Sophia Floersch lashes out at FIA's "gender segregation" in latest esports development

Former Indy NXT driver Sophia Floersch recently came out and bashed the FIA as the motorsports association announced the latest development in eSports. The German driver took to social media platform X on April 25 and reacted to FIA’s tweet.

FIA announced the launch of a global eSports competition for girls and women above the age of 16 on April 24. The competition was launched to promote women in the field of motorsport eSports and the initiative was named Girls On Track Rising Star (Esports Edition).

However, Sophia Floersch lashed out at the FIA for gender segregation. The former Indy NXT driver suggested that eSports isn't a sport about physicality, and hence segregation based on gender wasn't necessary.

“Segregation continues. So why aren't girls able to play computer games against boys? Sad development. Esport is not boxing, not swimming, not running. I think it's more a performance of the brain, reaction and concentration. Training is probably the most decisive factor. Why is the FIA pushing this gender segregation?,” read Sophia Floersch’s tweet.

According to FIA’s announcement, the eSports competition for women will be run in partnership with racing simulation rig manufacturer Advance SimRacing and racing simulation game iRacing.

To get started for the competition, the participants need to sign up on the FIA website and set up their iRacing account. The participants will then be required to set the fastest lap times in the Time Attack mode on the simulator.

According to FIA’s tweet, “Anyone can compete no matter where they live or what eSports experience they have. The top ten best competitors will be taken to Macau to compete in a live multi-day final at the 2025 FIA Extraordinary General Assemblies week.”

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Sophia Floersch shares a message on LinkedIn following Indy NXT departure

Sophia Floersch signed with HMD Motorsports for the 2025 Indy NXT season. However, soon after the first race at St. Petersburg, the team announced that it would be parting ways with Sophia Floersch. While the reason wasn't confirmed by the team, sources suggested that it was the sponsorship money.

The German driver took to LinkedIn and posted a cryptic update about a change just a couple of weeks after announcing her departure from the team. The post read,

“What does change really mean? Is it always a bad thing? I think a lot of people only perceive it that way because we are creatures of habit and prefer to do everything the way we've always done it. But change is above all a great opportunity!”

Sophia Floersch hasn't yet confirmed if she will be racing in any other series for the remainder of the 2025 racing season. The 24-year-old formerly raced in the junior Formula categories and the European Le Mans series.