Why W Series is more than just a last chance

Setting aside the obvious common denominator for just one moment, the field of drivers who will line up on the grid for the inaugural W Series race at Hockenheim this weekend is a largely diverse group of racing drivers, ranging in age, experience and motorsport background.

There are drivers - like 2019 MRF champion Jamie Chadwick - who are at the relative beginnings of their career path, competing in W Series as one would any other junior single-seater formulae, taking on more seat time and looking for the exposure necessary to provide crucial sponsorship and backing to make the next step.

And then there are those for who the series represents a coveted second chance: drivers such as former GP3 racers Alice Powell and Vicky Piria, with W Series representing a long-awaited return to single-seater racing after a multiple-year hiatus, because the funding required to continue on their chosen trajectories had all but dried up.

It's not news and no secret that the money required to make it in single-seater motorsport is astronomical - even more so to make it successfully.

W Series says that its main goal and mission statement is to raise the profile of women racing drivers, clearing the path for a woman to race in Formula 1 for the first time in more than 40 years - whether it's a concept you agree with or not, that much has been discussed at length already in the seven months since the series' launch.

That mission statement has been emphatically reinforced by last week's announcement that all six of the W Series races will be broadcast live and free-to-air on Channel 4 and have primetime Saturday afternoon billing, with a tried, tested and fan-popular presenting line-up including David Coulthard, Lee McKenzie and Ted Kravitz.

From the reaction to the news on social media, that has been enough to make more than a few more people sit up and pay attention, even if the series is something that some might have previously dismissed as just a gimmicky PR stunt.

"It feels like it's the beginning of a second chance, and it's great that it's a proper car, and this year will give me a lot of experience and make up for all the kilometres I lost last year" Marta Garcia

W Series will run alongside the DTM this year, moving into the supporting role occupied briefly by the now-cancelled Formula European Masters series, and before that held by European Formula 3 - a junior series that has spawned more than a few F1 stars such as Charles Leclerc.

That begs the question of where exactly the series fits into the bigger motorsport picture: is it a traditional feeder series - given it occupies a slot historically held by a certified pathway to single-seater success - or is it more of a development championship, offering a second chance at a motorsport career?

The unique no-expense-spared approach to its championship model - as well as its compact calendar allowing for drivers to participate in other racing categories outside of the series - suggests that its place is to offer a welcome push to women racing drivers who have hit a glass ceiling, established not by virtue of their gender but because of a lack of financial funding.

"The way I've gone about my whole career is by trying to be the best in every step that I make and results and success are important to me. With the W Series, even with the results I had off the back of last year, it would be difficult for me to find the funding to have made another step in single-seaters," says Chadwick.

"They've given me an alternative platform to race in single-seaters so it couldn't have been better timing for me and hopefully puts me in a position to be fighting for the championship."

Marta Garcia who, at the age of 18, is among the youngest of the drivers lining up on the grid, openly admits that W Series has offered a career lifeline after being dropped at the end of 2017 after just one year on the Renault Sport F1 Academy programme in Spanish Formula 4.

"Last year I was in karting because I didn't have the budgets or the sponsors to come and race. I stopped Spanish F4 with Renault in 2017 so I couldn't drive in 2018, and I went back to karting," says Garcia.

"It feels like it's the beginning of a second chance, and it's great that it's an F3 car so it's a proper car and this year will give me a lot of experience and make up for all the kilometres that I lost last year.

"It's about getting used to it again and driving a single-seater again because it's quite different to karting so I think it will be ideal."

Even if W Series does represent a kind of last-chance saloon for many of its drivers, it is unfair to accuse it of just being a charity for those whose careers have stalled.

Speaking to the drivers at last month's pre-season test at the Lausitzring, a recurring theme was just how mentally and physically gruelling the selection process leading to this point had been, so it's clear that W Series has absolutely taken every opportunity to select the very best from that initial longlist of almost 60 female drivers.

In a press conference at the Lausitzring test, CEO Catherine Bond Muir and Racing Director Dave Ryan also made it clear that there is nothing to stop the drivers competing this year from returning to compete in the series again, continuing to make use of the numerous resources and training opportunities provided by the series.

For W Series to continue, it needs to establish and define itself firmly from those two identities it currently falls between

At the other end of the scale is Lamborghini Super Trofeo driver Shea Holbrook, who is one of the oldest drivers on the grid with a decade of motorsport experience behind her.

"I hope to use this as a stepping stone and a springboard into the next step and opportunity in my career, but at the same time if there is no opportunity, then this is it and I want to make the best of it, regardless of the situation," says Holbrook.

"They ask what your ultimate goal is and my ultimate goal is to be a factory driver at any level. That sounds vague and like I don't have a clear path but at 29 years old, and having been in this industry for 10/11 years now, to have gotten to a point where I've earned a seat in the W Series is phenomenal for me.

"I want this to springboard me to the next opportunity and if I don't win the championship, I certainly hope to return here because if I'm not winning the championship, I want to be in the W Series for as long as I can. There is nothing in motorsport providing you with the same kind of resources found in the W Series.

"It's a real honour for me to be a part of the inaugural season, there is a real honour to what we're doing here and I think all 18 girls understand that and I think we understand that the way we represent ourselves is a reflection of the other 17 girls in the series and the sponsors.

"We all want the same thing, which is obviously to win but we also have the same end goal - we want W Series to continue, we want to put on a good show."

For W Series to continue, it needs to establish and define itself firmly from those two identities it currently falls between. Creating opportunity, levelling the playing field, breathing a second lease of life into otherwise abandoned careers - all while quietly plugging away at its overall manifesto to inspire the next generation of women racing driver: it's certainly an ambitious task for a series in its first year.

It's still far too early to speculate on W Series' chances of success in all of these areas - and it will still be too early even after this weekend's opening round at Hockenheim. But nonetheless, the series should be given the time it needs not only to achieve its mission statement but also find its place in the wider motorsport picture.