Sarah Fisher to drive McLaren

[nichosnz 0]

The American Sarah Fisher will become the 6th woman in history to drive a F1 car, during an F1 race weekend. She will give a demonstration run around the Indy circuit of the McLaren MP4/17.

For a matter of interest the other Woman were,

Maria Teresa de Filippis, Italian;

1958 Maserati: Monaco (DNQ), Belgium (Qualify 19, Finish 10), Portugal (Q 15, DNF), Italy (Q 21, DNF)

1959 Porsche: Monaco (DNQ)

Lella Lombardi, Italian;

1974 Brabham: Great Britain (DNQ)

1975 March: South Africa (Q 26, DNF), Spain (Q 24, F 6), Monaco (DNQ), Belgium (Q 23, DNF), Sweden (Q 24, DNF), Netherlands (Q 23, F 14), France (Q 26, F 18), Great Britain (Q 22, DNF), Germany (Q 25, F 7), Austria (Q 21, F 17), Italy (Q 24, DNF)

1975 Williams: USA (Q 24, DNS)

1976 March: Brazil (Q 22, F 14)

1976 Brabham: Great Britain (DNQ), Germany (DNQ), Austria (Q24, F 12)

Divina Galica, British(English);

1976 Surtees: Great Britain (DNQ)

1978 Hesketh: South Africa (DNQ), Brazil (DNQ)

Desire Wilson, South African;

1980 Williams: Great Britain (DNQ)

Giovanni Amati, Italian;

1992 Brabham: South Africa (DNQ), Mexico (DNQ), Brazil (DNQ)

Note:

Spain 1975, When Lella Lombardi finished 6th she only got half a point. This is because the race was stopped early due to Rolf Stommelen's accident, so half points were awarded. The accident nearly killed him and did kill 5 spectators.

Great Britain 1976, The only race where 2 woman were entered, neither qualified.

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

Not a very good F1 history in F1 for women I have to say. I see a lot of DNQ and DNF, but at least Lombardi scored a point!

I think it will be interesting to see Fisher in the car next week, but I am wondering if the team will limit something on the car to make her not crash it, as it is a spare. Accidents do happen..

[nichosnz 0]

To be fair;

both de Filippis' DNF's were technical (Engine and Connecting Rod)

Lombardi had 2 engine problem, 1 fuel line, 1 ignition only one accident

and Amati got replaced by Damon Hill who DNQ'd 5 times before qualifing, Brabham only gave Amati 3 chances.

I'll have to find a clip of Fisher on the net once it has happened it won't get shown over here.

[rodders47 2]

hey Nichos and Jen, you both have a DICTIONARY of F1 in your head, I sure don't remember HALF of what you guys do, maybe I just watch the race and say Oh um so & so won (lately M.S.) I sure don't recall all the other stuff :-)

I MUST be getting old hehehehehehe

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

I have never seen a woman drive an F1 car, 92 was a year before I started to follow F1. If Damon DNQ'd five times compared to Amati's three, then I think it would likely have been a car problem am I right?

[nichosnz 0]

92 was before me too, and yes the Brabham was very slow, that year ended up being their final season.

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

I knew of Brabham, didnt they actually have some successful seasons way back when?

[nichosnz 0]

Yes they won the DWC, twice under Ecclestone (see Ecclestone to buy Ferrari) 1981 and 1983 with Nelson Piquet, and twice under Jack Brabham in 1966 with Jack Brabham and 1967 with Denny Hulme. In 1966 and 67 they won the CWC also.

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

Probably the modernization of F1 was too much for them, or what caused them to fold? I couldn't imagine a team such as Williams for example racing real low on the grid and then going under..

[nichosnz 0]

Budget, they had trouble getting top sponsors, same as Lotus.

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

Reminds me a lot of Arrows, though they have had Orange as a top sponsor since 2000.

[nichosnz 0]

Orange still sponsor for an awful lot less than Malboro, Fiat, or Vodafone each do. And that is only talking about one team what about Williams, McLaren, BAR, Toyota, Jaguar. I don't think Orange is a top sponsor even though they were Arrows major sponsor.

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

No, but they did put a lot of money into the team. Arrows though had an even smaller budget than Minardi, so it was only a matter of time until they ran out of cash. Mclaren needs to find a new main sponsor before the tobacco ban kicks in, as do a lot of other teams.

[nichosnz 0]

I think BAR will have the biggest issues in that respect.

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

Very true considering BAT is a shareholder. That is why I think David Richards was brought into the team, as he can get some very good things done through his rally connections into Prodrive and Subaru. Who knows, BAR may end up being the Subaru team.

[nichosnz 0]

And by then Honda will have a competitive engine and Sauber or Minardi can get a works Honda deal.

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

I dont know about Honda, they really havent improved at all since the start of the year.

[nichosnz 0]

Despite, slow starts before Honda has shown well in F1 on the past they must be able to reclaim that past glory.

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

Things though are very different know than what they were back in the late 80s early 90s. It will take a while for Honda to catch up.

[nichosnz 0]

Yes, but I would be supprised if they give up before they get there though.

[daz 0]

I've gotta agree that Honda has being having a pretty horrendous season so far. However I have heard that they have made some serious HP gains of late, and that now its a matter of sorting out their reliability problems. Overall - I'd give them a chance because I think they're serious about eventually getting a championship winning motor under their belt. It would most likely take another 3+ years though before I'd say they're close to matching the BMW/Ferrari powerplants though.

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

It will take time. But they could pull out because F1 is more politics now, and if the engine isnt going well they may decide to take that money and put it towards other motor racing/street cars.

[nichosnz 0]

I agree with daz, I don't think they will give up. Unless maybe they get as 'good' as the Yamaha was.

[TotalF1 Jens 0]

To be honest though, the Toyota engine has shown up the Honda this year. Toyota could well have gotten into F1 as an engine supplier and theyd be doing great now with a team like Mclaren for example.

[nichosnz 0]

Have they Honda 3.25 points per car Toyota 1 point per car.

And that looks pretty pitiful compaired to Ferrari 6.3 points per car per race.