Two of the leading organisations for the betterment of female racing drivers, F1 Academy and More than Equal have joined forces.

F1 Academy, in its third season, is a Formula 4 level female-only world championship with backing from all 10 Formula 1 teams plus several globally recognised brands.

More than Equal meanwhile, is a female-focussed driver development initiative conducting groundbreaking research and data-driven research methods to unearth, develop and nurture the first female F1 champion.

As of Friday, More than Equal becomes the Official Driver Performance & Research Partner for F1 Academy and will provide “expert, research-driven, insights that will help to develop the physical and mental performance of female drivers in F1 Academy and senior karting categories.”

Tom Stanton, CEO and Head of Driver Development at More than Equal said “This partnership represents a major step forward in creating a clear, data-driven pathway for female drivers. 

“By combining More than Equal’s expertise in research and performance with F1 Academy’s commitment to driver progression, we are ensuring that talented young women receive the support they need at every stage of their motorsport journey.”

F1 Academy Managing Director joins More than Equal board

More than Equal will collaborate with F1 Academy on research initiatives and devise a structured plan to guide female drivers through their development.

F1 Academy Managing Director Susie Wolff takes up a position on the More than Equal advisory board as part of the partnership, which will see a dedicated physiotherapist provided to the all-female racing series throughout the year.

“More than Equal is fueling meaningful progress with insightful, industry-leading research,” said Wolff. 

“By coming together, and with the committed support of More than Equal, we will be an even stronger force for positive change in motorsport – with action, not just words.”

Dr. Fran Longstaff, Head of Research at More than Equal, added: “If we want to see real change in female participation at the highest levels of motorsport, we need to take an evidence-based approach. 

“Our research will provide the data and insights needed to shape effective talent development strategies, ensuring female drivers have the right support structures in place to succeed.”

READ MORE – More than Equal unveils research on gender equality in Drag Racing

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13-time Grand Prix winner David Coulthard has rubbished claims that women don’t have the physical capabilities to compete in Formula 1.

Coulthard is well-placed to comment on female participation in motorsport as co-founder of More than Equal, an initiative dedicated to unearthing and developing the first female F1 world champion.

More than Equal has taken a scientific, data-driven approach to addressing gender imbalances in motorsport, and its young cohort of development drivers has undergone a regime of physical, psychological and driving-based training.

The initiative has a gender-focused approach to developing its young racing athletes, acknowledging that young women develop in a completely different way from adolescent males.

Some critics believe that female drivers don’t have the physical capabilities to cope with the demands of F1, an intriguing notion that would be widely discredited by many.

For instance, the summer Olympics is a global showcase of the incredible physical achievements both male and female athletes can achieve.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Coulthard said of the prospects of a female driver racing again in F1: “Of course it will happen. Without question.”

On the topic of physical readiness, Coulthard rubbished any claims that a female driver wouldn’t be able to compete in F1.

“It’s utter bulls*** that women don’t have the strength to do it,” he said. 

“Anyone who doesn’t train doesn’t have what it takes to perform in motor racing — whether you’re a man or a woman.

“An untrained person doesn’t have the strength to do anything. 

“I’m 53 and I wouldn’t be able to drive an F1 car quickly for more than 10 laps in my physical condition, now that I’m on the other side of my peak fitness. 

“I had to train like an athlete twice a day, with a trainer, for years to be able to do my job.

“One of the things I saw with the W series was that we took the best women available to try and qualify to become part of the championship — and some of them just weren’t fit enough. I looked at them, going: ‘What’s your excuse for not training? You have to present yourself as being serious as a pro and that means training like an athlete.’

“Therein lies the issue. There’s no physical reason they can’t do it. 

“We know what it takes to be physically strong enough to be a racing driver and all of the data shows that women comfortably fit within that category of physical performance.”

The stopwatch will determine when women compete in F1

Assessing the landscape of female competitors in motorsport at the present moment, Coulthard pondered “the main thing is, are the ones driving right now good enough to make it? It’s not an opinion. It will be based on lap times.

“Ultimately, it’s the stopwatch that dictates things.”

Coulthard argues that the moment a female driver showcases the necessary speed to be worthy of an F1 opportunity, teams will jump at that chance.

“You can either do a fast lap time or you can’t,” he said.

“And, if that is the case, as I say to my son, you can join a long line of people with good excuses as to why they didn’t do a specific lap time — why this, why that. 

“Sport is about delivery.

“It’s not my opinion that there will be a woman in F1, It’s just a fact, but I can’t tell you right now who that person is. 

“I assure you that every single F1 team would sign someone up right now, if they thought they could get that person.”

Coulthard’s programme is in memory of his late sister

Coulthard’s More than Equal programme was born out of the memory of his late sister, Lynsay, who sadly passed away in 2013.

Lynsay was a successful karter herself, six years Coulthard’s junior but the family couldn’t afford to support both of their racing careers.

More than Equal will now provide drivers with the opportunity Coulthard’s sister Lynsay didn’t get.

“My sister raced karts,” Coulthard said. 

“She was fast, talented, won races, but she was six years younger than me and started racing at eight.

“When I moved on to cars, I got signed to Paul Stewart racing, and was then tested for Williams at 18, 19 years old. 

“We were then off on this magic carpet ride of European racing and, a few years later, I was an F1 driver. 

“So she just never got the support. She eventually stopped racing.

“I spoke to her about it a lot and she never resented it at all. 

“I just feel that she wasn’t given the same crack at it. 

“I can’t say she would ever have been a Formula One driver — who knows? 

“I can say, however, that she was talented enough to take that talent to some level of professionalism.

“So, my belief that women can compete in motor racing is based on personal experience — not on some sort of guilt or ideology.

“I’m invested in the growth of women in the sport in memory of my sister — who didn’t get to take the opportunities that I got, because the family couldn’t support us both. 

“I got the momentum, I always think that she never got the chance, so I have invested time, effort and money not in any one individual, but in a new system and science-based programme to have more of a data-driven approach.

“I believe in the ability for women to compete on an equal level in motor racing, but we just haven’t had anyone who has had exceptional talent. It’s this desire to have the exceptional that drives the teams forward.”

The female talent pool needs to grow in motorsport

One of the first actions Coulthard’s More than Equal programme took was to conduct global research into why female racing drivers weren’t prominent.

A key result of that research was the participation levels.

In 2023, More than Equal published its research which showed just 13 per cent of all karters are female.

For a female driver to reach F1, that percentage needs to grow to widen the talent pool.

The bigger the talent pool, the more likely an F1 gem will emerge.

Programmes like More than Equal are supporting this growth and the global visibility of the all-female F1 Academy series is also promoting an increased participation in karting by female drivers.

READ MORE – Exclusive: Kate Beavan on tackling the motorsport status quo with More Than Equal

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Formula E CEO Jeff Dodds and four-time Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen have each pledged $125,000 to worthwhile causes in light of an extraordinary sporting bet.

Amid Verstappen’s 2023 dominance and similarly strong start to 2024, Dodds made a ‘bet’ during an interview earlier in 2024 whereby he pledged Formula E would donate $250,000 to charity if the Dutchman didn’t win a fourth successive F1 title.

Verstappen scuppered those plans, but good to his word, Dodds corralled the Dutchman on a joint video call into splitting the $250,000 to charitable causes regardless.

Formula E’s donation is going to kickstart the development of furthering female participation in motorsport and the series is partnering with More than Equal to further research into gender equality in racing.

Verstappen’s half is going to Oracle Red Bull Racing charity Wings For Life, the not-for-profit foundation for spinal cord research.

Formula E and Max Verstappen comment on landmark donations

“What started as a very tongue-in-cheek ‘bet’ at the start of the season has evolved into a serious commitment to support gender equity within our Championship, with the ultimate goal of seeing women competing full-time in Formula E,” said Dodds.

“As a first step, the research we have commissioned in partnership with More Than Equal will help us better understand the barriers to entry that women currently face, and how specifically Formula E and our teams can provide greater parity, opportunities and inclusion at the top level of our championship.

“My thanks also go to Max and Oracle Red Bull Racing for committing half of the money from my original wager to Wings For Life to support the important work they do around spinal cord research.

“Congratulations to Max on his fourth-consecutive World Drivers’ Championship and we look forward to even more competitive racing next season.

“Meanwhile, the new Formula E season is already well underway and we’re excited to showcase more thrilling races, lots of exciting overtaking and fantastic wheel-to-wheel action for our fans across the globe.”

Verstappen said: “The charity closest to me is Wings For Life and I’m sure they’ll be very grateful; and to support any kind of motorsport and young talent is amazing, so I think it’s a great shout from you. Thank you very much Jeff, I wish you all the best of course, and I’ll be watching the championship during my time off!”

Dr. Fran Longstaff, Head of Research at More than Equal, said: “Formula E has demonstrated a strong commitment to developing and providing opportunities for female drivers, and we’re thrilled to partner with them on this important research initiative.

“This project will use our expertise to identify the key factors that contribute to success in this unique and rapidly evolving series, which demands a distinctive blend of skills and experience.

“By working closely with drivers, team managers, engineers, and other experts, we aim to translate these insights into actionable recommendations for driver development.”

Anita Gerhardter, CEO, Wings for Life, said: “A big thank you to Jeff Dodds, the entire Formula E team and Max Verstappen for this generous donation to Wings for Life.

“100% of the donation will go towards promising research projects around the world to help find a cure for spinal cord injury.”

READ MORE – Oliver Rowland ‘on a par’ with Max Verstappen, says former team-mate

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More than Equal has partnered with Europe’s leading drag racing venue Santa Pod Raceway and Women in Motorsports North America [WIMNA] to launch “a landmark white paper examining Drag Racing’s leadership in gender inclusivity.”

More than Equal is a global motorsport initiative launched with the target of unearthing and developing Formula 1’s first female world champion.

To do that, it has to address the gender imbalance in the wider motorsport world where only 7% of competitors in formula and GT racing are female.

However, that isn’t the case in the short-distance, high-power world of Drag Racing and More than Equal’s collaborative report – It’s Never Been A Thing: Lessons in Gender Equality from Drag Racing – seeks to uncover why the discipline has been able to achieve gender parity.

Women sadly only make up only 4% of elite competitors across disciplines, but in 2024 Drag Racing celebrated its 100th female event winner in the NHRA series.

The report “highlights six primary themes that help explain why and how Drag Racing has achieved excellence in female representation, including collaborative advocacy, cultural and structural advocacy, elite-level representation and engineering excellence.”

With its findings, the research then provides strategies for other motorsport disciplines to adopt in order to follow in Drag Racing’s groundbreaking footsteps.

More than Equal’s research findings can ‘drive meaningful change in motorsport’

“This research underscores More than Equal’s commitment to leveraging data and insights to drive meaningful change in motorsport,” said Dr. Fran Longstaff, Head of Research at More than Equal.

“By understanding what has worked in disciplines like Drag Racing, we can equip the drivers in our development programme with the knowledge and tools they need to overcome barriers and succeed at the highest levels.

“Collaborating with motorsports that have achieved gender parity is crucial to creating a more inclusive future for all drivers.” 

Richard Foster-Turner, Business Development Manager, Santa Pod Raceway / Trakbak Racing said: “It’s been decades since gender became a non-issue in Drag Racing. Our participants consider themselves purely racers.

“Nobody outside Drag Racing has been talking about this, but now with this white paper we are putting Drag Racing’s gender-equal credentials out there to stimulate discussion and follow-on research, and to help other motorsports work towards the same level of diversity.” 

Cindy Sisson, Executive Director, WIMNA added: “It has been an honour for WIMNA to participate in this study, as we have always admired the NHRA’s groundbreaking approach to promoting women in racing.

“From trailblazers like Paula Murphy and Shirley Muldowney, who shattered stereotypes and proved that women can not only compete at the highest levels but also dominate as champions, the NHRA has consistently led the charge in fostering gender equity in motorsports.

“These pioneers paved the way for future generations, and WIMNA is proud to continue building on this legacy by supporting and empowering women to achieve greatness on and off the track.

“Together, we celebrate the ongoing progress and reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that motorsports remain a space where everyone can thrive and succeed.” 

It’s Never Been A Thing: Lessons in Gender Equality from Drag Racing is available for download here.

READ MORE – More than Equal announce Manchester Met research partnership

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More than Equal announced on Thursday an exciting new partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University to pioneer female racing athlete research.

Through Manchester Met’s Institute of Sport, the new partnership set with More than Equal is unique, seeking to understand female racing drivers’ physiological and endocrinological demands.

More than Equal has become a pioneer in the female racing scene, setting its goal of unearthing and developing the first female Formula 1 world champion.

This process is being developed end to end, from karting through to single-seaters, with six drivers already selected for More than Equal’s initial Driver Development Programme.

It’s a common misconception that female athletes don’t have the physical tools to succeed in a racing environment.

A data-driven approach, spearheaded by Manchester Metropolitan’s Centre for Excellence for Women in Sport, will look to disprove that notion.

Performance, strength, power, cognition, endurance, nutrition and psychology will be key targets of the research with hunters of drivers set to be part of the project as it develops.

READ MORE: Exclusive: Kate Beavan on tackling the motorsport status quo with More Than Equal

“This partnership will not only support More than Equal’s mission to develop the first female F1 world champion, but will progress the knowledge and research in female health and performance for girls and women across all sports,” said Kirsty Elliott-Sale, Professor of Female Endocrinology and Exercise Physiology at Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport.

“Through our understanding of female-specific physiology, we can help these talented young drivers navigate the milestones ahead of them while better preparing them for a career at the pinnacle of elite sport.” 

More than Equal partnership will dispel ‘myths’ surrounding female drivers

Ali Donnelly, CEO at More than Equal added, “One of the myths we often hear is that women and girls are not physically or psychologically capable of competing at the highest levels of motorsport.

“We are delighted to partner with an esteemed research university to dispel these myths with scientific evidence.

“By understanding and optimising female physiology, we can tailor our development approach to meet the unique needs of our young drivers.

“This partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University will provide us with the insights and tools necessary to ensure our cohort is fully prepared to compete at the top of the sport.”

Complimenting the research are two PhD studentships at Manchester Met.

These will help pioneer discoveries in untapped fields of female driver research.

One is female driver health and performance and the other focuses on psychological, cognitive and physiological development of female drivers throughout their careers.

READ MORE: More than Equal and AVL RACETECH to offer sim training for female drivers

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More than Equal has partnered with AVL RACETECH to launch a joint initiative to develop female drivers by offering best-in-class sim training.

More than Equal is an organisation that aims to seek and nurture female talent in motorsport, often enrolling them in fully funded driver development programmes.

AVL RACETECH is a motorsport-dedicated department in the engineering and mobility company AVL which works within the motorsport industry.

The two organisations have recently announced a partnership to utilise More than Equal’s development drivers and place them in a simulator program.

More than Equal has six young female drivers in their program who will receive exclusive access to AVL’s driving simulators.

The drivers will have the chance to hone their skills on full-motion driving simulators with the guidance of AVL RACETECH engineers.

This opportunity based in Graz, Austria, will also allow the young female drivers to participate in race engineering workshops.

AVL Associated Driver Laura Bubenová has been selected for the program and shared: “I feel honoured to have the opportunity to further develop my skills with professionals from More than Equal and AVL RACETECH.”

There will be two dedicated AVL SIM Camps for More than Equal’s cohort of six 13-14-year-old female drivers across a range of disciplines.

AVL SIM Camps aim to broaden the drivers’ understanding of racing by teaching them more about mechanics, data analysis, and set-up while allowing them to practice their skills in the simulator.

More than Equal CEO Ali Donnelly said: “Supporting our female drivers as they transition from karting to F4 is not just about racing; it’s about empowering them with the tools, technology, and knowledge they need to excel.

“We are excited to partner with AVL RACETECH to offer hands-on engineering insights and personalized simulator training that will help them not only compete but thrive.

“We’re committed to fostering a new generation of talent, where female drivers have the opportunity to reach their full potential on and off the track.”

These SIM Camps will be incorporated into More than Equal’s systematic development program that is supported by AVL.

Hoping to scout and develop Formula 1’s first female champion, More than Equal and AVL RACETECH have supported many female drivers.

READ MORE: Exclusive: Kate Beavan on tackling the motorsport status quo with More Than Equal

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More Than Equal, the organisation dedicated to unearthing the first female Formula 1 World Champion has made a crucial step toward that goal in announcing on Tuesday its initial driving cohort for a female-focussed driver development programme.

Aged between 13 and 14, More Than Equal has selected drivers from across the globe to participate in its programme.

The driving cohort consists of, Ivonn Simeonova (Austria), Katrina Thung (Malaysia), Kristýna Kalistová (Czech Republic), Lana Flack (Australia), Laura Bubenová (Slovakia) and Skye Parker (United Kingdom).

Four female drivers under the age of 13 from Italy, Japan, Poland and the UK have also been selected for the More than Equal Driver Preparation Programme.

These girls were deemed to hold high potential, but require further age-appropriate development before progressing within the More Than Equal set-up.

After applications opened in January, More Than Equal conducted a data-driven talent scouting search and the successful candidates were selected by Programme Head Tom Stanton, along with driver coaches Sarah Moore and Jordan King.

Through its research, More Than Equal found that just 13% of karters were female and this fell to 7% participation in formula and GT racing.

One of the barriers preventing balanced gender representation in racing is a lack of gender-specific training methods, which More Than Equal is now poised to change.

Ali Donnelly, CEO at More than Equal said: “This is just the beginning of a journey for this group and for our programme, and together we want to show that with the right support early in their career, we can accelerate the development of talented female drivers so that they can have an equal opportunity to reach the top of the sport.

“Our drivers will benefit from a programme that has been designed with female athletes in mind from the very start, when too often girls have had to navigate programmes and systems in motorsport that were built entirely for boys. Our programme will be highly relevant to teenage girls, applying the latest in sports science to their age and gender.”

Karel Komárek, More than Equal Co-Founder added: “By supporting emerging talent at a critical stage in their development with top-tier coaching, resources, and an evidence-based approach, this programme builds on our commitment to equality of opportunity and removing the barriers which have limited women in motorsport for decades.”

Kormárek co-founded More Than Equal with 13-time Grand Prix winner David Coulthard, who said: “We are pleased and proud to kick off a new era for young female drivers in motorsport with the launch of the More than Equal Driver Development Programme.

“This group of talented young drivers will now be part of a programme which has been designed with their age and their gender in mind, with specialist coaches supporting their journey and helping to maximise their potential.

“This is a hugely exciting moment.”

The launch of the programme will see the initial driving cohort head to Wurz Test and Training Center in Saalfeden, Austria.

Designed by former F1 driver and two-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Alex Wurz, the facility will play host to the female driving talent May 16-18, 2024, for their first training and assessment camp.

The post More Than Equal reveal inaugural Female Development Driver cohort appeared first on Motorsport Week.

More Than Equal is here to shake things up and in a big way. The organisation was co-founded by former Grand Prix winner David Coulthard and entrepreneur Karel Komarek and More Than Equal’s main objective is to develop the world’s first female Formula 1 Champion.

Motorsport Week had the pleasure to sit down with More Than Equal Board Member and Strategic Advisor Kate Beavan. Beavan boasts over 20 years of experience in F1’s legal, licensing and GSR projects and is the perfect person to help More Than Equal navigate what is a male-dominated arena.

The task ahead for More Than Equal is huge, given that a woman hasn’t competitively raced in F1 for practically half a century. This is a slight on what is supposed to be a gender-neutral sport and More Than Equal wants to address that imbalance. That started with an extensive global research programme and it will continue with a female driver development programme tailored to bring on the next wave of women racers.

An unconventional move sees the More Than Equal organisation comprised largely of members who have come in from outside of racing.

CEO Alison Donnelly brings experience from Sport England, Chair Karen Webb Moss from a background working with British Swimming and FIFA, and Driver Development Programme Head Tom Stanton has a proven track record working with British Cycling.

But what has this all got to do with motorsport?

Beavan explains.

“We made a decision right at the very beginning when More Than Equal was set up that if we were going to crack this we needed to bring in expertise from other fields,” Beavan said.

“Why? Because there isn’t a high-performance athlete programme in motorsport for girls. So let’s go and find somebody who’s built a high-performance athlete programme in another sport and apply that, everything they’ve learnt, to Formula One. And that’s Tom Stanton who came from British Cycling.

“But equally, our CEO, Alison Donnelly, never been to a Formula One race before she joined More Than Equal. Why did we recruit her? Because she’s got a stellar career in promoting women’s sport. She’s incredibly talented, she was Head of News at Number 10 Downing Street and worked for the Treasury.

“She was then a Director at Sport England, so was deeply involved in programmes like This Girl Can, which was all the government’s initiative to try and get females and girls more active. So her experience coming into More Than Equal really brought some deep knowledge of how to promote women’s sport.

“So we brought Karen Webb Moss, who is our chair. She came from the Olympic movement and I’ve known Karen for many years but she’s been deeply involved with the Olympics for many decades. She brought that experience to bear from other sports. So our objective from the beginning was to bring in the very best people we possibly could, regardless of their background, in order to tackle a problem that really hasn’t been tackled in motorsport.”

One space where women’s sports is on the rise is professional football, particularly on an international scale with the Women’s World Cup drawing plenty of interest, and the UEFA Euros before it. Beavan spoke of how she challenged broadcasters to spotlight female athletes and the response that was met with the request, which speaks volumes of the challenges being faced.

“I remember having a conversation with the BBC and saying to them, ‘well, you know, you didn’t cover women’s sport, you didn’t show any women’s sport, and they said, ‘well, because we didn’t think anyone would watch it.’ And I was like, ‘well, they’re watching it now.’ So it’s a little bit of chicken and egg, isn’t it? You need people to believe in it and invest in it and cover it and then it will help it rise in popularity and all the good commercial stuff that comes from that.”

But, as Beavan argues, “gender-neutral sports are slightly different.”

The conversation being had is whether women can compete and win. Of course, they can, but coming back to the chicken and egg analogy, sometimes it takes visual evidence to prove the theory.

“You look at horse racing,” said Beavan. “Now, Rachel Blackmore won the Grand National convincingly, first female jockey. And again, this is something that Ali [Donelly] talks about. In horse racing, the narrative around women racing was all about whether a woman can race at the very, very top level. Can they be competitive at the top level of horse racing? And there was huge debate about that in the industry.

“Rachel Blackmore goes and wins. She doesn’t just win, she triumphs convincingly. The narrative in horse racing has completely changed now.

“They’re not even debating whether a woman can do it because clearly they can. They’re now talking about, well, how do we make more of that? That’s very equivalent to what we’re trying to do in Formula One and with More Than Equal. The narrative, and there is a narrative about whether a woman can actually compete at Formula One level.

“That’s why our focus is to get a woman competing and winning in Formula One, because we need to change that narrative and we need to knock that myth on the head, get a woman winning in Formula One, a world championship, and then the narrative will change to how do we get more of that, not whether it can be done.”

That narrative is already starting to change in other motorsport series given the massive success of the Iron Dames all-female racing project in sportscars.

Last year the Dames became the first all-female crew to win in the FIA World Endurance Championship thanks to Sarah Bovy, Michelle Gatting and Rahel Frey’s success in GTE’s swansong at the Eight Hours of Bahrain.

Beavan paid tribute to Iron Dames’ founder Deborah Mayer sterling efforts which serve as a huge inspiration to More Than Equal. Still, getting a female winner into F1 is another level, one that can break barriers in the mainstream – globally.

“Mayer is an absolute heroine with what she’s done,” said Beavan. “She’s put her money where her mouth is, she’s invested in female talent, she’s demonstrated what can be done when you do that, and that they can win competitively against men, and hats off to her for doing that. And you’re absolutely right that that is a major story, but it’s not as big as Formula One.

“So until Formula One does it, you haven’t done it, you know. It’s really heartening to see what Deborah Mayer is doing, and it’s brilliant, brilliant work, and it feeds into what we’re saying, which is there is nothing, you know, physical stopping women competing at the highest level in Formula One. We need to now not just say it, we need to demonstrate that in order to get the kind of success that Deborah has had.”

Beavan’s determination and spirit are representative of the entire More Than Equal organisation. The drive here to inspire the motorsport community to be better, and elevate female racing athletes, is huge. One can’t help but be swept up in it and pledge support. It is also becoming increasingly clear that despite it being a long road ahead, More Than Equal will succeed.

The post Exclusive: Kate Beavan on tackling the motorsport status quo with More Than Equal appeared first on Motorsport Week.

More Than Equal is the initiative dedicated to addressing the lack of female representation in motorsport by nurturing and unearthing not only the next wave of female racing talent, but the first female Formula 1 World Champion.

To aid the initiative in its goal, More Than Equal has set up a one-of-a-kind female driver development programme to guide the next generation of women racers. Alpine Formula 1 Development Driver and Reserve and Development Driver for the Mahindra Formula E team Jordan King has been assigned as one of the programme’s coaches.

King has 129 career podiums to his name and experience racing in the likes of Formula 2, IndyCar and the FIA World Endurance Championship. His time racing across a plethora of formulas means he can pass on a wealth of knowledge to More Than Equal’s Development Drivers. Motorsport Week had the privilege to discuss King’s plans as a coach and how his own experiences will benefit the inductees on the programme.

Q: When were you first aware of the More Than Equal initiative and who approached who regarding your joining as a coach for the driver development programme?

JK: It’s one of those things that actually goes back quite a while, probably say almost towards two years now. I’ve lost track of time with Covid, but probably about two years ago I got to hear about it. We made contact properly in the middle of last year and then it has gone from there and just kind of slowly grown and then once the official roles were announced I applied for the role then but yeah, it’s probably been a long process of hearing about it, initially meeting people and going from there. 

Q: What made you want to join the programme as a coach?

JK: Well, I’ve taken a lot of pride in my own career in developing myself and making myself as best as I can be, so to speak, and now I’ve started to do that in other lines of my career with younger drivers, and this has struck me as a great opportunity, one, to test myself and push myself. Getting a female into Formula One isn’t easy, getting anybody into Formula One isn’t easy, so, you know, it’s going to be a real challenge, so I like that aspect of it, but it also just inspires me and I’m quite interested in seeing how well you can develop an athlete and a human being, especially in a motorsport environment. 

Q: Your fellow coach Sarah Moore is on record saying that growing up she had limited access to coaching and that didn’t change until far later in her career – as a male up-and-coming driver was your experience different from that and if so, would you say your experience of development coaching as a student will help you guide the next generation of female drivers as a mentor?

JK: The thing with motorsport is a big limiting factor always comes down to finances and as with things like coaching and mentoring, development away from the track falls second most of the time to the budget constraints. If you’re trying hard to get a budget together, to go racing, you’re not gonna spend the extra money on the development. So it becomes a bit counterintuitive, trying to save money, but also listening to your development. I never had a one-to-one coach that was my personal coach, but some of the teams I was in had a coach or the engineers would help you and everything. So there was a level of developing and development there, but not a massive amount. And there was always a large program around in Motorsport UK, which was MSA, had a team UK program, the BRDC had the Rising Stars and then the Superstars program. There was an FIA program back in the day that I was involved with. So there’s always been things around, and I suppose this becomes something for a driver, they don’t have to worry about it, we can do everything for them, that kind of public constraint can go away, and because we’re independent we can take the best of all the worlds, put it into one place, and really have some really good people, some really good development, and hopefully have a really good programme by the end of it. 

Q: What specific learnings do you want to pass on as a coach to the More Than Equal programme inductees?

JK: I started karting at 12 and it was quite a quick learning curve for me, starting relatively late in my sport these days and that sounds crazy and I’ve made some mistakes along the way with my driving, with decisions and got some things very right along the way and as I said earlier I took a lot of pride and pleasure in making sure I wasn’t leaving any stone unturned, so you’re really using that in turn to make sure I can focus on the driver getting better, making sure they’re addressing their inadequacies, their development in understanding how to drive quicker, why you do it, how you do it. But then holding them accountable and letting them kind of discover it for themselves as well along the way. 

Q: In terms of your experience as a development driver with Alpine and Mahindra, you probably have sort of maybe a different mindset when it comes to driving, maybe a more data-driven or more analytical approach. If that’s the case, would you say that those roles in those setups and the relationships you have with engineers is going to be a benefit to you as a coach? 

JK: Maybe I do, compared to the next person. I have a bit more of an analytical brain and that might just be me as a person, but I wouldn’t say it’s particularly related to the roles that I do in the motorsport world. Yes, I feel it has helped me in my career in understanding the hows and the whys. But actually, from a human performance standpoint, I think understanding how a car works is very similar to understanding how a human works. It’s intrigued me to try and get the best performance out of whether it’s a machine or a human and that kind of the human element and the human touch to this sport sometimes gets overlooked. As Sarah [Moore] said, coaching was never a thing for her, it was always secondary in my career and as the sport develops everyone started to realise that coaching and driver development is just as important and it’s not a case of just, ‘well that’s the quickest kid so we’ll just take them and put them in a car.’ The sport is changing and the science is increasing and not leaving things up to chance anymore. 

Q: How important are programmes such as More Than Equal to improving female participation in motorsport?

JK: I think first of all, to my knowledge, I don’t think anything to this level has been done before or is even in the process of being done. So, you know, whatever the kind of the timeline is, let’s say life cycle, it’s probably not a life cycle, but by the time we get kind of through the process, actually just for a racing driver as an athlete, I feel like we’ll have a really good platform of this is what works, this is what doesn’t. Obviously, we’re tailoring it towards female drivers at the moment. But while we’re going through that, we’re also learning just about human performance in the sport. So I think we’ll have a really good idea of what works for gender, what works for humans, what works for age range and actually have a really comprehensive program to help development and you mentioned before that with the sport changing and making sure everything’s perfect. Even just say to give you an example take pit stops for an example since you know Science has come into pit stops, they’ve gone from six seconds now to two seconds and you kind of look at it now and go ‘well, why the hell did no one ever do that 15 years ago?’ All these things, they evolve and it’s one step next step next step and I feel like the programme we are creating is at the moment the best to our knowledge of what’s out there and it will keep them just getting a little bit better a little bit better. Hopefully we can all hit our goals of getting a female into Formula One. 

Q: In your opinion what should everyone else be doing to encourage female athletes in motor racing?

JK: So one, having more professional females would be a massive success. There’s limited professionals anyway and just being able to bring some females to the top would be a great success. But also being able to have those role models, which our research has shown that there is a lack of role models within the sport. If we can get the role models we can encourage and grow the sport at the bottom of the pyramid as well and that would be fantastic. Imagine if in 10 years’ time we were all sitting here and there was a 50 % split at the bottom, you know loads of professional race drivers around the world I think that would look great and it’s very similar to horse riding you know there’s not really other sports where everyone’s competing on a so-to-speak level playing field or if it’s what can be a level playing field and that’s the same as horse riding you know, there’s men and females competing across multiple different disciplines and yeah they’re very similar. 

The post Exclusive: More Than Equal’s Jordan King appeared first on Motorsport Week.

More Than Equal is the initiative dedicated to addressing the lack of female representation in motorsport by nurturing and unearthing not only the next wave of female racing talent but also the first female Formula 1 champion. To aid the initiative in its goal, More Than Equal has set up a one-of-a-kind female driver development programme to guide the next generation of women racers. Britcar and Ginetta Junior Champion Sarah Moore was announced last month as one of the programme’s coaches.

Moore boasts 25 years of experience in racing and a further eight years in coaching. Her racing career started in karting at the age of four and her Ginetta Junior Championship success in 2009 set her on a path to break boundaries in her career. Her 2018 Britcar Endurance title made her the first female champion in the series and in 2021, Moore became the first openly LGBTQ+ racing athlete to stand on a Grand Prix podium thanks to a rostrum finish in the Austrian round of the W Series. In 2023, Moore went on to become the first female racer to win in the Indian Racing League and is now ready to impart her knowledge to the next generation and Motorsport Week had the privilege to discuss her plans as a coach and how her own experiences will benefit the inductees to the programme.

Q: When did you first become aware of the More Than Equal programme and how did you become a part of the coaching team?

SM: I think it was probably, around September time last year. I think it just popped up on Instagram, – the More Than Equal page. And then I kind of just kept an eye on it from there. A couple of drivers that I know had seen it as well. They’ve got busy lives themselves, but they just said it might be a good thing to go for. So I think it was probably late September and October when I kind of applied for it. 

Q: What was it about the programme that made you want to be a coach – what drew you to it?

SM: I mean, I’ve been a coach, I suppose, for about 10, 12 years now. But I think the main thing for me is, I guess giving back to help develop future female talent. I’m kind of at an age now where, I mean, I’ve probably never stopped racing as such, but an age where it’s kind of fizzled out due to lack of budget for myself. So I think if there’s any way that I can give back to the future generation or the next generation of talent. That was kind of the main thing for me. 

Q: Regarding your position as a coach for this next generation of female drivers, that’s something that you didn’t necessarily have much access to in the early days of your career. Does that give you extra motivation as a coach in More Than Equal?

SM: I guess yes and no. I never really had a coach probably until I was in the W Series, to be honest, but I was very fortunate in the fact that I followed my older brother’s footsteps. I kind of learned from everything that he’d done before me. So I guess he was kind of a bit of a mentor or coach to me really, but I never had someone in that position. But I think just being a female coach, you know, there’s not too many of us and to try and get the participation of females up in the sport. I think having female coaches visible, that’s always going to help the younger generation in the fact that if I’ve got information that I can pass down to them and they can see that I’ve been there and done it myself, then they’re more likely to try and pursue it as well. 

Q: What are the specific learnings that you want to pass down as a coach?

SM: Learning the basics of everything you need, it all depends on what step of the journey the driver is at, obviously, when you step in to start coaching them. So you kind of have to learn or get to know the driver as such. And it’s working out what their strengths and weaknesses are because everyone is different and trying to, I guess, work on their weaknesses to bring them up more towards being a bit more of a strength or less of a weakness. And as I say, every driver is different and it all depends on what category you’re in. Coaching a driver who’s in karting will be very different to coaching a driver in a formula single-seater car. So it all depends on what stage they’re at. But, there’s everything from trying to get them to understand how you need to brake and why you need to brake that way, why that’s an advantage. Same with getting on the power, steering inputs, everything you do, you know, in a go-kart makes a huge difference. But there are also a lot of transferable skills from go-karting to formula as well. 

Q: The More Than Equal Development Programme is unique in its dedicated approach to bringing on female talent, just how important a role does this have in developing female representation in motorsport?

SM: I think the More Than Equal development programme is good in the fact that it’s not attached to a team. It’s not a championship. It’s this own standalone thing. So I think it would be hoping that will be more accessible for the drivers to, maybe in the future, work amongst different teams, different championships. But I just think the key thing for me was being visible as a female coach as part of More Than Equal to give my experience. And I think just being visible there and working with the future female talent that we eventually pick will hopefully help to bring more female talents through. 

Q: You talk of visibility there, would you say that’s probably one of the most important things when it comes to encouraging female athletes in motor racing, just having that visibility – what else do you think everybody should be doing to encourage more female athletes in motorsport? 

SM: I think visibility is by far probably one of the biggest things, but you know it’s one thing getting visibility, but a driver that gets visibility also still needs to be putting the work in behind the scenes. So from a driver’s point of view whether you’re visibly seen at the gym or seen at the simulator, et cetera, you still need to be putting those efforts in, putting the hours in to make sure that as a driver, you’re in the best place possible. The visibility definitely makes a difference. For example, when I was part of the W Series, especially when we became part of the Formula 1 weekend, the visibility for us as drivers increased two, three times over, for me personally. And along with that came a huge learning curve in terms of me as a driver learning to drive that car and what I needed to change and improving myself. So although visibility is hugely important, I think you need to visibly see that there are female drivers and female talent out there, you know the drivers definitely need to make sure that they’re putting the effort in.

Q: You’ve had landmark moments in your career where you’ve made history: being the first female champion in Britcar, and then your podium in W Series made you the first LGBTQ+ driver to step onto a Grand Prix podium. Would you say that one of the goals of this programme is rather than those moments being stand out, that they become in the future commonplace, it’s not something that people go, ‘oh, this is the first or this is unique,’ it’s just part of the language and is something that’s always happened? 

SM: Yeah, 100% definitely. I think that’s something as a female in the sport, I think we can probably, most of us, you know, all of us would probably say the same thing and the fact that you know, we would love for it, we just want to be treated as equal. We want to be treated as drivers, you know, we’re all the same as soon as that helmet is on. So whether you’re a male or a female, that’s won a race or a championship, it really shouldn’t matter. It should all come down to talent at the end of the day. And I think the thing is at the moment is so big that when a female does win a championship or a race because there are still so few of us I think it is worth chatting about because I think that then links back to the fact that that brings the visibility and the fact that a female has just won whatever race it is or whatever championship it may be. And that just proves that it is possible. I think there are three championships that I’ve won and been the first female driver to win. And I won’t say, you know, I don’t really cling on to, when I kind of say it to anyone, I never say it that way. I just say, ‘oh, I was the Brit car champion or I was the Ginetta Junior Champion.’ I don’t really ever say it as I was the first female champion. 

Q: What female motorsport role models have you had, either inside or outside of the car?

SM: I get asked this question quite a lot. As a kid growing up, I never watched TV. I was always kind of at a racetrack as such and I never really thought about the fact that I was the only girl in the paddock, you know, there was a few other girls that kind of raced in the categories around me, but I never watched TV or anything like that to visibly see any female models. Everyone only really ever knew of the drivers that were in Formula One, which obviously when I was younger were all male because there’s not been a female racing in F1 since the 70s. So the simple answer to that I guess is no. 

Q: What was the moment or what was it that inspired you to become a racing driver? How did that begin?

SM: It was easy for me. It’s just in the family. So the fact that I was a female had absolutely nothing to do with it. To be honest. My dad used to race and as I say, my brother. We all picked up racing from a very young age, we all started when we were kind of four or five years old. So, you know, from there, I guess there was no going back. It started as fun and then at some point, it started to get a bit more serious. When you start winning races, then it starts to get a bit more serious. You think, yeah, maybe this is something that I could probably make a career out of.

The post Exclusive: More Than Equal’s Sarah Moore appeared first on Motorsport Week.