Patrick initially made her name in the States by becoming first woman ever to lead the legendary Indianapolis 500 in 2005, and her subsequent Motegi success three weeks ago made her the first member of the fairer sex to win a major open-wheel race.
Toyota motorsport president John Howett echoed Brawn's feelings that female drivers would be a positive addition to the
F1 grid provided they are genuinely competitive and not merely a token gesture.
Jenson Button had previously joked in an interview with men's lifestyle magazine FHM that: A girl with big boobs would never be comfortable in the car, and the mechanics wouldn't concentrate. Can you imagine strapping her in? You wouldn't want to be on the circuit with them, would you? The British star later apologised for his remarks [see separate story
click here].
Why not? Howett countered. It would probably be very good. We just need to see a driver with the capability and who could deliver performance, because we are basically all focused on winning and track performance.
I don't think there's any discrimination in terms of anything within our organisation or team, so if we could find a suitable driver, we would be delighted. We have young driver programmes, but unfortunately most of the guys coming into karting at the moment and delivering performance are male.
I think it would probably be good [to have a female driver], but you would need someone who could be competitive. With Danica it shows it's possible for an extremely talented lady to be competitive in what is historically seen as a male environment. It probably opens people's eyes to the possibility of that happening.
