“It's not important to me” - Danica Patrick sticks to her stance on the subject of finding a female F1 driver

IndyCar legend Danica Patrick recently shared her perspective on the idea of creating a separate racing category specifically for female racing drivers. She said that she doesn't believe this approach is the way forward.

In recent years, F1 and FIA have made various efforts to promote female participation in elite motorsport categories, with initiatives like the W Series and the F1 Academy led by Susie Wolff. But while appearing on the Sky F1 podcast, Danica Patrick said:

“Well, you’re assuming I want that, you’re assuming that that is important to me, and it’s not. It’s always like an interesting stance I have on it. I think that what makes a sport really popular is great racing. You can have half the field out there [be] women, and have it be follow-the-leader, and it’s not going to be interesting to watch.

“Good racing – and that’s what we have so much of these days in F1 – I mean pretty much everything other than Max is a toss-up for who’s going to be really good, to see who’s gonna be second, third, fourth, fifth that weekend."

Danica Patrick on the importance of racing against male drivers

Danica Patrick also said it is very important for female racing drivers to race against their male counterparts so that they have the opportunity to compete against the best in the field.

“If you bench[mark] yourself off of something that’s not the best, then it’s gonna affect your effort level, your mental goal, like what you envision yourself doing. So you really have to put yourself in the toughest situations, and you might as well do it early because it’s only going to get harder," she said.

"Giving proper tests to be able to see if a driver, if a female is fast enough, is a great way to know if there should be a next step forward. But, as far as anything beyond that, I think they should be racing with the guys, there’s risk racing in the same series. They’ve just got to get people around them that believe in them," she added.

Danica Patrick's stance on this issue stems from her own experience as a trailblazing female racing driver. Having competed against the best in the motorsport world, she believes that her viewpoint is rooted in practical understanding and firsthand knowledge of the challenges and opportunities that female drivers face.