The subject of sexism in grand prix racing has been receiving quite a few column inches in the media recently. While I have not been surprised by this - it's easy to jump on an age-old bandwagon - I have been gratified by the number of women in motor racing who have expressed the same opinion as I have. Formula One is not a sexist sport. I would not have lasted 15 minutes, let alone the 15 years I have been working in the paddock, if I'd had to put up with sexist attitudes or behaviour.

I didn't have a burning ambition as a child to work in motor racing. I had an awareness of the sport and always enjoyed anything with an engine - one of my greatest thrills was being allowed to park the family car in the garage - but I arrived in F1 more through fortunate circumstance than planned intent.

My first foray into the sport came when I joined a public relations company in 1986 and was assigned to work as press officer for the now defunct Leyton House F1 team. I was aware that it was a predominantly male workplace. However, the top chemist for Elf Oil at the time was a woman and the most respected press officer in the business was Ann Bradshaw of Williams. These were two very responsible positions, and it didn't cross my mind that this was a world in which women had no place.

The only sexism I encountered was from a man who was to become one of my closest friends in the sport. When Ian Phillips, the managing director of Leyton House, was told that his new press officer was a woman, he didn't want to know. Suffice to say, within one race Phillips was only too happy to admit he had been wrong. He subsequently employed me at Jordan - a team that has had only female press officers since.

Although women are still in a minority in the paddock, the balance has shifted over the years. It's a reflection of the workplace in general - male nurses were a rarity 20 years ago, nowadays you wouldn't think twice if a man tended your wounds. By the same token, female engineers and technicians are becoming a common sight in F1.

Being a woman can be an advantage in our sport, particularly if you're working in media or marketing. If a driver has had a difficult race I can totally understand why he may be reluctant to talk to the press. Men can find it difficult to go to another man in that situation, whereas, to put it bluntly, even the most bad-tempered driver finds it difficult to tell a woman to piss off.

Of course there is banter in motor sport just as there is in any walk of life. I worked for Eddie Jordan for five years, and he gives the same amount of verbal grief to his female employees as he does to his male staff - that is just the way he is. The same applies to another former Jordan colleague, Eddie Irvine. He can be as rude to women as he can to men, but we had a very good working relationship because, I would like to believe, he respected me for the job I was doing.

If you are oversensitive or not confident in your position, then anybody - male or female - could misconstrue what are intended as jovial comments and take them at face value. If you don't have a knowledge of motorsport, gender does not come into it - you will get short shrift because F1 is a competitive and intense business.

It thrives on its sexy image, but that doesn't mean it is sexist. People sometimes mistake one for the other. Whether you like it or not, sex sells. That's a reflection on our society, not on F1. I'm not a great fan of the scantily clad promotional girls, but then I'm not a fan of Page Three either. It is important to remember that these are not girls who have been dragged off the street and put in an outfit - they are models and promotion girls. That's their job. I wouldn't necessarily choose to make a living that way, but I don't suppose anyone forced them to do it. They are professionals and, like the many women in this captivating business, they merely ask to be treated as equals based on their professional worth. Which is exactly what happens.

Louise Goodman reports on Formula One for ITV .

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