Motorsport legend, Stirling Moss, made some controversial comments on a BBC 5 Live special about women in F1 this week. The 83-year-old, who won 16 Grand Prix in his career believes that women lack the "aptitude" to win an F1 race.
We've got some very strong and robust ladies, but, when your life is at risk, I think the strain of that in a competitive situation will tell when you're trying to win. The mental stress I think would be pretty difficult for a lady to deal with in a practical fashion. I just don't think they have aptitude to win a Formula One race.
Those comments have not deterred the ambitions of 14-year-old Dubliner, Nicole Coffey, who is one of the stars of Irish karting. She believes that she has what it takes to become the first woman to one day win an F1 race.
I love motorsport and want to drive in F1 for Red Bull or Ferrari & to be the first girl to win in Formula 1. I am well used to competing in a male dominated sport and was the only girl racing in the cadets when I started, which was hard in the beginning, but I was a quick driver so everyone got used to it.
She also believes that karting gives her the perfect foundation to achieve her goal.
The last 15 Formula 1 World Championships have been won by former Karters. Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel were all Karters and credit it as foundation of their career success. I am inspired by my fellow track heroes and Katie Taylor, who has achieved so much.
Nicole was the Irish Karting Club Young Driver of the Year in 2012 and was named The Echo newspaper's sports star of November 2012.
