W Series' radical action is a gamble worth taking

That the launch of W Series last October provoked such a seismic difference of opinion across social media was neither unexpected nor surprising.

The fact motorsport is male-dominated is inescapable. Discussions over how to address this age-old gender imbalance are ever-present, so the announcement of a female-only, Formula 3 level, championship predictably set up a polarising discourse.

One of motorsport's major merits, in theory, and the one thing it has always been able to fall back upon when faced with the uncomfortable reality of its inherent gender imbalance, is that it is one of the only sporting disciplines in the world in which women can compete on an equal footing at the highest level.

It's a worthy bragging right not afforded to the likes of football, tennis, athletics et al and it's the rationale behind those arguing that the introduction of W Series represents a backwards step for female drivers in their pursuit of a fabled Formula 1 drive.

It is certainly not unfounded criticism. Nor is the concern that if the future W Series champion is comprehensively beaten when returning to compete against men it would be seriously damaging to the hopes and reputations of future female competitors, particularly given how difficult motorsport is to break into - for anyone.

But to wholeheartedly wish failure upon W Series because of these factors is wrong. Just because women can, does not necessarily mean they do.

There is no way motorsport's gender imbalance can be fixed overnight, but that does not mean that doing nothing is the best course of action either.

The simple truth is there has been no female Formula 1 racer for the last 40 years. The last woman to participate in an F1 weekend was Susie Wolff for Williams in 2015 - and that was only in a practice session. The number of young women coming through the ranks of junior single-seaters is still lacking compared to the number of men.

"I spent six months doing research and initially I was sceptical about the idea, for all of the reasons that have been raised," admits W Series CEO and sports lawyer Catherine Bond Muir - who embarked on the W Series project while on an extended career break three years ago.

"But I'd like to bring up this very emotive word that people are using: segregation.

"We aren't segregating, what we are doing is creating a new platform for drivers to go on.

"We're giving them a free drive to get an experience that otherwise they wouldn't have had.

"Most importantly, if you look at motorsport at the moment, women are just getting test drives or they're just a reserve driver.

"What we're doing is putting 18 women on the grid, full-time, getting driving and racing experience.

"I had a younger sister, who is unfortunately no longer with us, but I believe she was more naturally talented at driving than I was" David Coulthard

"There is an assumption that our women are stopping competing by joining W Series. To 'go back' to competing with men would mean they'd have had to have stopped - and they never have stopped competing with men."

W Series will support the DTM for six rounds this year, beginning at Hockenheim in May and culminating at Brands Hatch in August. This condensed calendar taking place over just three months provides W Series competitors with plenty of opportunities to bolster their 2019 race programmes and continue to compete against men too.

By no means is W Series purporting to be the be-all and end-all for women racing drivers, rather it is aiming to act as another stepping stone for those aiming for top-tier motorsport.

"All we can control is our own environment, all we can control are the women in W Series," says Bond Muir.

"It's up to the women when they hopefully go on afterwards to a more senior series - maybe international F2 or F3. If they do that, it is up to them to win.

"All we can do is try and give them the tools to go and do that."

And it is if W Series graduates begin to make their mark in those senior series that the further-reaching success of its manifesto can be measured.

It is perhaps difficult to state just how much the limited number of female role models in motorsport has had an effect on female participation and will continue to have an effect unless something changes.

The sad truth of gendered expectations and cultural norms means that many young girls will not push for their parents to take them go-karting, even less so invest small fortunes in starting a career which looks doomed to be stunted from the start.

W Series is keen to create these role models. That is evident not only from its diverse longlist of nearly 60 drivers - featuring some as young as 17 and some who are themselves mothers to young girls - but also in its planned focus on ensuring a strong media presence that make its competitors recognisable.

Criticism that, being pitched at F3 level, W Series comes too late in drivers' development and should be aimed at karting is fair - but just represents a type of vicious cycle from which there is no escape. Initiatives such as Susie Wolff's Dare to be Different can go so far, but even that is already in its third year and this conversation still persists.

What comes first - a female champion or a little girl inspired by the woman she saw on the top step of the podium one Sunday afternoon? And can you really have one without the other?

David Coulthard, who is a director for W Series and has publicly backed the venture from the start, has close experience of the difficulties faced by women in motorsport.

"I had a younger sister, who is unfortunately no longer with us, but I believe she was more naturally talented at driving than I was," he says.

"It just so happened that the opportunity and the weight of the family support went to me as I was six years older and I think there is a more obviously established route for a professional career for men than there has been for women.

"If we could create positive role models and take away this glass ceiling, that would bring more women into racing, creating more female racing drivers.

"It's exactly what my sister could have been if she was alive and armed with the opportunities I have today.

"If everything that we say is true and we succeed in all our goals, in 15 years we will have done ourselves out of a job" Catherine Bond Muir

"I love the world of motorsport; the deadlines and the people that are involved because I think it brings out the best in all of us. I want this to bring out the best of the women's talent out there."

The initial selection process for W Series takes place at the Wachauring in Austria this week and will be overseen not only by Coulthard, but also by former IndyCar driver Lyn St James and F1 podium finisher Alex Wurz, using the same assessment programme employed by the FIA Institute in its Young Drivers of Excellence Academy from 2011-15.

The three-day intensive assessment programme feature tests of fitness, mental agility and media training, as well as the obvious focus on on-track driver ability.

From there, the field of hopefuls will be halved, before the final selection process takes place in Southern Europe sometime in the early spring, where the remaining candidates will finally get the chance to drive the Tatuus T-318 F3 cars to be used throughout the season before a decision on the final 18 drivers is reached.

"Theoretically, if everything that we say is true and we succeed in all our goals, in 15 years we will have done ourselves out of a job. In 15 years, there should be equal numbers of women and men going into karting," says Bond Muir.

"My ambitions are getting wider and I really think we need to be a beacon for getting women involved in all aspects of motorsport. It has to stop being tokenistic."

Generational shift means it probably will happen organically one day. Certainly, you only have to look at the wider world picture - at the impressive reach of movements such as Time's Up in the entertainment industry, for example - to see how the tides of gender equality have begun to turn in the last 18 months.

A one-gender series is absolutely not ideal, but then again neither is keeping a status quo in which most of motorsport is one-gender championships, whether by design or accident. The initiatives already under way - from high-profile FIA commissions to Dare to be Different and individual female racers' own efforts to inspire and train their successors - are nurturing grassroots change but they are trying to move a mountain. Motorsport has been this way for too long, so just waiting and hoping to eventually overcome more than a century of imbalance is not enough.

Good things might come to those who wait, but good things also come to those who do.