"I was only kidding" has never been a very believeable excuse.

Though you are on the right track with your "who cares what he thinks" comment. However, based on similar comments by Bernie, I would say that he represents more of the F1 establishment than one might hope.

 

What do you expect from an organization that has "Grid Girls" and relegates females to T&A duties.



Not that I mind, of course.

 

[QUOTE=l8brakr,Oct 26 2005, 03:06 PM] If "she" (future female F1 star) were truly dedicated she would have a breast reduction to save weight in the car.

 

They race bikes which are as sensitive or more sensitive to their breast's position than F1 cars would be. I'm sure having a woman with big breasts would throw off the balance of the car ever so slightly, but no more than a man who has a large head or broad shoulders.

 

It's easy to demonstrate that women have lower centers of gravity than men. If anything, women would improve the balance of the car by lowering the CG. The effect would be ridiculously small, however.

A bigger effect is just the overall mass -- women are generally smaller. If the rules call for weighing the car+driver, then that means the team has more latitude for placing ballast with a woman driver. If the rules call for just measuring the car, then it means that the car+driver is lighter with the woman driver. Either way, it should be an advantage.

 

True. Women are preferred heavily in 125cc bike racing because of how much lighter they are on average.

 

He's issued a retractment of sorts. He says that the interviewer had already finished the questioning and they were chatting afterwards and engaging in some "locker room" banter. The reporter then used all the "banter" out of context, and none of the interview.

I'm not sayng his comments were right or wrong, but I can see how it could happen. We (guys) have all made jokes, and once the ball get rolling, they could get out of hand. I'm more willing to forgive this, than his inability to win a race in 100 tries, or his stupid contractural flip flops.

 

As I said before: "I was just kidding" is about the weakest possible defense anyone can offer.

 

Second only to "I was mis-quoted"

 

Who was it who claimed to be misquoted in his own autobiography? Some NBA star....