Former F1 test driver Susie Wolff said that her "new initiative to increase the number of women in motorsport is not just about unearthing a female Formula 1 driver," according to Andrew Benson of the BBC. The 33-year-old Scot, who retired from racing in November, "launched Dare To Be Different on Thursday." She "aims to promote women in motorsport as well as branching out into other areas of life." She said, "The most outstanding girl we find will get a scholarship in karting, but it is about much more than that. It is not about finding the next female world champion." She said that there were "lots of opportunities in F1 besides driving," adding that she started the scheme, being run in partnership with U.K. motorsport authority the Motor Sports Association, as part of a "burning desire to give something back." Wolff hopes the scheme will "build an online community of women from all over the world." Wolff: "It will connect them through a shared passion and empower them to become the next wave of role models, while also providing access to some of the most successful female names in the sport" (BBC, 1/14).
FEEL THE BERN: The PA reported F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone has claimed that a female driver "would not be taken seriously" in the sport. Ecclestone, who last year called for a women's series to run in tandem with the main grand prix schedule, "also suggested the sport may never see a female racer again." On Canadian network TSN, when asked if he anticipated the return of a female driver to the grid, Ecclestone said, "I doubt it. If there was somebody that was capable they wouldn't be taken seriously anyway, so they would never have a car that is capable of competing. There was a girl that was driving in GP3 for a whole season so it is not something that hasn't happened" (PA, 1/14).
