Vettel accuses F1 boss of crushing women's ambitions

Sebastian Vettel on Friday accused Formula One boss Stefano Domenicali of being thoughtless and quashing the hopes of young women who have ambitions of driving in the male-dominated sport.

Domenicali said on Wednesday that "realistically speaking, unless there is something like a meteorite coming to Earth, I don't see a girl coming into F1 in the next five years."

But, speaking to reporters at the Belgian Grand Prix, retirement-bound Vettel said: "It's statements like that that probably all girls and women are confronted with when they grow up and are sharing their dreams sitting at breakfast."

Vettel, who now drives for Aston Martin and is set to retire from F1 at the end of the season, knows Domenicali from his days at Ferrari and said his former boss' choice of words was unfortunate.

'I don't see a reason why we can't have a woman on the grid,' says Vettel

"It's important that we don't say these things because there are sparks everywhere," the four-time world champion said. "I don't see a reason why we can't have a woman on the grid. I think the challenges we are facing can be faced by women.

"I encourage every girl at the breakfast, lunch or dinner table to speak up and prove Stefano in this regard wrong and all these people wrong... I think this sort of stereotypical thinking has to disappear completely."

Domenicali explained F1 was working on initiatives for greater equality and inclusion, such as promoting the female-only W Series by running its races at grands prix this season.

Formula One has not had a female driver start a race since 1976.

jsi/sms (AFP, Reuters)