F1 PUNDIT

What we need is some top female racing talent to go with the Hamiltons of the F1 world

SO, FORMULA 1 IS DONE FOR ANOTHER year, and again, Mercedes won. Ferrari faltered for a third season in succession due to a combination of unforced driver errors and a late-summer package of aerodynamic improvements that unexpectedly made the car unstable. Apart from that, it was fantastic.

In making those errors, Sebastian Vettel’s currency suffered a devaluation this year. Skidding into a gravel trap during a rain shower while in the lead of his home race in Germany hurt, but was at least explainable and understandable. Spinning while putting moves on Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in Italy and Japan, less so.

Vettel blamed the spins on the front of his Ferrari hitting a pocket of turbulent air and suddenly losing downforce, which might be true, but so might simply coming off worse against the two hardest racers on the grid.

And that’s the point about Vettel – he’s not a bare-knuckle fighter like Verstappen or Hamilton – he’s a worker. He chips away at the car’s set-up, saves his best ’till last in qualifying and tries to dominate from the front. Whether his reliance on hard work will be tested further by the naturally talented Charles Leclerc in the other Ferrari next year remains to be seen.

But take nothing away from Lewis Hamilton, who now has five world titles to his name and shows no sign of stopping there. Hamilton’s win was celebrated for a day then quickly forgotten in Britain, prompting a bit of online debate as to whether Lewis is appreciated by the great British public in the same way as other quintuple champions such as Steve Redgrave, Chris Hoy and Mo Farah, all of whom have been honoured with knighthoods for their achievements.

‘Phenomenal driver, bit of a wally’, seems to be a common opinion I hear on Lewis. Why? Could be jealousy – of his ability, lifestyle, wealth, looks and freedom to do exactly what he wants. There could also be a racist element: morons may think that just because there haven’t been many, black men don’t belong in motorsport, a view Hamilton witnessed at the beginning of his career. These views will rightly die off soon enough, but is there a feeling that Hamilton isn’t really ‘one of us’ Brits anymore? Born and bred in Hertfordshire, Lewis now lives the international life, mixing up his famous friends as frequently as his fashions. But you can’t say that lifestyle isn’t working for him and would we really think him more sympathetic if he still lived in Stevenage?

Certainly he is the only F1 driver with international recognition. Max Verstappen could walk the length of Fifth Avenue and only be recognised by the odd Dutch tourist, whereas Hamilton spends more time in New York than Donald Trump and remains F1’s only global superstar.

What the sport really needs is a competitive female driver. For 20 years or so, none have graduated into Formula 1, but one is getting close. Colombia’s Tatiana Calderón had half a day’s test in the current Sauber and acquitted herself well. One of the very few things she struggled with was spotting the same braking points as the race drivers, but that was largely inexperience rather than a physical issue.

Tatiana made the point that as women have 30 per cent less muscle mass than men, she has to work harder to end up with the core strength needed to race in F1. Being at the top of women’s motorsport, Calderón doesn’t need the help of the new W Series, a Formula 3-level championship just for women.

The concept addresses a frequent final hurdle for female drivers, that they struggle to raise a budget to pay for a season in a good car to show what they can do. Therefore the winner of the W Series will pocket around a million quid to fund a drive in International F3 or F2, alongside men. It’s come in for the usual criticism for discouraging women to compete on equal terms with men, but while the likes of Calderón and Jamie Chadwick are leading the way, few are breaking through to the top, so what’s to lose?

One last thing, there’s going to be a Vietnamese Grand Prix in 2020 as F1 expands in (takes more money from) Asia. It’ll be a street track in Hanoi and aims to create jobs and attract international tourist money in a similar way to Singapore. But the promoter paying for the race, Vingroup, has more ambitious objectives, building up, as it is, its VinFast car range, recently launched in Paris. Using Formula 1’s global reach, the Vietnamese Grand Prix will be the perfect opportunity to tell the world about Vingroup’s products.

Although if it’s brand awareness it’s after, Vingroup should get busy finding and training a female Vietnamese racing driver. Or sign up Lewis Hamilton. Or both! ⌧

‘Hamilton spends more time in New York than

Trump and remains F1’s only global superstar’