485 replies to this topic

[Peat]

They just seemed to be over officious today. Really wearing. Every single high-vis waistcoat wanted to check my ticket's/pass at every passing, even when i was trying to get out of the blasted place.

I did try and push my luck by trying to get into the BRDC clubhouse/grandstand, but the security guy there (not G4S it seemed, certainly no logo's to suggest so) showed how you can deny access AND be polite/pleasant at the same time.

[William Hunt]

I think Williams would have been better off giving the extra running time to Juncadella.

On this I agree, the difference in talent between Juncadella and Stoddard / Wolff is night and day.

Edited by William Hunt, 19 July 2013 - 21:06.

[Taxi]

Nevertheless I'm kind of impressed by Susie Wolf. She would qualify for British GP 2013.

[olliek88]

No complaints about G4S from me, to be honest they are never going to be popular but they were polite and courteous whenever i dealt with them, the lass on the entrance gate especially so, despite looking like she'd just come out of an oven!

[olliek88]

Nevertheless I'm kind of impressed by Susie Wolf. She would qualify for British GP 2013.

Wooooow, thats really impressive.../Sarcasm

Susie (and others at the YDT!) don't deserve to be anywhere near F1 but what really annoys me about Mrs Wolff is the fact she has mentioned on more than one occasion that she wants to be treated equally, yet she has benefited during her whole career from positive discrimination. One day a female will get to F1 again, i just hope its on the basis of talent and nothing else, others wise more harm than good will be done.

Edited by olliek88, 19 July 2013 - 21:18.

[Taxi]

Wooooow, thats really impressive.../Sarcasm

Susie (and others at the YDT!) don't deserve to be anywhere near F1 but what really annoys me about Mrs Wolff is the fact she has mentioned on more than one occasion that she wants to be treated equally, yet she has benefited during her whole career from positive discrimination. One day a female will get to F1 again, i just hope its on the basis of talent and nothing else, others wise more harm than good will be done.

maybe you'r right, but I was expecting far worse. To me all female drivers ever to have sit in a F1 are slow untalented PR stunts.

[f1fan1998]

I was there yesterday afternoon to meet people in force India and Caterham and McLaren. I had a pass from force India to get in, but I never use it. Likewise at any Grand Prix I always have a pass or am able to blag one. It's far more fun to just try and use your wit and cunning to see how far you get. Yesterday I drove to the coffee shop first, grabbed a coffee and then drove to the main gates. Said hello and in I went. Got to the paddock diner car park and then spoke nicely to the guy there and in I went to park.

Next up was the paddock. I pulled the same trick I learnt at a tyre test at Silverstone when I was 15. I walked in like I owned the place and wasn't stopped.

Had my meetings and some drinks and off back to my office I went.

As usual a lovely afternoon. Ricciardo was on it.

[Callisto]

Mark Arnall has just showed up at the Lotus garage apparently.

Yes I saw him,He was standing with some other people at Stowe

[Kelateboy]

No, you didn't get me. Under having limited time I meant he had just the afternoon, he stepped into the car just after 14 o clock. Most of the drivers who had full day of running hardly managed more then Seb. This guy is unstoppable. He has had the (overall) best car for four years, but he works pretty hard as well and he is intelligent.

Even in testing....

[rsherb]

On this I agree, the difference in talent between Juncadella and Stoddard / Wolff is night and day.

The difference in best times wasn't exactly night and day. 1.0 sec (or 0.4 secs depending on which day you compare) off Juncadella, the reigning Euro F3 Champion, may not make any team managers clamor to sign her up, but it's at least respectable and in 'in range'. Juncadella may have more satisfaction and justified interest, having matched the team's regular driver's pace, but that also confirms Wolff wasn't too far off a legitimate pace.

I don't have access to any other data to see how she truly compared in pace, tire management and consistency, and times at this very limiting test may be relatively meaningless as a true gauge of raw talent, but she's not exactly leaving red faced and I don't think anyone can use this as an example of how female drivers will never be a success in an F1 car...if anything she shows it's very possible.

[rhukkas]

I don't have access to any other data to see how she truly compared in pace, tire management and consistency, and times at this very limiting test may be relatively meaningless as a true gauge of raw talent, but she's not exactly leaving red faced and I don't think anyone can use this as an example of how female drivers will never be a success in an F1 car...if anything she shows it's very possible.

See, no one is in any doubt that it is perfectly possible for there to be a competitive female F1 driver. What people are pissed off about is how they are being patronised (mostly but he BBC it has to be said) into thinking that Susie being a second off some kid is a breakthrough for women and somehow demonstrates women 'can do it'. WE ALREADY KNOW A WOMAN COULD/CAN DO IT, WE ARE NOT MEN FROM 1907. Susie hasn't really proved anything we didn't already know.

What we have actually learned is that an average DTM driver performs slightly average in an F1 car.... big deal.

Edited by rhukkas, 19 July 2013 - 22:56.

[OwenC93]

Next up was the paddock. I pulled the same trick I learnt at a tyre test at Silverstone when I was 15. I walked in like I owned the place and wasn't stopped.

Wear a team shirt and you can get anywhere. It's not worth the hassle to ask every team looking member for a pass.

[Afterburner]

Next up was the paddock. I pulled the same trick I learnt at a tyre test at Silverstone when I was 15. I walked in like I owned the place and wasn't stopped.

Nice--did the same at a Grand-Am race once and came away with a fair bit of signed memorabelia. It was awesome.

[Bloggsworth]

See, no one is in any doubt that it is perfectly possible for there to be a competitive female F1 driver. What people are pissed off about is how they are being patronised (mostly but he BBC it has to be said) into thinking that Susie being a second off some kid is a breakthrough for women and somehow demonstrates women 'can do it'. WE ALREADY KNOW A WOMAN COULD/CAN DO IT, WE ARE NOT MEN FROM 1907. Susie hasn't really proved anything we didn't already know.

What we have actually learned is that an average DTM driver performs slightly average in an F1 car.... big deal.

Are you complaining that she wasn't as quick as Vettel? Wolff was about as fast as you would expect a Williams to be, indeed she was faster than Paffett who has years of experience in driving McLarens in testing, and in a car which, despite McLarens troubles, has been significantly faster than the Williams all year. Susie was slower than Juncadella, surprise surprise, he is currently competing in a racing series which is always a help, no need to get in the mindset. Add to that, she didn't bin it, a major plus. Susie did far better than I expected, and probably better than Williams expected.

Can you imagine the pressure on her yesterday? Far more than on any young tyro who would merely have been expected to jump in the car and go and if he's binned it "That's motor racing"; no additional pressure of being the only woman extant in F1 with thousands of people like you expecting, and in a lot of cases hoping, that she would fail.

Edited by Bloggsworth, 20 July 2013 - 07:29.

[rhukkas]

Are you complaining that she wasn't as quick as Vettel? Wolff was about as fast as you would expect a Williams to be, indeed she was faster than Paffett who has years of experience in driving McLarens in testing, and in a car which, despite McLarens troubles, has been significantly faster than the Williams all year. Susie was slower than Juncadella, surprise surprise, he is currently competing in a racing series which is always a help, no need to get in the mindset. Add to that, she didn't bin it, a major plus. Susie did far better than I expected, and probably better than Williams expected.

Can you imagine the pressure on her yesterday? Far more than on any young tyro who would merely have been expected to jump in the car and go and if he's binned it "That's motor racing"; no additional pressure of being the only woman extant in F1 with thousands of people like you expecting, and in a lot of cases hoping, that she would fail.

1. It's fairly obvious Paffett was doing high fuel load runs.
2. My beef is the patronising media (mainly the BBC who seem to be giving her a few million pounds worth of advertising) who seem to think that she is breaking a barrier. We all know a talented woman could and no doubt will be competitive one day. Susie Wolff being barely quicker than a Caterham only proves what we already knew. She isn't that person

[Anders Torp]

One day a female will get to F1 again, i just hope its on the basis of talent and nothing else,...

Exactly, just like Chilton and van der Garde and Gutierrez and...

[olliek88]

Exactly, just like Chilton and van der Garde and Gutierrez and...

I acknowledged the fact she's not the only one who doesn't deserve to be near F1 but the point i was making is her hypocrisy, wanting (quite rightly) to be treated equally yet she's benefited from positive discrimination throughout her whole career and wouldn't be near F1 if she had been treated equally.

"Reada da full post, all da time you have to reada da full posta!" (Said Fernando Alonso style)

[Starchild]

Exactly, just like Chilton and van der Garde and Gutierrez and...

but this guys had some success in lower series.. they are talented drivers.
when will female win the gp3 (gutierrez), or wsbr (van der garde) or even finish 4th in gp2 (chilton)? probably never.;)

...and I hope i am wrong, but for now they aren't anywhere near that...

[olliek88]

Just a short clip from my phone i took at Copse, Sutil was pretty committed through there and a decent depiction of the speed.



Would love to go back there with a decent camera and 400mm lens, would really capture the speed/attitude of the cars.

[noikeee]

See, no one is in any doubt that it is perfectly possible for there to be a competitive female F1 driver. What people are pissed off about is how they are being patronised (mostly but he BBC it has to be said) into thinking that Susie being a second off some kid is a breakthrough for women and somehow demonstrates women 'can do it'. WE ALREADY KNOW A WOMAN COULD/CAN DO IT, WE ARE NOT MEN FROM 1907. Susie hasn't really proved anything we didn't already know.

What we have actually learned is that an average DTM driver performs slightly average in an F1 car.... big deal.

Exactly lol.

[Ross Stonefeld]

It's funny, I keep not-realising we had a woman take part in an 'official' F1 day for the first time since, uh, 1992 I guess? IMO this is more of an official day(though not the same as a practice session) than when Katherine Legge did some laps in a Minardi in 2005.

Yet it's a big "oh, really?" for me. Probably because women in racing aren't a novelty anymore. Part of that is having someone like Danica Patrick in the pro-ranks for almost a decade now, and that most major series have at least one woman racing. It's not really a novelty anymore.

But. Susie Wolff can't have it both ways. You can't be like "oh there's so much pressure/expectation on me, I need to prove the doubters wrong" when you're the one out there calling attention to yourself. Everyone has to do as much PR as they can to raise their profile and get opportunities, but you can't have it both ways. If you want to be as anonymous as Kimiya Sato, then you need to be as anonymous as Kimiya Sato.

[Racer3]

Just a short clip from my phone i took at Copse, Sutil was pretty committed through there and a decent depiction of the speed.



Would love to go back there with a decent camera and 400mm lens, would really capture the speed/attitude of the cars.

Thanks! A decent depiction of the speed into and through the corner indeed! You don't get that all too often via the TV screen.

Edited by Racer3, 20 July 2013 - 13:50.

[SophieB]

Hello thread,

If you want to use this thread to discuss Susie Wolff's performance as one of the drivers in the YDT, crack on. However, if you have things to say about Susie Wolff to illustrate some wider points of view you want to make about women drivers in motorsport, there's other threads for that. If you go and post in them, do be mindful of the board rules about sexism. By all means make your point, but please do so respectfully, and be prepared to back up your assertions.

In the mean time, please keep the focus in the thread on the YDT as a whole, thanks.

[ExFlagMan]

Just a short clip from my phone i took at Copse, Sutil was pretty committed through there and a decent depiction of the speed.



Would love to go back there with a decent camera and 400mm lens, would really capture the speed/attitude of the cars.

For a real impression you want to be standing at the straight-on point - the in-flag point for Copse is also quite impressive, especially in the days when it was about 10ft from the track edge.

[TimRTC]

Agreed--he and Bottas are making a good name for the upcoming generation of F1 racers.

I always make a point of supporting drivers I have watched in F3 as they head up to the big leagues and Sainz Jr. is one I really want to see go far - however he has had his fair share of incidents, particularly this season in GP3 and FR3.5 (punting drivers off at Silverstone in the former and at Spa in the latter) - I hope he does not become a new Grosjean, undeniably fast but unreliable in pack racing.

[EVO2]

maybe you'r right, but I was expecting far worse. To me all female drivers ever to have sit in a F1 are slow untalented PR stunts.

She may not have been in a F1 car but there is one European woman that on her day beat the men fair and square at LeMans, at Pike's Peak and in the WRC

Michele Mouton set a new record at Pikes Peak, won LMP 2 at LeMans and drove an Audi Quattro to victory in Several World Rally Events when they were a proper test of endurance and speed. Amongst her wins was the San Remo, an event, like Pikes Peak, that requires both skill and and a lot of bravery. She famously challenged Al Unser to race her back down : he didn't accept.......
She also won the Tour de France Automobile outright.

Her versatility undoubtedly makes Michele the benchmark for all Female drivers. Wolff isn't in the same league.

[Afterburner]

I acknowledged the fact she's not the only one who doesn't deserve to be near F1 but the point i was making is her hypocrisy, wanting (quite rightly) to be treated equally yet she's benefited from positive discrimination throughout her whole career and wouldn't be near F1 if she had been treated equally.

"Reada da full post, all da time you have to reada da full posta!" (Said Fernando Alonso style)

Nah, it'd just be 'Read-a da post... all da time you have to read-a the post!'

I'm only obsessive-compulsively correcting it because I'll probably start using it now.

[GiuseppeF1]

Susie looked pretty solid yesterday on her longer runs but did seem to pit a fair bit during her runs to practice pit stops. Was lucky enough to meet her in the pitlane walk about at 17:00 where she kindly signed my Williams cap. Some idiot 'fans' behind me called out to her 'Oi Susie, you're well fit, fancy a sh*g?', at which point she retreated back into the paddock. Pretty disgusting behaviour by them with lots of young fans around. Susie's composure throughout was first class.

[pingu666]

Susie looked pretty solid yesterday on her longer runs but did seem to pit a fair bit during her runs to practice pit stops. Was lucky enough to meet her in the pitlane walk about at 17:00 where she kindly signed my Williams cap. Some idiot 'fans' behind me called out to her 'Oi Susie, you're well fit, fancy a sh*g?', at which point she retreated back into the paddock. Pretty disgusting behaviour by them with lots of young fans around. Susie's composure throughout was first class.

im quite happy she did pretty well/reasonably. she may have needed breaks for her neck, but thats no surprise as a) f1 car, and b) shes not been racing for awhile

[JaredS]

I think Susie has done really well. She's 31 y.o, not currently racing and she was only 4 tenths off a time posted by a 22 y.o who was F3 champion last year. 4 tenths can be a small margin or a chasm, depending on the context. Taking into consideration all things, the question I would be asking is - could Susie have been at least 4 tenths quicker than she was, had she been 10 yrs younger and consistently competing in open wheelers? I think so.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Context does count, if you compare to Juncadella's other time it was a second. Plus she has the Williams sim experience and I imagine Juncadella has far far less.

[Kyo]

Context does count, if you compare to Juncadella's other time it was a second. Plus she has the Williams sim experience and I imagine Juncadella has far far less.

And it is not like Juncadella is the next coming. He did win in F3 but just because he was way more experienced than the other drivers.

[rhukkas]

And it is not like Juncadella is the next coming. He did win in F3 but just because he was way more experienced than the other drivers.

I just can't wait for some 2 hour Susie Wolff special on BBC1 prime time soon. We all know it's coming.

I can't wait for the day when a truly competitive young female comes into the sport so we can move on from this rather old fashioned way of 'promoting' female talent.

[JaredS]

I just can't wait for some 2 hour Susie Wolff special on BBC1 prime time soon. We all know it's coming.

I can't wait for the day when a truly competitive young female comes into the sport so we can move on from this rather old fashioned way of 'promoting' female talent.

I think this is where the lines get blurred. Your responses are more suited to people claiming Susie deserves an F1 seat. Not sure if anyone here has said that. I don't think she deserves a F1 seat at all. My only thoughts are that her time wasn't bad for a 31 y.o who hasn't raced open wheelers since 2005. The same would apply if she was a guy.

Anyway, the main interest for me from the YDT is to know if it's going to be Ricciardo or Kimi that will partner Seb next year.

[Collective]

Exactly, just like Chilton and van der Garde and Gutierrez and...

Those three and Wolff don't belong in the same sentence. They have won GP2 races, GUT won a GP3 title. Let's not exaggerate, either. She is nowhere close to their level, even if they are pay drivers that haven't proved to deserve their seats.

Edited by Collective, 24 July 2013 - 21:18.

[Ferrari_F1_fan_2001]

Usual crappy Silverstone/G4S staff treating people like turd, as per.

Not surprising really. They are a bunch of mercenaries

http://m.youtube.com...?v=6WdvP6zJKBc#