939 replies to this topic

[BobbyRicky]

You're stating the obvious.  No one racing cars comes from a working class background, as they did - occasionally - in the past.  Everyone in the UK knew Chadwick had money from the first time she opened her mouth.

 

Esteban Ocon does. He is still quite young in this racey-car-business.

[Dick Dastardly]

I hope Jamie Chadwick doesn't return to W Series next year.....she's the only winner of the 2 championships so far, has nothing left to prove by returning for a 3rd go. If she accepts the superlicence points, she can't return anyway...Better to use those and the $0.5 million prize fund and use that elsewhere,  

[SouthF1]

It raises a question though why she didn't make the cut initially.

Regarding calendar I think W Series shouldn't be supporting one series only but instead multiple ones with one or two races each.

For example next year F1 races in Miami, IndyCar races in Barber one week earlier. So W Series could support both on the same trip. Then have a race with DTM, WEC and so on.

Might be too much travelling. Also more weekends might clash with their other racings series they might have on the side.

I'd rather have half the weekends and do two races each time instead.

[BRG]

It raises a question though why she didn't make the cut initially.

 

She was barely out of karting when they picked drivers for 2019.  She was still only 17 when they were picking the 2021 grid, and she was taken on as reserve driver and did the pre-season test.  For some reason, W Series chose the likes of Piria.  Maybe there were too many Brits - we are rather over-represented.  

[Ben1445]

'IndyLights team sorting out their 2022 budget seeks recent W Series cash prize winner' 

 

[Muppetmad]

Chadwick going to IndyLights would be a great thing for everyone involved 

[PayasYouRace]

amazing how Pulling as a stand-in collected this many points

 

 

 

 

if I'm not mistaken, last time around the top 10 was invited back while 11-20 were dismissed and new drivers and testing days were scheduled for next season.

 

Top 8 for next year.

[Fastcake]

Jaime Chadwick needs to go somewhere, both for the credibility of W Series and Chadwick's own future. After two years in something that is meant to be a stepping stone, hanging around any longer isn't helpful for anyone. Any series that can be seen as a step up from F3 will do.

 

It exposes the problems in the talent ladder.  Surely Alice Powell is more worthy of sponsorship than Deledda or Ranganathan.  And there are others more worthy of sponsorship than her.  It beggars belief that the budget for a full season in a spec formula F2 is three million bucks.  You could have bought a seventies F1 car for the modern equivalent of one-sixth of that.  Drop the budget to £500k and open up the entry list to anyone who turns up and we'll see the Deleddas driven out by proper drivers.

The Deledda's of the world aren't doing it on sponsorship anymore though. It's all on daddy's money. Which is the big problem, because as long as clueless parents are happy to waste millions on their talentless offspring, they can just keep spending and raise the costs for everyone.

 

That was the Stroll issue. Once a billionaire came in to F3 and brought his son his own team, a testing track and private upgrades, it destroyed it for everyone else. Now at least Stroll can occasionally trouble the podium, but even a slightly more talented Deledda could be pushed ahead of others just scraping it in as long as they still get family cash.

[ensign14]

The point being that with a proper spec series - i.e. you turn up and drive, all prep is centralized - a Deledda cannot outspend anyone else.  And has to take his chances on performance.  If there were an effective licensing system, Deledda would not have been allowed up to F2.  Or F3, come to that.  In fact, I'd think twice before letting him loose on a Scalextric.

[balage06]

Interesting: https://www.motorspo...nxiety/6714240/

[Muppetmad]

I am glad drivers are starting to speak more openly about their mental health. With so much on the line, I could only imagine the challenges drivers must endure while moving through the ranks and challenging for titles (or not - and the implications of that).

[statman]

Jamie Chadwick and Alice Powell to join Richard Mille Racing for Bahrain Rookie Test on November 7th

[BRG]

Indy Lights or WEC sounds the sensible course.  Neither Alice nor Jamie are potential F1 material if we are honest.  Nothing to be ashamed of, 99.9999% of drivers aren't.

[Rodaknee]

Abbie Eaton interview post US GP accident

 

[paulb]

Abbie Eaton interview post US GP accident

 

We saw the incident from Grandstand 12. It appeared very odd. Wish her a speedy recovery.

Edited by paulb, 22 November 2021 - 23:21.

[jonpollak]

A complete Indictment of those damn sausages.
We need an ‘Abby’s Rule’

Jp

[thiscocks]

I am glad drivers are starting to speak more openly about their mental health. With so much on the line, I could only imagine the challenges drivers must endure while moving through the ranks and challenging for titles (or not - and the implications of that).

Yeah, must be terrible participating in a sport you love in which thousands of people without the opportunities would love to be in your position.

[Ross Stonefeld]

That's also the wrong approach.

 

 

But so often with these mental health claims we need more context. There's a certain amount of anxiety and stress that's built into being a professional sportsperson, particularly driving a race car, so what is 'normal' for this scenario? 

[cpbell]

Yeah, must be terrible participating in a sport you love in which thousands of people without the opportunities would love to be in your position.

That has nothing to do with mental health problems, though.  It's these sort of outdated and thoughtless viewpoints that lead to mental health problems still being something that people don't discuss.  Success and wealth don't prevent people from having difficulties with their mental health.

[BRG]

The pendulum has swung too far on 'mental health'.   From shell-shocked WW1 soldiers being institutionalised, if they hadn't been shot for 'cowardice', we now have people bleating about their mental health because they haven't been able to have their fortnight in Ibiza for a couple of years.  It has become the latest fashion, with everyone from royalty to your next door neighbour agonising over mental health.  Apparently lockdown with having to stay at home and not go to work or the pub has caused us all severe mental trauma.

 

Abbie on the other hand has something a bit more tangible to deal with. 

[thiscocks]

Agree. There is a BIG difference between being upset (usually due to external influences) and actually having a diagnosed mental illness which more often is apparent from early adulthood. I fear most people you hear of in the media as suddenly having 'mental health' issues is people basically being upset. 

[cpbell]

The pendulum has swung too far on 'mental health'.   From shell-shocked WW1 soldiers being institutionalised, if they hadn't been shot for 'cowardice', we now have people bleating about their mental health because they haven't been able to have their fortnight in Ibiza for a couple of years.  It has become the latest fashion, with everyone from royalty to your next door neighbour agonising over mental health.  Apparently lockdown with having to stay at home and not go to work or the pub has caused us all severe mental trauma.

 

Abbie on the other hand has something a bit more tangible to deal with. 

I don't think any reasonable person would deny that some people will claim mental health problems purely to gain sympathy or attention, but I do also think it's dangerous to assume that the actual level of mental health conditions in  the population now was accurately represented by known figures at some point in the past and, therefore, any increase since then is simply malingering. 

[cpbell]

Getting back to the matter at hand, I don't think it's helpful or appropriate for a forum mostly comprising men to tell a woman who none of us knows that her anxiety isn't real.  It feels to me as though we're working on assumptions that the life of a racing driver never involves extreme pressure or that racing drivers are always able to deal with it, and that somehow we can enlighten the womenfolk from our position as men.  Fear, or at least, the near and present threat of death in motorsport history has caused more than one top-level male driver to retire - my thoughts turn to Tony Brooks, who, for religious and family reasons (becoming a husband and a father) felt at the end of 1961 that the risks were no longer acceptable to him as he feared leaving his family behind should he be killed.  Indeed, in his autobiography, he admits that he rarely pushed the limits of himself or his car in the way that others of his era sometimes did, even before marriage, as he felt that putting one's life at risk carelessly was morally and religiously unacceptable.  I wonder whether, in this era of social media, he would have been regarded as being mentally weak or inventing a reason for 'under-performing' these days.

Edited by cpbell, 23 November 2021 - 17:01.

[balage06]

Oh, I've seen her accident, but I was not aware her injuries are so significant. I've got back pain by just watching the interview.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Getting back to the matter at hand, I don't think it's helpful or appropriate for a forum mostly comprising men to tell a woman who none of us knows that her anxiety isn't real. 

 

I don't see it as a male vs female thing but a civillian vs sporting thing. Like, I'm sure most professional sports people have some sort of anxiety. It's the nature of the game. But if you take away those scenarios does the issue remain. 

[cpbell]

I don't see it as a male vs female thing but a civillian vs sporting thing. Like, I'm sure most professional sports people have some sort of anxiety. It's the nature of the game. But if you take away those scenarios does the issue remain. 

There's also the curve of concentration, where some adrenaline and anxiety is a positive as it improves performance.  It' s when it causes problems that it needs to be addressed.

[Ben1445]

I must say, I was thinking that the nature in which Marta withdrew didn’t necessarily indicate a sport/pressure induced issue. She said in an Instagram post that she’s been suffering from anxiety for a long time and that it had been ‘following’ her throughout the season.

Anyone who’s been in the position of taking the time to understand and support perhaps a friend or family member who has anxiety I think would recognise that this is something which can affect people in practically every aspect of their lives no matter what external pressures or stimuli are applied. It is a medically recognised condition which you can receive a diagnosis for - a situation which for all we know may very well apply to Marta.

If Marta ever wants to elaborate further on her health and her decision I would be interested to hear about it. But ultimately it is her call how she decides to go about this and how much she wants to share.

If the proverbial pendulum which may or may not be swinging too far is governed by the accompanying analogous physics, it will swing back towards a sensible equilibrium in due course. Its just what happens after something disturbs the status quo - in this case society becoming more open towards and knowledgeable about issues of mental health.

(https://www.instagra...edium=copy_link)

[PayasYouRace]

Anxiety is a tough one to articulate to others. Last year in my old job it was starting to affect me in a serious way, but I only realised after I had been suffering for a long time and actually spoke to someone about it, which lead to consulting a medical professional and getting some good advice. Despite the additional stress of quitting that job with a required long notice period, and having to search for a new one, I was already feeling a lot better. Now settled in my new job for a few months, it's like I'm a new me.

 

It's time we got past this idea that mental health issues are only something that affects people who are down on their luck or unsuccessful. We especially need to bury ideas like this:

 

 

Yeah, must be terrible participating in a sport you love in which thousands of people without the opportunities would love to be in your position.

 

As if having a sought after career should make your brain immune to mental health problems.

[pdac]

A lot of mental health issues have to do with expectations. It's no surprise to me that these kind of problems have increased since retailers of good and services have focused their advertising on portraying a lifestyle that their offerings fit into and implying that if you don't have that lifestyle, you're an inferior person.

[Sterzo]

A pleasant article by Megan White about Alice Powell on the Autosport site, here for those of you with access:

 

https://www.autospor...ampion/6842210/

 

Megan White emphasises what a stop-start career Powell has had, and how race-rustiness is a recurring theme. White is guilty of an error, in not mentioning Powell's  five wins in MSV's 2013 club F3 series in Britain, nor her racing in the 2015 MSF series in the Middle East. Nevertheless her theme holds true.

 

I either didn't know, or had forgotten, that she and Jamie Chadwick shared an LMP2 car at last month's WEC test in Bahrain. Oh for access to the data, and some comments from an indiscreet engineer...

[BRG]

 

I either didn't know, or had forgotten, that she and Jamie Chadwick shared an LMP2 car at last month's WEC test in Bahrain. Oh for access to the data, and some comments from an indiscreet engineer...

Powell a gnat's quicker than Chadwick in the Richard Mille car, but Sophia Floersch (for WRT) was a lot faster. Can't find a full table of times though.

 

Powell also drove in the Formula E test at Valencia, and satisfyingly beat Dick Tantrum. 

[jonpollak]

Well, It's finally happened.

An Internet "Influencer"is attempting to race in the W series next year.

 

Please welcome Lindsey Brewer !!!

 

Jp

[ensign14]

To be fair, she's had more races than former Champcar entrant Payton Tapp Watkins.

[Ross Stonefeld]

https://www.forbes.c...danica-patrick/

[ensign14]

Betteridge's Law of Headlines refers.

[Sterzo]

The British Women's Racing Drivers' Club is holding an awards ceremony in February, at which it will award its senior Gold Star to Alice Powell for her performances in 2021 W Series.

 

(Source: paper Autosport 20/1/22).

[Izzyeviel]

Well, It's finally happened.

An Internet "Influencer"is attempting to race in the W series next year.

 

Please welcome Lindsey Brewer !!!

 

Jp

 Is she a chadwick or a carmen? That is thy question.

[jonpollak]

Dunno….
They are doing the auditions in Arizona so ask Ross

Jp

[BRG]

 Is she a chadwick or a carmen? That is thy question.

Judging by her 'Look at Me! Look at Me!' pictures, she is a Carmen.  But maybe she can drive as well.

[Jellyfishcake]

Not that it's 100% perfect, but this doesn't imply she's been doing a lot of actual racing lately.

https://www.driverdb...lindsay-brewer/