Open-Wheel Racing Series for Women Will Start in 2019

LONDON – A new international motorsport series for women will begin next year, with the goal of finding the first female Formula One champion.

Motorsports remain largely dominated by men, not only behind the wheel but also in the pit lane, garage, workshop and laboratory. While women have had success in Nascar and IndyCar racing in the past two decades, a female driver has not started a Formula One race since Lella Lombardi in 1976.

The new W will be willing to enter into the world of science and technology.

The series is the brainchild of Catherine Bond Muir, a British sports lawyer and corporate financier. She conceived the idea while on maternity leave three years ago.

"Many sports in which women and men compete with one another," she said in a new release. "Until now, motor racing has been the only one in the world."

She added: "There has never been a female Formula One race winner, let alone a world champion. Our mission is to change all of that. "

W Series will begin next May and feature six 30-minute races in Europe, most of which have staged Formula One grand prix for many decades. In coming seasons, the series will include races in North America, Asia and Australia.

The cars will be the Tatuus model used in Formula 3, a steppingstone series to F1. There is a total prize fund of $ 1.5 million, with the overall winner collecting $ 500,000. There will be a lot of money awarded in the final standings.

The future field of 20 drivers will be chosen during a process involving on-track testing, simulator appraisal, technical engineering tests, fitness trials and media training.

"There are just a few women competing in the single-seaters series at the moment," Bond Muir said. "W Series will increase that number very significantly in 2019."

The series has the support of many motorsport figures. David Coulthard, a winner of 13 major prizes during a 15-year career in Formula One, and Adrian Newey, the most successful design engineer in British motorsport history, contributing to 20 Formula One drivers 'and constructors' world championships with Williams, McLaren and Red Bull Racing.

"Coulthard said in" "successful, determined, competitive, brave and physically fit, but you do not have to possess the kind of super-powerful strength levels" a news release. "You also do not have a man."

He said that female drivers tend to reach a "glass ceiling" at the Formula 3 level on their learning curve, often a result of a lack of funding rather than a lack of talent.

Stéphane Kox, 24, a female driver currently competing in the GT4 European Series, sees the W Series as an invaluable steppingstone.

"W Series sounds like it's going to be a really positive addition to the global motorsport scene, and it'll clearly be a big help to ambitious female racing drivers everywhere," she said.

"Having spoken to the W Series organization, it's clear they understand that we aspire to race. Speaking for myself, I want to be a driver at the highest possible level and to be able to race against the best drivers, men and women.

"In order to be able to do so, it's important that we gain the kind of experience the series will provide."

Courtney Crone, a 17-year-old American who won a championship in the Formula Car Challenge Series this year, said: "To be a success in racing, you need the opportunity to learn. W Series will give young female drivers that opportunity. "

Kevin Magnussen, 26, a Danish driver for Haas in Formula One, said he would be watching the W Series closely.

"When I was karting as a boy, I was a few girls who were talented and quick," he said. "But there are not many of them – a lot more girls than girls go-karting and that's a fact – so I would like to know and I hope it will help female racers progress their careers."