It seems like a good time to elicit some meaningful comment about the role women are playing, and have played, in F1, not only as potential drivers but also as engineers and as team principals.

So, if you’re a staffer, or a student/post grad thinking of entering the sport, let me know what you think I should be covering as a journalist to bring you: profiles, opinions, general features…

Claire Williams at the German Grand Prix, Hockenheim – 30 July, 2016.

This subject hasn’t really been reported in any meaningful way for quite a while and I’d like to get behind some of the issues. For example, does the paying public want to see women drivers on track? I would have thought so, but a poll carried out by pitpass.com (“Do you want to see women racing in F1?”) shows 54.14 per cent don’t, compared with 43.31 per cent who do.

We’ve seen Williams’ Susie Wolff represent a new generation of female driver with the attitude and skills to make it in the sport. These teams are also run by women – the first female team principal in F1, Monisha Kaltenborn (Sauber), and Williams’ deputy principal, Claire Williams.

Now Susie Wolff and The Motor Sports Association have joined forces to launch Dare To Be Different, a high-profile new initiative that will inspire, connect and celebrate women who work in every aspect of motor sport.

C