At the age of 83, ex-Formula 1 legend Stirling Moss obviously comes from a less enlightened era, but perhaps it would be best to start with a selection of baffling comments he made about women in motorsport in an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live last week:
"I think they have the strength, but I don't know if they've got the mental aptitude to race hard, wheel-to-wheel."
"The trouble is, when you're racing, it's pretty tiring. We had three-hour races in those days. You needed tremendous concentration. Now races are only one hour and 10 minutes."
"We've got some very strong and robust ladies, but, when your life is at risk, I think the strain of that in a competitive situation will tell when you're trying to win.”
"The mental stress I think would be pretty difficult for a lady to deal with in a practical fashion. I just don't think they have aptitude to win a Formula 1 race."
Moss may have been a legend of motorsport in the 1960s – and is rightly regarded as the greatest driver never to win a World Championship - but judging from the quotes above, his views would be more at home in the centuries before the invention of the motor car.
A vast amount of people were not enamoured with the late Margaret Thatcher’s political views to put it mildly but the fact that she managed to become a dominant force in the male bastion of politics – and the British Conservative Party in particular - is something to be admired at a time where unfortunately women were not seen as potential leaders, even in the West.
Meanwhile, there have only been five female Formula 1 drivers throughout the sport’s history – and fair enough none of them made an impact - but even if he feels like he did not mean any harm, it is Stone Age attitudes like Moss’ that keep women out of motorsport rather than any inability to put pedal to the metal.
Women in sport have always been treated as something of an afterthought unfortunately. You can look at our golden girl Katie Taylor as an example. Women’s boxing was only introduced to the Olympics in 2012 after being banned for most of the 20th Century so any of Taylor’s predecessors would have been consigned to the scrapheap regardless of their talent.
I have watched a lot of women’s soccer and GAA over the years (Leitrim Ladies’ All Ireland Intermediate title of 2007 is one of my favourite sporting moments) and although the quality can vary in soccer because of the small pool of players to choose from, there has been a huge amount of skilful players over the years like Brazil’s Marta, England’s Kelly Smyth and Germany’s Birgit Prinz just to name a few. It is not beyond the realms of possibility that some could make an impact in the men’s game at some point in the future.
But motorsport has traditionally been a testosterone-fuelled field from the drivers to the engineers. In reality the only women you see on the track during a Grand Prix weekend would be “pit babes” who do exactly as it says on the tin.
But if women do get the opportunity in motorsport, there is no doubt that they would have the “mental aptitude” to thrive even if Moss does not agree.
Take Danica Patrick as an example. She is one of the most successful drivers in America’s IndyCar series. She is a race winner, finished on the podium at the iconic Indianapolis 500, while she has also achieved notable successes in NASCAR.
Perhaps the annoying thing is the fact that her successes – even in a positive sense - are always set against the fact that she is a woman. And by bringing her up, I am also guilty in that regard.
But the truth is without publicizing it – while simultaneously going wheel to wheel with archaic views and giving women the chance to enter Formula 1 and other motorsports - talented drivers like Patrick will always be forced to address their gender whenever they get rare opportunities.
But work will also have to be done to encourage more women to feel like they are treated on an equal footing in the Junior Formulae which provide the production line of talent for the likes of Formula 1.
Which leads me to a region of the globe where - in certain countries - women cannot even drive on public roads for “religious reasons”.
Of course women’s rights are slightly better in Bahrain compared to ultra-conservative neighbour Saudi Arabia, but there is one much-publicized reason why this weekend’s Grand Prix should not have taken place.
Last year, the race was under serious threat because of the brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests that were taking place during the Arab Spring.
Regardless of the lure of black gold and the importance of respecting sponsors and the F1 calendar, the controversial decision to bring the chequered flag to last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix and this year’s event, legitimizes the chequered human rights record of that government.
But unfortunately money talks louder than the screams of torture victims when there are financial incentives at stake which means the focus will be on the Vettels, Alonsos and Hamiltons.
