“Very unlikely” F1 will have a female driver within the next five years

In brief

Domenicali working on age equalisation between genders on ladder to F1

Stefano Domenicali, the chief executive officer of Formula 1, does not expect a female driver to arrive in F1 over the next five years. However he said the championship is working to increase the chances of it happening soon.

“We are trying to understand how we can, let’s say prepare the right parameters. Also for the girls to come into the pyramid at the right age with the right car,” he said. “Because this is really the key point.”

F1 is being supported at some races this year by W Series, which Jamie Chadwick is on course to win for the third season in a row. “We are very happy with the collaboration with W Series, but we believe that in order to be able to give the chance to girls to be at the same level of competition with the guys, they need to be at more or less the same age,” said Domenicali. “Then they can start to fight on the track at the level of Formula 3 and Formula 2.

“So we are working on that in order to see what we can do in order to improve the system, and you will see as soon some action.

“What I can say on the other hand, realistically speaking, I don’t see, unless something that will be like a sort of meteor coming into the earth, a girl in F1 in the next five years. That is very unlikely.”

Calderon replaces Bolukbasi in F2

Formula 2 will have a female driver on the grid at Spa this weekend, as Charouz Racing System have replaced Cem Bolukbasi with Tatiana Calderon for the rest of the season.

Former Esports driver Bolukbasi joined Charouz this year after winning in Euroformula in 2021, but struggled to adapt to F2 and suffered a concussion early in the season. He was forced to miss four races and failed to score before his contract was “terminated by mutual consent” ahead of the Spa round.

Calderon, who raced in F2 in 2019 and also failed to score, arrives in the paddock after the funding for her part-time IndyCar drive with AJ Foyt Racing ended. She spent 2020 and 2021 racing in Super Formula, before moving to IndyCar for road and street course-based rookie campaign.

“I’m really excited about my return to the F2 championship, I still can’t believe I’m back,” Calderon said. “It’s been a long while since I drove the car, but it is an amazing opportunity…