W Series: Everything You Need To Know

You may have seen W Series on the schedule for this weekend at the Red Bull Ring. But what is W Series? Here is everything you need to know and why you absolutely need to follow it.

W Series is an all-female single-seater championship, at the F3 level, which has a huge focus on promoting women in motorsports, both as racers and as engineers. 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. The 2021 season will kick off this weekend at the Red Bull Ring.

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.

For the 2022 season, the series will change from being centrally-run to one with a team championship, where there will be assigned drivers and control over the name, car livery and overalls. The 2021 season will be a transition one, with an unofficial championship, as teams have been introduced ready for the race this weekend, with a range of new liveries.

Mechanically the cars are all identical to keep the field level and will continue to be so next year. Originally Hitech GP operated the cars, however, Fine Moments have taken over this role. Each team now runs the same Tattus t-318 F3 chassis that use Alfa Romeo engines and Hankook tyres. Super License points are also up for grabs here for the top 8 in the Championship. This is the license that allows you to compete in F1 so helps with the pathway into F1.

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 season started at the Hockenheimring in May 2019 and finished at Brands Hatch in August 2019, with Britain’s Jamie Chadwick taking the inaugural title. The top 12 drivers in the championship were then guaranteed entry into the series the following year. This was then delayed to 2021 due to Covid.

These are the women that are competing in the series this year:

Bunker Racing: Fabienne Wohlwend and Sabré Cook

M. Forces Motorsport: Beitske Visser and Ayla Ågren

Puma W Series Team: Marta Garcia and Gosia Rdest*

Racing X: Alice Powell and Jessica Hawkins

Sirin Racing: Miki Koyama and Vicky Piria

Veloce Racing: Jamie Chadwick and Bruna Tomaselli

Ecurie W: Emma Kimilainen and Abbie Eaton

Scuderia W: Sarah Moore and Belen Garcia

W Series Academy: Irina Sidorkova and Nerea Marti

Reserve Drivers: Gosia Rdest, Abbi Pulling, Naomi Schiff, Caitlin Wood, Tasmin Pepper*

*Gosia Rdest will race in Austria in the place of Tasmin Pepper, who is unable to attend due to Covid restrictions in her home country of South Africa. Pepper qualified for a full-time seat however she has been placed on the reserve list in the hopes she will be able to race later in the season.

Bunker Racing, M. Forbes Motorsport, PUMA W Series Team, Racing X and Veloce Racing teams are all run by new partners, with the remaining drivers being assigned to the W series home team parings of Scuderia W and Ecurie W. W Series Academy drivers are guaranteed seats for the following year, as the youngest drivers on the grid, as a way to nurture young talent.

The reserves drivers are in place at different circuits. As Rdest is racing in Austria, Wood will be the reserve driver for the first of the race and Pulling will be ready to step in if needed on the second weekend. The reserve combination for the rest of the season has not yet been confirmed.

This season, the W Series announced a partnership with Formula 1, with the series acting as a support race. This means their racing will happen on an F1 race weekend, with the schedule looking like this:

Round 1: Red Bull Ring (Austria) 25-26th June

Round 2: Red Bull Ring (Austria) 2-3rd July

Round 3: Silverstone (Great Britain) 16-17th July

Round 4: Hungaroring (Hungary) 30-31st July

Round 5: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) 27-28th August

Round 6: Circuit Zandvoort (Netherlands) 3-4th September

Round 7: Circuit of the Americas (USA) 22-23rd October

Round 8: Autodrómo Hermanos Rodriguez (Mexico) 29-30th October

The race weekend has a practice and qualifying session on the Friday ahead of the race on a Saturday. The race is 30 minutes +1 lap in length and the drivers are unable to use DRS. It usually makes for a great race!

UK fans will be able to watch the race coverage on Channel 4. The coverage, in a mission to promote diversity in the sport, is made up of an equal number of men and women. The on-screen commentary team are as follows:

Presenters: Lee Mckenzie and Anna Woolhouse

Lead Commentator: Alex Jacques

Co-commentators: David Coulthard and Billy Monger

Pitlane Reporters: Amy Reynolds and Ted Kravitz

Analyst: Naomi Schiff

There is a range of coverage in other nations as well, with access on YouTube to those in countries without television coverage of the races.

It is important to note that the series has received some criticism. Many have asked the question of whether segregating women in motorsports is the best way to go, with British IndyCar Series driver Pippa Mann tweeting ‘What a sad day for motorsport. Those with funding to help female racers are choosing to segregate them as opposed to supporting them. I am deeply disappointed to see such a historic step backwards take place in my life time’.

However, the CEO Catherine Bond Muir, refers to the series as having a 'disruptive and innovative approach'. Moreover, many have changed their opinion, including Claire Williams who retracted her initial criticism, as well as W Series driver Abbie Eaton, who wrote ‘I was initially sceptical about W Series, but I can put my hands up and say I was wrong.”

But why should you follow it? There is some of the most promising female motorsport talent driving in this series. The likes of Chadwick and Hawkins have already been picked up by major teams, with Chadwick being part of the Williams' academy and a test driver, also driving in Extreme E, and Jessica Hawkins as the ambassador driver for Aston Martin F1 team. It is also a space for encouraging female motorsport engineers, whether it's the drivers themselves, such as Sabré Cook who has worked in composite design for Renault F1, or aspiring female racing engineers, the work they are doing is incredibly important. By raising the profiles of these female drivers, it is pushing the equality issue into the limelight, drawing necessary attention. This can only bring about good things and hopefully we will see a female full-time F1 driver in the near future.