What we learned from the start of the W Series

The W Series for female racing drivers kicked off last weekend at Hockenheim, amid ongoing debate about if it should even exist at all. Nicki Shields is joined by Jack Benyon and our W Series correspondent Lucy Morson to discuss how the first race weekend went, how it was received, and if the start of the championship has in fact proved that creating a series just for women can actually be a good thing for female participation in motorsport.

[kityhawk]

I hope this is a feeder series where female drivers can develop and hone their skills, rather than the start of total segregation between men and women in motorsports

[Left-Foot-Brake]

Getting funding to demonstrate your abilities is the biggest obstacle ANY aspiring driver faces, it's not specific just to females.

[afacelessname]

Too many cars are the samce colour, you can't tell who is who.

[toodsf]

The winner of the British F3 Championship gets 10 Super License points. Chadwick finished 9th in that championship in 2017 and 8th in 2018. Now she looks favourite to win W Series and get 18 Super License points, and even if she finishes 4th in W Series she will still get 10.

I realise that F1 and F2 teams will gauge her talent accurately regardless of the license points but still; Chadwick could potentially get almost half the Super License points required for F1(40) by winning a championship that 95% of aspiring F1 drivers are ineligible for because of their gender.

[myeyesropen]

Was that really her first question to Jack? Is it a good thing to have an all female lineup? Really? As if he would say no if he really felt that way.

[touringband]

Why is this a good thing? Before the race over the weekend I’d never heard of Chadwick. If a lot more Motorsport fans hear about her, and she kills the field (as an example), more people start championing her, and her profile increases for sponsorship money. A lot of the Motorsport community are so afraid of change.

[IanParker]

Hmmmm not convinced that this will do any good for real female talent. The winner will be seen as “oh she only won the W series” or losers “well it was only the W series” If we want to help young girls, then lets find real talent in junior formula and back them. Putting one female against another is a marketing puff IMO

[maximua]

why this series exists? why can't they compete in existing series?

[vzwz]

who pays for all of this i dont see any sponsors

[MannyV]

Women are in the same footing as man in a racing series.... let's make an all women series and not allow Male that way we wont be able to prove that were just as good as men. Femenist logic is amazing

[amnaah]

4:17 Chadwick is so small 2nd is higher on the Podium, reminds me of Massa

[harryeyre]

"It's just like a proper f3 race!"

Do you know what's also like an f3 race?

[SmashGhost]

2019, where merit isn't considered.

[crazyguy]

Seeing everyone jump through mental hoops to justify this segregated safe space motorsport is pretty hilarious.

[NLR_Panda]

Wasn't motorsport supposed to be like an Male and Female sport?

[dolphinoegglet]

I believe the mix of cars and crew for each weekend is so that drivers can build that rapport within the racing community. If your agent (doesnt exist or when they do they) cant get a team to look at you, being able to tell a team 'talk to x, y & z engineer' is certainly going to help when it comes to references and getting teams to feel confident in you.

[asimbmb]

W Series is just the "let's promote Chadwick to F1" series. It's too obvious.

[MLNRCH]

Segregation or Integration. Pick which one you think this is and if it will forward the cause of women in motorsport. Time will tell but in my own view, the minute you tell someone you have a wall and nothing will get you through it or over it, so we'll make you happy just where you are as a means to get you around the side of that wall, is the moment you tell them unequivocally that the wall is solid and so damn high you never had any right to even think about getting over it on your own.

[merlinbotha]

This exactly counters the modern feminism movement. Honestly should have been implemented long ago. In practicality participating in the W-Series should not give super license points, as it is not open to any aspiring F1 racer

[johnmcglasson]

Not one series excludes females from competing, if they've got the talent and the backing they're welcomed, if for no other reason than it's great PR. What you've done here is created the first racing series that actually does actively exclude a gender from participating. Congrats?