Why a sabbatical doesn't spell disaster for W Series

On the surface, facing nearly a 20 month break after just six races seems pretty disastrous for a newly-founded series.

During its short debut season W Series did much to silence its critics, capitalising on its own controversial nature to draw publicity and provided some spectacular racing to boot. But the general verdict was that W Series' second season would be the true test of its success, where it would have to prove that its approach to racing is sustainable and its achievements no flash in the pan.

Its first year was defined by its own novelty and a fearless approach to experimentation, trying out different qualifying formats and allowing reserve drivers to earn their place on the grid. With the novelty waning, what would the series actually have to offer?

The seeds of success were undoubtedly sown in 2019. Yes, there were issues to iron out but ultimately there was exciting racing, a worthy winner and many of the drivers are becoming household names in their home countries.

COLUMN: How W Series is already having an impact on national motorsport

Before she had even clinched the title last year, Jamie Chadwick joined the Williams Formula 1 team in the role of a development driver and at the end of the season third-placed Alice Powell was offered drives in both the IMSA SportsCar Championship and the Jaguar I-Pace eTrophy. Beyond that, there was a sense that people were genuinely becoming excited that W Series could deliver.

But the coronavirus pandemic stole away W Series' opportunity to prove itself in 2020 - sparking fears that it has taken with it the series' hard-won momentum. Making the announcement in early June that there would be no on-track races until 2021, W Series was early to confirm its sabbatical year and throw all its energy into Esports and plans for the following season.

Series CEO Catherine Bond-Muir (above) says that the importance of having this strong second season played a significant part in the decision to forfeit real-life racing in 2020 entirely.

"My personal view is that it's better to have a sabbatical in our second year instead of an inferior product," she says. "That's what people remember you as being. It was better for us to wait and to have a much bigger and better season next season."

Bond-Muir is keen to emphasise how W Series is in a very different position to well-established championships such as F1, which has been able to begin racing again behind closed doors in recent weeks. In her view, it would be an unnecessary risk for W Series to take on the challenge of its tricky second season amid the backdrop of a pandemic and all the logistical and financial uncertainty that it entails.

Women have a history of being poorly represented in Esports racing and the W Series Esports League provided a rare opportunity to see a whole grid of female drivers going head-to-head

W Series still has enormous potential to grow, enacting change as it develops. Attempting to do so under such sub-optimal conditions would not be conducive to achieving its aims and would risk the "inferior product" Bond-Muir referenced. Another short season could again mean that fans are denied a close title battle, with bad luck and technical failures having a disproportionately large effect on the outcome.

But 2020 has not been entirely a waste for W Series, and all those involved have worked hard to keep the drivers progressing. The W Series Esports League launched at the start of the summer, keeping the drivers race-sharp and giving them an opportunity to continue their development in a virtual setting.

Women have a history of being poorly represented in Esports racing and the W Series Esports League provided a rare chance to see a whole grid of female drivers going head-to-head. This has allowed W Series to embrace its mission of promoting the visibility of women across all forms of racing, while still providing training and advice to get the best out of its drivers across the league.

"Before lockdown we had all of the drivers together, talking about physical training and all aspects of driver skills, and this has just really been converted into Esports," says Bond-Muir.

"What's really important is that they don't lose their physical conditioning and it keeps them competitive - it's something they can do to compete.

"I hear so many conflicting views about the ability of things to assist in people's 'real driving' and if you listen to F1 drivers, for example, they all have completely different views as to the value of Esport.

"I suspect younger drivers are using it much more than older drivers and it just reflects the way things are moving.

"What it is great for is that our drivers can learn new circuits so if they ever do race on those circuits with us at least they know what the lay of the land is."

The W Series Esport League has certainly allowed young new talent to shine, with 17-year-old Irina Sidorkova currently sitting third in the standings, just behind 19-year-old Marta Garcia and points leader 25-year-old Beitske Visser (below).

Sidorkova wasn't part of W Series in 2019 and her Esports debut is perhaps the finest example of what can be achieved even without on-track racing. Even in 2020, W Series is bringing new talents into the spotlight and giving them the opportunity to race in front of large audiences.

It is significant that the BBC has broadcast the W Series Esports League across its digital platforms, making it accessible to casual audiences. The young demographic and percentage of non-traditional motorsport fans streaming the races are incredibly hopeful signs that W Series is not stagnating this year.

Esports has been vital for exposure and keeping the buzz surrounding female drivers going. Perhaps the most important role that W Series fulfils is actively promoting women in motorsport, creating role models for young girls and normalising the concept of female drivers to wider society. Despite the hiatus, the drivers are still enjoying a much higher profile than they were this time two years ago.

"Obviously Jamie [Chadwick] has done fantastically well but without W Series do you think Alice Powell would be commentating on the F2 races with Sky?" says Bond-Muir, who believes that W Series could become a permanent part of the single-seater ladder.

Because W Series has more to gain, it also has more to lose. So having more time to learn from what it did wrong in 2019 and plan how best to build on its successes can be no bad thing

"I think what W Series has done is to elevate all of those drivers so much that in their respective countries they are being asked to do lots and lots more.

"Emma Kimilainen has her own radio show. If you speak to each driver they are all doing so much more in their respective countries because they are becoming more famous."

Even with no real-world racing in 2020, the drivers have remained in the spotlight and this is a vital step in achieving the representation that W Series needs to make a real change to the motorsport landscape. If the world begins to forget about the drivers they were introduced to last year, then all the good work put in so far could be lost.

In order to avoid becoming a footnote in women's motorsport history, or a participant in a curious experiment that never really got off the ground, the drivers and W Series need all the exposure they can get. And luckily they still seem to be getting it.

Yet 2020 might not just be a year that W Series survives, but ultimately a year that helps it to thrive, and Bond-Muir feels that a positive has come out of this otherwise difficult time. W Series has always prioritised reflection and self-assessment and 2020 has provided an unusual opportunity in that respect.

"I think there's a certain merit to being able to pause and breathe," she says. "I was on a call this week with [Formula E founder and chairman] Alejandro Agag and I said that and he said after their first year they were just running at a billion miles an hour.

"Because you're new, you've got small teams and everybody's working so hard and you're running at a million miles an hour just to make events happen.

"You're not sitting back and thinking about strategy and where you want to take the business, where you want to take W Series and what is the best path for W Series.

"One of the great things about the whole stoppage is that we can stop and really think about what we want to be as a sport, given the fact that we know it can be successful."

Like Formula E, W Series has more to think about when it comes to what it wants to be than most motorsport categories. It is not only a racing series but a diversity movement and a social campaign. It's divisive, controversial and aims to achieve something much bigger than just putting on good races.

It needs to push the boundaries of what is thought possible but it also needs to tread carefully, because it means something to have women succeed in an arena that is still notoriously backwards in its attitudes towards diversity.

And because W Series has more to gain, it also has more to lose. So having more time to learn from what it did wrong in 2019 and plan how best to build on its successes can be no bad thing.

A sabbatical straight after its first season might not have been what W Series was wanting or expecting, but it might just be what it needed.