Vettel accuses F1 boss Domenicali of insensitive language on female drivers
The Hindu
Stefano Domenicali says he does not see a female driver in F1 in the next five years
Sebastian Vettel accused Formula One boss Stefano Domenicali of being thoughtless and using insensitive language when he suggested there was little prospect for female drivers in the sport.
Speaking to reporters at the Belgian Grand Prix, Aston Martin’s retirement-bound four-time world champion said the Italian former Ferrari chief had used “a very unlucky choice of words”.
Domenicali told reporters on Wednesday that “realistically-speaking, unless there is something like a meteorite coming to Earth, I don’t see a girl coming into F1 in the next five years.”
He qualified his comment, but the words made unwelcome headlines according to Vettel even though Domenicali explained F1 was working on initiatives for greater equality and inclusion.
F1 is promoting the female-only W Series by running its races at grands prix this season.
“We believe that to be able to give a chance for girls to be at the same level with the guys, they need to be at the same age when they start to fight on the track,” said Domenicali, but his throwaway line could not be retracted.
Vettel knows Domenicali from his days at Ferrari and said his choice of words could dash the dreams of women.
He has worn India’s blues, albeit in an Under-19 World Cup, with K.L. Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat as his teammates. He has proudly adorned the Lion’s Crest — the famed Mumbai cricket logo — in all three formats. He has played with Yuvraj Singh, against Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid and has the likes of Rahul and Joe Root in his illustrious list of dismissals. He is also a software developer for an IT giant, based in California. Virtually every middle-class Indian over the last three decades at some stage dreams of being either a cricketer or an IT professional. Saurabh Netravalkar has been combining two dreams, even after relocating to USA to pursue academics at the prestigious Cornell University in 2015.