The rise of the W Series
Dave McLeod, Motoring Writer
Officially launched in October 2018, the W Series is an all-female, single-seater racing championship that was created in response to the lack of female drivers progressing to the highest levels of motorsport, in particular Formula 1.
The brainchild of UK-based former intellectual property solicitor Bond Muir, the W Series consists of multiple rounds (initially six, now eight) on high-profile circuits racing in the same spec (Formula 3) cars, with a total prize pool of $1.5 million up for grabs – the series champion receiving a top prize of $500,000 and the remaining $1 million being divided among the rest of the drivers.
It has the backing of a number of prominent members of the motorsport community, including former F1 driver David Coulthard and engineer Adrian Newey and boasts that it is a ‘free-to-enter championship that provides equal opportunities for women and eliminates the financial barriers that have historically prevented them from progressing to the upper echelons of motorsport’.
After giving up law following the birth of her first child, Muir (an avid sports fan) came up with the idea of creating a woman’s-only motor championship over drinks with a few of her friends – as some of the best ideas do.
According to Muir, it took over two years of secret research and planning before the W Series became a real thing, and on the morning of the 10th October 2018, the groundbreaking Series’ arrival was announced via a tweet.
The inaugural 2019 season commenced at the Hockenheim circuit in Germany where eighteen talented drivers from around the globe took to the grid in their Tatuus–Alfa Romeo F3 T-318’s cars powered by Autotecnica Motori-tuned Alfa Romeo 1.8-litre turbocharged engines.
British racing driver Jamie Chadwick took the chequered flag in a time of 32:59:079 which earned her first 25 points.
It was a feat that she achieved again in Round 3 and with a couple of additional podium finishes she secured the title, becoming the first winner of the W Series Championship with 110 points.
Thanks to Covid, the W Series skipped 2020, however it returned for eight meets for Season 2021 where Chadwick defended her title, finishing on 159 points, 27 ahead of fellow (can I say fellow?) Brit, Alice Powell on 132.
May 2022 had the W Series returning for its third season and by all accounts it’s bigger and better than ever,with nine teams and nineteen drivers looking to take top honours. The Series has announced their continued partnership with Formula 1 and the eight Grand Prix weekends it will race in 2022 include the series’ first-ever round in Asia, at the Suzuka Circuit as part of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend in October.
In fact the W Series will visit five new venues during its third on-track season (Spain, France, Japan, and Mexico), and will begin by supporting F1’s inaugural Miami Grand Prix at the brand-new Hard Rock Stadium complex in Miami Gardens, Florida, USA. It will also return to Silverstone, the Hungaroring and the Circuit of the Americas having successfully supported the British, Hungarian and United States Grands Prix respectively during season two.
The concept of a ‘women-only’ racing is not brand new however, as a similar idea was suggested by former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone in 2015, but Muir has managed to turn this concept into reality gathering both support and critics along the way.
Some female drivers have remarked as to why their aims should be so different to those of their male counterparts, after all, racers are racers aren’t they? An argument countered by the fact that no woman has competed in F1 since 1992. Muir believes that some of this is down to finances saying that many sponsors are reluctant to throw money at female drivers – hence why she is adamant that in W Series driver’s don’t pay and that the cars are identical, ‘it is about finding the fastest female drivers’.
To many, the W Series is a racing stepping stone much like the lower and mid-Formula championships, a platform to jumpstart a career and get noticed by a team that races in a higher-level championship.
W Series two time champion (and first female driver to win a race in British F3) Jamie Chadwick agrees, “W Series is giving female drivers another platform to go racing. It’s no secret that motorsport is an incredibly tough industry often dictated by financial factors. As a funded championship, W Series not only offers a fantastic opportunity for top female talent to race but will also encourage many more young females to enter the sport.”
