130 replies to this topic

[Wiggy]

Suzi Wolff is driving in the official practice session tomorrow morning for Williams. She's in what is possibly the 2nd best car on the grid... Where do you think she'll be? She knows the circuit too which works in her favour.

I hope she doesn't crash it, it would be perfect for all the usual lame jokes on the subject. I'd love to see her quicker than the other Williams car... But realistically I reckon top 10 for her?

[Seanspeed]

Its hard to crash a car at Silverstone nowadays.

And in terms of where she'll be, it largely depends on what sort of program they put her on. She could be anywhere from 1st to 20th.

[Spillage]

As above, it really depends on what program she's on. I hope there's no mechanical gremlins and she gets a full test, I've no doubt she'll do a pretty good job as she did in the young driver tests. I think it's important not to see her as a female driver but just as a Williams test driver. It saddens me that often the question seems to be posed as 'can a woman be any good?' rather than 'is Susie Wolff any good?'

[maximilian]

A decent result would be to beat the Marussias, Caterhams and Saubers.  Couldn't expect too much more...

 

Oh, and Maldonado, too, of course

Edited by maximilian, 03 July 2014 - 19:51.

[billm99uk]

She won't do anything stupid. She won't be absolutely dog slow as it's a pretty good car. She'll get hailed as the female Ayrton Senna if she's reasonably close to the pace which, given the fact that it's free practice and they'll be experimenting with setups and fuel levels, is perfectly possible. But if we must have a token women driver, couldn't we at least have one who has shown a spark of talent, rather than one who has never won a single race in 100+ attempts and appears to have got the job through her personal connections. There may well be women drivers in F1 and at the front too, in future years, in fact I'd be bloody surprised if there weren't. But I'm pretty sure one won't be Susie. We've seen enough of her in different equipment to know that. You don't start winning races in F1 these days.

[TomNokoe]

I hope Williams take a bit of fuel out and let her have a real go.

[emmanuelrubi]

My first prediction was:

 

Someone will make sexist joke.

 

Good job Sergio.

[4MEN]

As above, it really depends on what program she's on. I hope there's no mechanical gremlins and she gets a full test, I've no doubt she'll do a pretty good job as she did in the young driver tests. I think it's important not to see her as a female driver but just as a Williams test driver. It saddens me that often the question seems to be posed as 'can a woman be any good?' rather than 'is Susie Wolff any good?'

 I think it's important not to see her as a female driver but just as the girlfriend of a shareholder of Williams.

[RuleyRamundo]

Pole.

[Nustang70]

Not good, probably.  How often has she driven a racing car in the past few years?  I've always considered her as part of the package that came with Toto Wolff's involvement, which makes her enduring presence after Toto's departure baffling.  F1 can and should have female drivers, but Susie doesn't have a racing record that indicates at all that she'll be competitive.  Simona de Silvestro's got much more potential, although I fear she's sidetracked that a bit with a dead-end testing gig at Sauber.  

[Imateria]

Top 10 I'd expect given the capability of the Williams. She certainly didn't do too badly in the test she did with the team last year (or was it the year before?).

[Sheepmachine]

It depends on the conditions and what her program is. I doubt she will be going for glory runs.

[Disgrace]

She drove the FW36 at Barcelona back in May so she will be somewhat familiar with the car. Given that it's only a FP1 drive, other than the probable media scrum as she leaves the pits, it probably won't be too interesting.

[OSX]

Most likely somewhere near the bottom of the time sheet.

 

[BRG]

 I think it's important not to see her as a female driver but just as the girlfriend of a shareholder of Williams.

Good grief, does her husband know about this affair?

[P0inters]

Not good , I don't think. I have no problems with female drivers in F1 , and wish her the best , but I don't want them to get in for good PR , personal connections or money. I'd much rather see them get into F1 because they're good. 

[4MEN]

Good grief, does her husband know about this affair?

Sorry, not interested in F1 cuore.

[BRG]

Sorry, not interested in F1 cuore.

The giveaway is in the name.......

[rhukkas]

Stick her on a low fuel run, get the headlines, please the sponsors. That's the sensible option.

[Anderis]

I actually think she'll get a program that will make her look decent. Still that's not a guarantee of being anywhere near the top, but I think she will not embrass herself and place somewhere around 15th place at worst, maybe a top10 if things go well.

 

Hell, I would go as far as suggesting that Massa will on the other hand, likely get a program that will make his top time tad slower, maybe even slower than Susie.

Edited by Anderis, 03 July 2014 - 21:52.

[redreni]

She didn't impress in the rookie test here last year, as I recall. As to where she ends up on the timesheets, it doesn't matter, does it? It's a free practice session. The times don't count. Nobody else will be going for a time, with the possible exception of the other non-race drivers.

 

My prediction is that it will compromise Williams' weekend. I think it's better to run the race drivers in all the sessions. It's a pity that a team that has been able to run so competitively this year is having to sell seat time at its home event. Obviously times are hard.

 

Somebody on the James Allen site said Bottas (I assume it will be him rather than Massa) can't have any complaints about having to miss FP1 because that's how he got his chance. But he was being seriously evaluated for a race seat, and if he were now expected to make way for a similarly talented driver, perhaps then he couldn't grumble. But in this instance, we're talking about a driver who absolutely, unequivocally doesn't have the credentials to get anywhere near an F1 team's simulator, let alone their actual race car. Bearing in mind we recently had a driver with Mercedes connections signed up for an F1 drive off the back of winning the DTM title, and he couldn't really cut it in F1 and was dropped after two seasons, we might like to bear in mind that Wolff scored four points in six seasons of DTM. She was driving an older car, granted, but there was a reason for that. And it was an older car in which Leicester's Jamie Green managed to get a race win in 2009, on his way to beating Wolff by 27 points to nil over the season in the same car. Is Jamie Green under consideration for an F1 drive?

[4MEN]

The giveaway is in the name.......

Sorry, not interested in funny boys either.

[RonnyRonny]

Nothing stopping Williams putting her on a qualifying style lap with low fuel, get some headlines.

 

Some positive headlines would be good for once.

[Thomas99]

In equal conditions she'll be around a second per lap off Massa, maybe slightly more. She was never a super fast driver to begin with, throw in a complete lack of F1 experience and no knowledge of the cars and tyres and its ridiculous to expect her to be close.

Edited by Thomas99, 04 July 2014 - 03:51.

[lbennie]

My first prediction was:

 

Someone will make sexist joke.

 

Good job Sergio.

 

Lighten up. He was being cheeky.

 

I hope they let her give it the full berries on low fuel, will be great publicity if the times are competitive. 

Edited by lbennie, 04 July 2014 - 04:31.

[Mart280]

Good luck to Susie today, I read somewhere that said she would have the same setup and programme as Massa for a direct comparison, don't know how true that is I cant remember where I saw it, I think top ten would be good, she did ok in the FW36 at Barcelona test and didn't embarrass herself.

[Richard T]

Good Brit GP morning y'all!

See you at the live chat

[Anderis]

Nothing stopping Williams putting her on a qualifying style lap with low fuel, get some headlines.

 

Some positive headlines would be good for once.

The problem is, that looking at the young driver test she participated in, she appeared to be more than a second on a lap slower than Juncadella (maybe her program made her look worse, but I doubt), so perhaps even more so off the pace of upper half of the F1 grid drivers. Going in qualifying trim doesn't have to secure an eye-catching time. Unless somebody is going to make a headline of that she wasn't the slowest of them all.

[Lights]

She's certainly creating discussion. It's already working.

[ensign14]

Stone last.

[Bleu]

I expect 18th place. Ahead of Marussias and Caterhams, behind everyone else.

[Jovanotti]

I'll never understand why they've built the new start/finish-area. Copse/Maggots/Becketts were amazing opening corners, instead now we have the standard slow combination, and the fast, great Bridge/Priory sequence is lost, too.

Edited by Jovanotti, 04 July 2014 - 08:10.

[tifosiMac]

I reckon she will do a few laps and record some times, well that is my prediction lol. I think its a nice thing to see and hopefully one day we'll have a female driver who is first choice by a top team. Women don't seem to be taken too seriously in the lower categories unless they bring money and then not enough choose racing as a career. I hope this starts to change and Suzie isn't the last for a long time, good luck to her!   

[ensign14]

I reckon she will do a few laps and record some times, well that is my prediction lol. I think its a nice thing to see and hopefully one day we'll have a female driver who is first choice by a top team. Women don't seem to be taken too seriously in the lower categories unless they bring money and then not enough choose racing as a career.

 

Which is really bizarre - you'd think a decent female driver would attract lots of publicity, and even the negative would be largely chauvinist. 

 

I suppose one problem is the most talented female driver in the last 40 years - Desire Wilson - was South African, so there were negative apartheid connotations that prevented her getting the right sponsorship.  And then the ascension of the truly hopeless Giovanna Amati (who went the castiong couch route - sleeping with Niki Lauda and Flavio.  As well as Tommy Byrne.  And, possibly, her teenage kidnapper) probably put women in F1 back decades.

[Yoshi]

I'll never understand why they've built the new start/finish-area. Copse/Maggots/Becketts were amazing opening corners, instead now we have the standard slow combination, and the fast, great Bridge/Priory sequence is lost, too.

 

+1  

I miss the old layout.

[billm99uk]

I don't particularly mind her getting a chance (even if there are 100's of male drivers who deserve it more on merit) because there have been a few tuggers who have got F1 tests for PR reasons over the years, usually for being the "right" nationality. But I really dread all the gushing articles from people who know nothing about the sport implying that Susie is some great talent, only kept back by the nasty sexism of the all-male club of F1...

Edited by billm99uk, 04 July 2014 - 08:36.

[LuckyStrike1]

She will drive her laps. 

 

She will be slower than the other Williams driver

 

She will post photos on Instagram

 

She will be happy

[Victor_RO]

Live forum link: http://live.autospor...tary.php/id/752

[uzsjgb]

 I think it's important not to see her as a female driver but just as the girlfriend of a shareholder of Williams.

 

Since Wolff is married to one of the shareholders at Williams (her last name might have given you a clue), are you suggesting she is having an affair with another shareholder of Williams?

 

Or was your post just an attempt at publicly proving to us that you are as ignorant about Formula 1 facts, as you are about women?

[Lights]

Thanks Johnnie Walker for writing 'John' on the side of Jenson's helmet while his visor is up.

[Lazy]

Since Wolff is married to one of the shareholders at Williams (her last name might have given you a clue), are you suggesting she is having an affair with another shareholder of Williams?
 
Or was your post just an attempt at publicly proving to us that you are as ignorant about Formula 1 facts, as you are about women?

I think he's sold his shares now.

[DS27]

I think she will finish last or in the gravel, but i'm a sexist pig.

[DracoN]

lol 

 Well done  susie

[Radion]

After setting a time that's half a second faster than the mercedes', she'll get the racing seat of felipe and go on to win the race. 

[Francesc]

LOOOL

[Radion]

What happened? 

[dreamer]

What happened? 

 

oil pressure

[4MEN]

Since Wolff is married to one of the shareholders at Williams (her last name might have given you a clue), are you suggesting she is having an affair with another shareholder of Williams?

 

Or was your post just an attempt at publicly proving to us that you are as ignorant about Formula 1 facts, as you are about women?

This joke has been done. Married, girlfriend, partner... I don't give a s***. In case your superior intelligence is not enough, I'll tell you my point: she is just doing "a Chilton".

[Roscoe]

Issue with the car, but obviously as she's a woman a few have decided it must be her fault.

 

Bet this crash won't be Felipe's fault though.

[Lights]

Smart move Felipe.