VisaCashAppRB, the sister team of Red Bull Racing, has found a unique way to celebrate international women’s day. Prior to the Saudi Grand Prix, VCARB decided to honor their female employees by inscribing their names on the car. This gesture has garnered attention from rival racers who have also joined in celebrating International Women’s Day.
The celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD) has its roots in early 20th-century movements that aimed to promote women’s rights. Mercedes was the first team to acknowledge IWD in 2021. Formula 1 introduced its first female driver, Maria, in 1950. Throughout its history, Formula 1 has had a total of four women drivers, with the most recent one driving for Braham. However, in recent years, Formula 1 has made efforts to include more women in the sport.
RB has marked #InternationalWomensDay (tomorrow, 8th March) by displaying a message on their car and featuring the names of their female employees! 📸 Samarth Kanal pic.twitter.com/GR3JGS7Lv1
Formula One established the F1 Academy, a racing competition exclusively for women, with the aim of training and nurturing young drivers to compete at higher levels. This women-only racing series was designed to facilitate the transition from karting to single-seater racing. The series will consist of five teams with previous experience in Formula 2 and Formula 3.
After the Bahrain Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda had a discussion behind closed doors following a near-miss on the cool-down lap. Tsunoda became frustrated when he was asked to let Ricciardo pass him so that his teammate, who was on soft tires, could attempt to overtake Kevin Magnussen for 12th place.
Although Ricciardo was unable to make the pass on the Haas, he was not instructed to give the position back to Tsunoda. After the race, Tsunoda aggressively overtook Ricciardo during braking and nearly collided with him as he reentered the track. According to Ricciardo, there is no animosity between the two drivers as they addressed the issue immediately after the race.
Ricciardo acknowledged that incidents like these can occur during races. He also mentioned that drivers generally dislike team orders, so it’s not uncommon for a driver to not react immediately. It will be interesting to see which driver, Ricciardo or Tsunoda, will achieve a higher position in the driver standings.