Just last month, Christian Horner, Red
Bull’s team principal, said the current crop of female drivers did
not “cut it”, and that it would be a “marketing” gimmick should one find
their way into Formula One. Sir Stirling Moss also provoked controversy when
he said women lacked the mental capacity to compete in the sport.
But Monisha Kaltenborn, Sauber’s team principal, said it was De Silvestro’s
“talent” which prompted the team to support her “on her way to the pinnacle
of motorsport”.
Sources at Sauber said it remains “open” whether the Swiss will race with the
team in 2015 or another on the grid, and that, for now, it is a one-year
deal.
De Silvestro, who could barely contain her excitement on Twitter at the news,
said she was “thrilled” at the possibility of working her way into F1.
“This is a major step towards me achieving a life-long dream and I’m so happy
to have the opportunity to take this step with such a great team,” she
said.“I can’t thank Monisha Kaltenborn and Peter Sauber enough for their
support and belief in my abilities and for giving me this chance. I’m
thrilled to have this unique platform on which to prepare myself to take on
the challenge.”
While De Silvestro has built up a good reputation internationally, and is
highly regarded for her skills as a racer, particularly on street circuits
in the US where women have previously struggled, she acknowledges that it is
a risk to leave IndyCars.
De Silvestro will be focusing entirely on her role as an “affiliated driver”
this season, and will undergo physical and mental training to prepare her
for the demands of Formula One, as well as completing her ‘superlicence’,
which is required to race in F1.
She will need to complete 300km of testing in a Formula One car, and Sauber
said they will be organising private tests either with their car or another
team’s so she can complete the necessary mileage.
Kaltenborn added: “After four years in IndyCar, Simona’s ambition is to enter
Formula One in 2015. We regard her as a very talented race driver, and we,
therefore, decided to take her on board as an ‘affiliated driver’ and
support her on her way to the pinnacle of motorsport.”
De Silvestro left Europe for the US when she was 18 to drive in the Formula
BMW USA series in 2006, followed by the Atlantic Championship from 2007 to
2009.
Five women have raced in a grand prix and recent attention has focused on Williams
development driver Susie Wolff.
Wolff joined Williams, where her husband was executive director, in 2012, and
made her test debut last summer after he left to join team rivals Mercedes
as their motorsport director.
A year earlier Maria de Villota suffered life-changing injuries in an accident
testing for Marussia, which are believed to have caused her death in October
last year.