The 2021 W Series Championship

The 2021 Season was everything W Series fans could have wanted and more. From a tight title battle between Chadwick and Powell, to reserve driver Abbi Pulling pulling through and finishing 7th having only competed in 4 of the races - it’s been a great season full of ups and downs. Here’s a run down of this year’s season, and what it means going forward.

What Is W Series

To recap, W Series is an all-female single-seater championship, at the F3 level, which has a huge focus on promoting women in motorsport in all roles within the industry - from drivers to communications. It was launched back in 2018, with the inaugural season being in 2019. The 2020 season was taken online due to the Covid pandemic with the racers competing in the W Series Esports League.

They aim to prove that women are just as good at racing as men and want acceptance of the fact that ‘female and male racing drivers can compete with one another on equal terms, when given the same opportunities’. They also want to break down the cost barrier to the sport. The championship is ‘free-to-enter' which means that no financial backing is needed; W Series funds the drivers as well as offering a prize fund of $1.5 million. The champion receives $500,000 with the remaining money being divided between the rest of the drivers as so:

P1: $500,000, P2: $250,000, P3: $125,000, P4: $100,000, P5: $90,000, P6: $80,000, P7: $70,000, P8: $60,000, P9: $50,000, P10: $40,000, P11: $30,000, P12: $25,000, P13: $20,000, P14: $15,000, P15-P18: $7,500 and Reserves: $7,500

Mechanically the cars are all identical to keep the field level and are the equivalent of F3 cars. All drivers are selected on their talent alone. Initially, 55 drivers qualified for the series’ long list back in 2019. Six more drivers were then added for an evaluation, with judges including David Coulthard, who has supported the series from the beginning, Alexander Wurz and Lyn St James. The shortlist they chose then had 10 modules to complete, testing skills such as media training, fitness, sponsorship pitching, and racecraft. This was followed by knockout races which shortened the field to 28. The final stage was held in Spain with the 18 driver line up, plus 4 subs, chosen after fitness testing, data analysis and the traditional testing. The top 12 drivers at the end of the 2019 season then progressed through to the 2020 season. As no real life racing happened, all drivers kept their seats for the 2021 season.

This year, teams were also introduced, with different race suits and car liveries. These were:

Veloce: Jamie Chadwick and Bruna Tomaselli

Racing X: Alice Powell and Jessica Hawkins

Puma: Marta Garcia, Gosia Rdest (R), Abbi Pulling (R), Caitlin Wood (R) and Naomi Schiff ®

Sirin Racing: Miki Koyama and Vicky Piria

The Bunker: Fabienne Wohlwend and Sabré Cook

MForbes Motorsport: Ayla Agren and Beitske Visser

Ecurie W: Abbie Eaton and Emma Kimilainen

Scuderia W: Belen Garcia and Sarah Moore

W Series Academy: Nerea Martí and Irina Sidorkova

For more information, check out our guide to W Series here.

This Year’s Results

This year was a tight battle between Jamie Chadwick and Alice Powell, which came down to the last race. Chadwick clinched the title, making it a back to back season win for the British driver. The season finished:

(Credit: W Series)

The Season Rundown

The 2021 W Series championship kicked off at the Red Bull Ring, after the first round was moved from Circuit Paul Ricard, in line with the Formula 1 calendar changes. Alice Powell started her season off right with a grand slam, taking pole position, fastest lap, the win and leading every lap in Austria. An early contact between Chadwick and Hawkins saw both drivers drop down the order, but it didn’t impact their race at all. The safety car was brought out with just 8 minutes to go, as Marta Garcia pulled off the track due to issues with her car. It meant that there was all to play for. Contact between Visser and Kimiläinen demoted Visser to the back of the grid, whilst Abbie Eaton suffered damage to her front wing.

Podium: Alice Powell, Sarah Moore, Fabienne Wohlwend

Round 2 saw defending champion Chadwick complete her first grand slam of the season too, after topping both qualifying and practice at the second race at the Red Bull Ring. At the start of the race, Beitske Visser stalled her car, giving Chadwick an epic getaway as she led by over 2 seconds by the end of the first lap. This allowed Irina Sidorkova to take up second position, eventually claiming her first W Series podium in just her second race! Teammates Rdest and Marta Garcia made contact as the race approached halfway, allowing Emma Kimiläinen to extend her lead and take third.

Podium: Jamie Chadwick, Irina Sidorkova, Emma Kimiläinen

The third round at Silverstone meant a home race for many of the W Series drivers, with over 100,000 fans travelling to the track. The race was an exciting battle between Wohlwend and Powell, the two trading fastest laps with just 6 tenths of a second between them at halfway. Miki Koyama stalled at the start of the race, causing her to bring out the safety car with 11 minutes left. The conclusion saw Alice take victory at her home race, with all 6 British drivers scoring points, including Abbi Pulling who made her W Series debut.

Podium: Alice Powell, Fabienne Wohlwend, Jamie Chadwick

Jamie Chadwick regained her winning streak at the fourth round in Hungary, topping all the sessions, and leading every lap to take the win. This put her just 1 point ahead of fellow Brit Powell in the championship. Wohlwend suffered damage to her front wing at the start due to contact, and eventually retired with just 12 minutes of the race to go. W Series rookie Nerea Martí claimed her first podium, with her rookie teammate Irina Sidorkova taking fourth.

Podium: Jamie Chadwick, Alice Powell, Nerea Martí

Round 5 in Belgium was perhaps the most dramatic round of the entire season. Sidorkova was forced to withdraw from the weekend as a whole after testing positive for Covid-19. And the weather was, of course, much less than desirable. A wet qualifying saw a terrifying 6 car pile up at the infamous Raidillon involving Moore, Eaton, Wohlwend, Belen Garcia, Agren and Visser. Ayla and Beitske were sent to hospital for further checks but did not receive clearance to race. Martí took a four place grid drop with Tomaselli taking two places. The heavy rain meant the first 13 minutes of the race happened behind the safety car. Chadwick was on track for her third win of the season, but with 5 minutes left, Kimiläinen was flying round Spa and overtook the Brit round the outside. By the chequered flag, she was almost 9 seconds ahead. Some last lap madness saw more overtakes; Marta Garcia overtaking Powell and Wohlwend on Martí.

Podium: Emma Kimiläinen, Jamie Chadwick, Marta Garcia

Zandvoort brought Jamie and Alice level in the championship, after Alice took her third win of the season, with 109 points a piece. Tomaselli spun on the formation lap, demoting her to last after originally qualifying 14th. The championship rivals overtook pole-sitter Kimiläinen with 23 minutes to go, Powell first with Chadwick passing second. Making just her second W Series appearance, Abbi Pulling lost three places on the opening lap, but wasn’t about to give up that easily. On the penultimate lap, she attempted an overtake on Belen Garcia for seventh. After not quite making it stick, she attempted again on the last lap, finding a way past and taking P7.

Podium: Alice Powell, Jamie Chadwick, Emma Kimiläinen

The penultimate round took place in America and was certainly one to remember. 18-year-old Abbi Pulling took her first W Series pole position, after racing just 3 times in the series this season! The frenetic first lap saw Jamie pip past Abbi, before Emma Kimiläinen came down the inside on them both. Going wide, she allowed Jamie to take back first place, Belen Garcia coming in second. Garcia had received a three place grid penalty prior to the race. Abbie Eaton retired from the race after running over the kerbs and subsequently parking her car; it was later revealed that she had suffered a compression fracture in her spine. Towards the end of the race, Pulling was reported to the stewards for exceeding track limits and was overtaken by Powell on the penultimate lap after running wide.

Podium: Jamie Chadwick, Emma Kimiäinen, Alice Powell.

The final round of the W Series season was supposed to be taking place at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico, but after changes were made to the Formula 1 calendar, it was decided there would be two races at COTA instead. Chadwick took her second W Series title and did it in style, taking the fastest lap and leading every lap of the race from pole position to be crowned champion. Both Abbie Eaton and Marta Garcia didn’t compete; Eaton due to her injury in the race the day before and Garcia due to feeling unwell. With the front row from qualifying being reversed due to the double header, Chadwick made a great start from pole and was 1.5 seconds up on the rookie by the end of lap 1. Wohlwend suffered suspension damage after running over the kerbs at turn 1, causing her to retire later in the race. Hawkins made contact with home favourite Sabré Cook with 6 minutes left. Chadwick’s championship rival started from 9th, before making up three places to finish 6th and not quite able to catch Jamie.

The 2022 Season

W Series structure means that the top 8 drivers from 2021 will automatically qualify for the 2022 season. The W Series Academy drivers are also guaranteed drives for 2 years, meaning that Nerea Nartí and Irina Sidorkova automatically keep their seats for next season.

With this and the end of season standing combined, the drivers that automatically qualify are: Jamie Chadwick, Alice Powell, Emma Kimilainen, Nerea Martí, Sarah Moore, Fabienne Wohlwend, Abbie Pulling, Beitske Visser and Irina Sidorkova. However if Chadwick chooses to defend her title in 2022, she becomes ineligible for super license points which are needed to race in F1.

The 2022 season is also set to see a team championship come into play. The 2021 season was seen as a transitional one, going from a centrally run championship to teams with autonomy over names and liveries. Next season is sure to be even more exciting with a team title also up for grabs!

With 9 seats up for grabs, plus reserve drivers roles available it’s a huge opportunity for female drivers to advance their motorsports career. Stay tuned for any updates on next season to come - it’s already lining up to be a sensational one!