR).

2005:

Despite not winning a race, and not competing for a championship, Danica got a drive in Indycar over both Fogarty and Dalzeil who were both eventually relegated to sportscar racing. Danica finished 12th in her first season at RLL in 2005.

2006:

More of the same, finished 9th in Indycar and beat her teammate Buddy Rice.

2007:

Danica moves to one of the Top 3 teams in Indycar and manages to finish 7th place, while her teammates finished 1st, 3rd and 9th and each of them won a race while Danica didn't finish on the podium.

2008:

Danica gets a win against a spilt field (Half of the drivers competed at Long Beach due to the merger of the Champ Car series and Indy) with around 19 drivers (one of the smallest fields in history). She then stretched her fuel a very long time and managed to win a race. But in the other 16 races her best finish was 6th. She finished tied with Marco and behind TK in points, and well ahead of the abysmal pay driver Hideki Mutoh as far as her team goes.

2009:

Best points finish, but had only 1 podium, and Andretti Green were not as competitive against Penske and Ganassi in the following years.

2010:

Danica begins her Nascar foray. During her time Danica has managed an impressive 10 top 10's, 1 top 5, 1 pole position and 0 wins in 108 races in a stock car, and most of those results came against inferior competition.

For comparison:

AJ Allmendinger in his first 108 races (which did not include any ARCA or KN series) another open wheel transplant had 3 Top 5's, 6 top 10's racing for a Red Bull team that couldn't even make the field with Brian Vickers that season.

JPM in his first 108 races had 1 win, 7 top 5's, 16 top 10's and a pole position.

So to recap. Danica got through the open wheel ranks despite having only 4 podiums in 5 years, went to Indycar where she had 3 podiums in 6 years plus a fluke win. Then gets pushed through the stock car ranks with just 1 Top 5 in lower series competition??

If I showed you Danica's statistics, without a name, you'd probably think it was a pay driver. Danica was not. Danica is a sponsored driver with money from Godaddy. I'll same something else that might make the PC world shake alittle, but if these statistics were any other racing driver, male, southern, white, they may make it to Cup but they would not have made it to a second tier program like SHR.

The entire problem is we grade women (and not even all women, see Johanna Long) on a different scale than their male counterparts. Danica is an abysmal racing driver, female or no. Thats the bottom line but she was able to make it to Indycar and NASCAR on the basis of being female, and attractive. Her sponsor played to this fact and showed Danica in bikini's every superbowl for the most part (or a muscle suit).

Richard Petty is right, it will take either 1) NASCAR manipulation which would not surprise me in the slightest 2) A race that came down to fuel mileage (doubtful since NASCAR hates those races nowadays) or 3) Rain.

She will not win based on merit despite driving a Top 20 car home to 33rd every week.



#46 FatHippo

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 17:47

This. If a female driver is going to make it on talent, SdS leads the way. However, it's difficult not to be cynical about the move given F1's aversion to AOW formulae given the high profile failures of Zanardi and Bourdais (and arguably even JV and JPM given neither fulfilled their ultimate potential). I can't see this leading to anything more than straight line tests and and simulator work.

 

Well, Zanardi was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Indycars he won in were real drivers cars, while the switch to grooved tyres basically killed him in 2008. Add to that, that the 2008 Williams wasn't a winner to begin with. Both Zanardi and Bourdais weren't given enough time. F1 never had much patience with them CART converts. Andretti was sent home just after he scored his first podium in a car that was everything but a winner. Zanardi was sacked too early, too. Bourdais was in a midfield team and delivered midfield results, he just had the misfortune to be paired with Vettel and that hasn't done good to any team mate so far as Vettel made them all look like bloody amateurs. People forget that Indycars and F1 cars are completely different and you need time to adapt.

I don't agree with your impression of JPM. He was a bloody good F1 driver, he merely didn't fit into the politically correct world of corporate F1. He shone in both Indys and F1.

 



#47 FatHippo

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 17:52

I'd say she probably did.

 

rokel on the NASCAR subreddit summed it up nicely:

 

That reddit post was full of inaccuracies and frankly insulting. That guy deliberately lied or obfuscated in places just to make his point. I don't rate Danica as high as Simona, but she's nowhere near as useless as he's trying to make her look.



#48 Ross Stonefeld

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 18:10

Indeed. She's way towards the visibility end of the spectrum than the credibility spectrum, but that doesn't mean she's not a qualified professional racing driver. 



#49 SophieB

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 18:38

Suffering succotash, maybe we can get her name right in the title?


Your wish is my command although it's really way quicker to get this sort of thing fixed if you send in a PM or report the post.

#50 Fastcake

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Posted 14 February 2014 - 18:39

Good for her I guess. I hope that this leads to something more than the occasional outing Wolff and de Villota got, as just being a permanent garage fixture is not a good career progression. If she's good enough to get a race seat then best of luck.