David Coulthard in Greece for “More than Equal”: “My sister inspired me”

David Coulthard and businessman Karel Komarek are the founding members and promoters of More than Equal, a new program launched with the aim of preparing and developing the first female driver world champion in Formula 1.

That Sportish was among the guests of David Coulthard, who was at the OPAP offices as part of his visit to Greece and had the opportunity to introduce us to the initiative, which aims to identify and minimize the obstacles faced by female riders taking part want to participate Formula 1.

When asked what inspired the former F1 driver to start ‘More than Equal’, Coulthard answered directly: “My sister“.

As the Brit explained to us, when he was young and still racing karts, his sister Lindsay Jackson also raced with him, who he says had even more talent! However, the burden of the family fell on David to develop and eventually compete at the highest level of world motorsport, Formula 1.

He always has in mind that his sister, who died in 2013 at the age of only 35, did not receive the same support. Coulthard is also motivated by the fact that while F1 has always been open to women, from the first Grand Prix in 1950 to date only 5 women have reached the highest level and of those only two have ultimately qualified and competed in one races, Maria Teresa de Filippis 1958-1959 and Lela Lombardi 1974-1976 who even started 12 races and won half a point!

The last time we saw a rider try to qualify for a Grand Prix was in 1992. It was Giovanna Amati who competed in 3 qualifying races with Branham’s team but failed to qualify for the race.

In short, out of a total of 771 pilots in F1’s 72-year history, men make up 99.8%!

What “More than Equal” wants to achieve

Announced last June, this initiative aims to:

• Finding talented women around the world.
• The development of physical strength, winning mentality and mental toughness.
• The development of speed through training methods.
• Connecting talented drivers with teams and sponsors.

More than Equal works with a global network of agencies to look for talent with great prospects in racing. The most talented candidates join the program.

A key partner in this effort is Hintsa Performance, the world leader in elite athlete training. Hintsa Performance’s trainers will use their experience to run a special physical exercise and nutrition program for the program’s young female drivers, similar to that followed by F1 drivers.

In parallel, David Coulthard will partner with top race coaches to develop race strategies that match the women’s strengths. The program will also work with teams and an ecosystem to provide rapid growth opportunities to maximize critical training time at the track.

Finally, while talented riders will prove their worth on the tracks, program members will use their extensive network of contacts to source potential teams and sponsors.

More than Equal has already brought together some of the world’s best scouts, fitness trainers, psychologists, nutritionists, driving instructors and drivers to support the initiative’s goal.

For more information about the initiative, visit www.morethanequal.com.