Bernie wants Danica
Patrick received a telephone call from Ecclestone during which he congratulated the Indy Racing League rookie for her performance at the Indianapolis 500 that year, but also reiterated remarks he had made during an interview at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the U.S. Grand Prix was being held.
Among the comments Ecclestone made in the interview and to Patrick was that “Women should be all dressed in white like all other domestic appliances."
Ecclestone has made controversial remarks about women before. He told Autosport racing magazine in 2000 that women could not compete in Formula One, but if one did, “she would have to be a woman who was blowing away the boys. … What I would really like to see happen is to find the right girl, perhaps a black girl with super looks, preferably Jewish or Muslim, who speaks Spanish."
08/11/10 With plans for the 2012 US Grand Prix at Austin, Texas, continuing apace, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone and event promoter Tavo Hellmund are sure that the addition of an American driver on the grid would also be a good thing for the sport.
F1 has been without an American driver since Scott Speed left the Toro Rosso team in 2007 and Ecclestone thinks that one driver in particular would create a lot of interest.
"Regarding an American driver, we have tried that lately but obviously what's missing is the right attitude," Ecclestone told the official F1 website. "You can race successfully in the US without the huge effort you need to succeed in Formula One. But to have someone like Danica Patrick in F1 would be a perfect advert."
Hellmund added that although an American driver would be preferable, Mexican GP2 driver Sergio Perez would also generate his fair share of local support.
"Of course it would be fantastic to have an American driver," said Hellmund. "There is that young Mexican driver Perez who is doing a great job in GP2 right now. For him the 2012 US Grand Prix could be a sort of home race: the distance from Austin to Mexico is a mere 250 kilometers."