Women in Motorsports thread

Formula W has failed to secure the funding it needed to continue after the season was cut short last year and has therefore entered into administration.


F1's half arsed replacement under the guise of the 7 race all female F1 academy series will fill (part of) the gap.

Let's see if Susie Wolff, head of the F1 academy, can triumphantly lead the series to take females in motorsport to newer and greater heights.
 
that is shame, it was very good series which weirdly now jamie chadwick will be known as the only champion, at the moment the new 1 doesnt seem to be great, as if you dont have viewers, you dont have anything in sport. W series was a success because it brought so many names to racing fans. Jamie Chadwick wouldnt be in America without it

but what im interested to know how they ran out of money, did F1 pull funding for the F1 academy
 
I find the whole thing of "lets set up a series for girls as the poor little loves wouldn't get to race cars otherwise" incredibly patronising. If they could guarantee a seat at an F1 team for the series winner it might be a bit different as at least they would be able to demonstrate their capabilities in a direct comparison.
 
but what im interested to know how they ran out of money, did F1 pull funding for the F1 academy
I don't think F1 was putting any money into the W Series. I know some people in and around F1 were shareholders but I think the series had nothing directly to do with F1 or Liberty.

I agree with FB about not having a seperate series, and many female racing drivers have said the same, the money would be far better spent supporting those female racers in motorsport to develop within the wider racing series.

As most will know, Jamie Chadwick won all 3 W Series Championships with the 2nd and 3rd titles coming with ease. As a result of her success she has taken up a seat with Andretti Autosport in the Indy lights series. After 5 races she sits in 17th place, the lowest driver who has completed every race this season and one of only two drivers without a top 10 finish (the other, American rookie Josh Pierson has only raced in 2 of the 5 races). In winning those 3 W Series championships there was an expectation that Chadwick would be as successful in her next race seat. At the moment there is little sign that this will be the case.

Meanwhile, the new F1 Acadamy series will place another layer of false hope on those who take part due to the name branding. It is in fact a series based on F4 chassis which is as step down the ladder from the F3 homogolated cars used in the W Series.
 
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exposure giving more women is always good thing because there will be many women who mayve not got a chance if it wasnt for W series to prove there talent & we dont want talent to get lost

i agree with FB that the lack of progression is a big failure for that series. but ive long discussed in ideal world having like what they have in America with the road to indy ladder where success is rewarded & through scholarship you are guaranteed a seat in the higher series if you win the title so even if you struggle for sponsorship you can go from entry level open wheel racing to indycar. it works great Kyle Kirkwood has just won in his debut year in indycar with a cracking drive. by being promoted by indy lights/NXT champion. W series shouldve done there best to get the FIA to get them a F3 seat. & if Jamie Chadwick isnt challenging for indy lights/NXT podiums by latest next year. formula W has been a big flop
 
As most will know, Jamie Chadwick won all 3 W Series Championships with the 2nd and 3rd titles coming with ease. As a result of her success she has taken up a seat with Andretti Autosport in the Indy lights series. After 5 races she sits in 17th place, the lowest driver who has completed every race this season and one of only two drivers without a top 10 finish (the other, American rookie Josh Pierson has only raced in 2 of the 5 races). In winning those 3 W Series championships there was an expectation that Chadwick would be as successful in her next race seat. At the moment there is little sign that this will be the case.

It's very odd because I wouldn't expect driving to be a signficant differentiator between the sexes.

It doesn't require any particular strength or force, which is something males would typically dominate.

It's just skill, concentration, and stamina, and we know women are more than capable of matching men when it comes to that.
 
Formula W has failed to secure the funding it needed to continue after the season was cut short last year and has therefore entered into administration.


F1's half arsed replacement under the guise of the 7 race all female F1 academy series will fill (part of) the gap.

Let's see if Susie Wolff, head of the F1 academy, can triumphantly lead the series to take females in motorsport to newer and greater heights.
7 Rounds, not races. There is 3 races per round, meaning there will be 21 races in total.
W Series had 21 races in total across 3 seasons/4 years.

I fail to see how this is half-arsed. It is simply F1's expertise meaning they aren't making the same mistakes W Series made. Well aren't making some of them...
 
that is shame, it was very good series which weirdly now jamie chadwick will be known as the only champion, at the moment the new 1 doesnt seem to be great, as if you dont have viewers, you dont have anything in sport. W series was a success because it brought so many names to racing fans. Jamie Chadwick wouldnt be in America without it

but what im interested to know how they ran out of money, did F1 pull funding for the F1 academy
F1 did not fund W Series in anyway. W Series ran out of money because it was spending eye watering amounts of money trying to make the series and drivers look better than they were. To have run up a debt of £7.5m after just 14 races they wasted vast sums of money, especially since presumably there was initial investment that was also spent before the debt was created.

Ultimately though, it was a failure in financial terms, it was never at any point something that looked like a worthwhile financial investment. It has done very little yet spent so much, why would something invest £10m+ only for the series to be in the same position an 3 years time again.

Giving drivers a completely free drives whilst spending large of PR, having a quite luxurious hospitality unit, giving out $500,000 to it's champion considerably more than series that are of a similar level are all considerable costs that quickly rack up.

I don't think F1 was putting any money into the W Series. I know some people in and around F1 were shareholders but I think the series had nothing directly to do with F1 or Liberty.

I agree with FB about not having a seperate series, and many female racing drivers have said the same, the money would be far better spent supporting those female racers in motorsport to develop within the wider racing series.

As most will know, Jamie Chadwick won all 3 W Series Championships with the 2nd and 3rd titles coming with ease. As a result of her success she has taken up a seat with Andretti Autosport in the Indy lights series. After 5 races she sits in 17th place, the lowest driver who has completed every race this season and one of only two drivers without a top 10 finish (the other, American rookie Josh Pierson has only raced in 2 of the 5 races). In winning those 3 W Series championships there was an expectation that Chadwick would be as successful in her next race seat. At the moment there is little sign that this will be the case.

Meanwhile, the new F1 Acadamy series will place another layer of false hope on those who take part due to the name branding. It is in fact a series based on F4 chassis which is as step down the ladder from the F3 homogolated cars used in the W Series.
W Series used a Formula Regional specification Tatuus T318. A spec of car that is very different to the current iteration of F3 spec cars that is used by only FIA F3.

It was pretty clear that the drivers were not using it to it's full potential nor were they up to the standard of drivers in other series using that car. Something that was proven by Jamie Chadwick in particular when she entered FREC for the 2020 season. She had no reason to be so poor other than not being good enough as it was the latest attempt in a series that used that car.
 
F1 did not fund W Series in anyway. W Series ran out of money because it was spending eye watering amounts of money trying to make the series and drivers look better than they were. To have run up a debt of £7.5m after just 14 races they wasted vast sums of money, especially since presumably there was initial investment that was also spent before the debt was created.

Ultimately though, it was a failure in financial terms, it was never at any point something that looked like a worthwhile financial investment. It has done very little yet spent so much, why would something invest £10m+ only for the series to be in the same position an 3 years time again.

Giving drivers a completely free drives whilst spending large of PR, having a quite luxurious hospitality unit, giving out $500,000 to it's champion considerably more than series that are of a similar level are all considerable costs that quickly rack up.
i wasn't sure how their relationship was with F1. because there not a feeder series but they were on the F1 weekend program. because of they were on the F1 weekend. im not sure how series's that arent F2 or F3 get on there

l was a morally great idea but now in hindsight finalincally disastrous. because i completely understand why they gave free drives out. because she wanted 16/20 of the most talented female drivers on that grid. not what has been an annoyance to me in getting to F1 that it can more often be the size of your funding not the size of your talent that matters. like felipe Drugovich should be in F1 but couldnt bring necessary funding

the lack of progression is a big failure for that series. Jamie Chadwick shouldve been given a shot a F3 & then W series wouldve had the credibility it needed
 
i wasn't sure how their relationship was with F1. because there not a feeder series but they were on the F1 weekend program. because of they were on the F1 weekend. im not sure how series's that arent F2 or F3 get on there

l was a morally great idea but now in hindsight finalincally disastrous. because i completely understand why they gave free drives out. because she wanted 16/20 of the most talented female drivers on that grid. not what has been an annoyance to me in getting to F1 that it can more often be the size of your funding not the size of your talent that matters. like felipe Drugovich should be in F1 but couldnt bring necessary funding

the lack of progression is a big failure for that series. Jamie Chadwick shouldve been given a shot a F3 & then W series wouldve had the credibility it needed
The lack of progression was always going to be a problem. It was never going to be a series that could progress a driver up to a higher level* despite it self proclaiming it was. The problem is it self-identified itself as a Formula Regional series, Formula Regional series generally feed in to FIA F3, but it was not close to being the quality competition seen in real Formula Regional competitions and actually featured a competition lower than you see in national F4 series. It cannot just claim it is a Formula Regional quality competition and be regarded as such as a result.



*Technically it did progress a driver to a higher level, since Chadwick did get a FREC drive out of it. Rich girl privilege played a far greater part in it just as with her Andretti IndyNXT drive, neither would have been given to a driver named Ollie Chadwick (her brother!).
 
i wasn't sure how their relationship was with F1. because there not a feeder series but they were on the F1 weekend program. because of they were on the F1 weekend. im not sure how series's that arent F2 or F3 get on there

l was a morally great idea but now in hindsight finalincally disastrous. because i completely understand why they gave free drives out. because she wanted 16/20 of the most talented female drivers on that grid. not what has been an annoyance to me in getting to F1 that it can more often be the size of your funding not the size of your talent that matters. like felipe Drugovich should be in F1 but couldnt bring necessary funding

the lack of progression is a big failure for that series. Jamie Chadwick shouldve been given a shot a F3 & then W series wouldve had the credibility it needed
Note to moderators: I don't know if this is possible, but if so can you add the below to my previous post. I double tapped enter trying to add paragraphs and it published my post.

W Series was a support series that pay F1 to race as part of an F1 race weekend the same as Porsche Supercup did/does and various local series do. While it did sit on the overall ladder to F1, as a series below and outside of F3 & F2 it was never really a feeder series.

The 'lack of progress' is to be expected, it as a series cannot expect to progress drivers to a higher level when it chooses to accept only the least capable driver available, especially when they self-identify themselves as a level of series it is not close to being on par with. W Series was a sub-par F4 level series using a Formula Regional car, a car that it's drivers were never close to maximising the performance of. W Series has no credibility because of the decisions it made that stop it being credible.

It's not even that they wanted the most talented female drivers either, since those would never contemplate taking part in W Series instead seeking to take part in real series instead, it's that they wanted the drivers that best fit their criteria of which ability was only a small part. During the selection process ideal candidates with relevant experience were rejected whilst drivers who had no open-wheel experience at all were accepted. This led to a field spread that was huge between the front and rear.

To get to F1 you need both talent and sufficient backing. The problem with the W Series lot is they lack both the talent and the funds to proceed. The series propaganda may have framed it as them lacking funding being the reason they haven't progressed but the best driver out of them was a driver from a very privileged background; who has been given $1.5m from W Series, who has rich parents, who had sponsors, that was part of an F1 team's young driver development scheme and had funding from it, yet she wasn't good enough to be a front runner at the upper end of Formula Regional.

Chadwick has done nothing at all to warrant a F3 drive, yet apparently was offered one for 2022 but turned it down citing a BS lack of funding excuse (see above), and has in interviews claimed she would only accept drives in good teams
 
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brilliant news unfortunately couldn't watch due to clash with F1. but clips i saw she was brilliant, led from the front & was never troubled. she had a tricky 1st season to get used to the car. but won in road america, podium at indy. we could be seeing her in indycar next season
 
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