What The Future Holds for W Series

Since its inception, W Series has been an all-female championship designed to create opportunities for female drivers and create a potential pathway for them to one day reach Formula 1. However, the series has also been the centre of much discussion, and it hasn’t all been for the right reasons.

Does a series that segregates female racers do more harm than good? Are transgender athletes welcome in the series? Do the drivers who excel in the series actually receive tangible benefits in terms of career growth?

However, the future of the series itself could now be in severe jeopardy. As reported this week, W Series are entering a period of financial uncertainty, as a multi-million pound deal with an unnamed American investor has recently crumbled. The impact of the deal’s collapse now leaves the racing series in a mad dash to find new backers. If they’re unable to do so by next week, the completion of the current season is at risk, as they may not be able to ship the necessary freight to the United States for their final two races of 2022.

W Series founder Catherine Bond Muir spoke on the issue on Friday, saying: “We’re having lots of conversations at the moment and I’m very optimistic. We’ve had to fight from day one. It has always been a struggle but we’re fighters. We’re looking at our budgets. We’re confident that we’ll continue to raise money.”

Bond Muir added that in her opinion, these types of financial issues are not so much a motorsport issue, but an issue pertaining to the landscape of women’s sports globally. 

“You all know the stories about women's sports. The female rugby players go in economy, the men go in first class. There's only equality and parity in tennis because Billie Jean King's been fighting for 50 years for it. So I have no doubt that in the future, it will be a lot easier for us.”

So what does this mean for W Series, in 2022 and beyond? 

It’s hard to say for sure. After this weekend’s support race in Singapore, W Series is scheduled to run two more rounds in support of Formula 1’s United States and Mexican Grands Prix. Those races may not go on as planned, but even if they do, there’s no guarantee that drivers will be paid their due prize money. As for next year, Muir was asked if the series would shift their focus to making preparations for the 2023 season if key funding couldn’t be secured in the next week. Her response? “Definitely”.

Aside from Muir’s claims on why the series has yet to find funding in the ways that other series have - which I agree with - I believe there are other things at play here as well. It’s important to consider that the British pound has been crashing toward new lows, a fact that has likely put a strain on a series that was already struggling to find financial backers and major sponsorship dollars. 

The looming long-term impact of the pandemic surely has had a part to play in the situation too. W Series lost its entire 2020 season due to COVID, hardly an ideal follow-up to it’s inaugural campaign in 2019. If they’d been able to run their second season as planned, who knows how much less money they would be chasing right now. 

Ultimately, I do hope that the future of W Series can be secured. Given more time, I’m confident the series can find new and improved ways to continue its promotion of women in motorsports. It hasn’t all been perfect up to his point, but sometimes these sorts of ambitious projects take time to bed in. The potential is there. I just hope W Series gets the chance to fulfill it. 

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