The W Series will get its biggest exposure yet after agreeing to hold two support races alongside Formula 1’s US and Mexican Grand Prix’s.
Formed in 2018, the all-female category crowned Williams development driver Jamie Chadwick as its inaugural champion last year having followed the DTM calendar.
W Series will do so again in 2020 but now will end the year with a blockbuster double-header at the Circuit of the Americas and the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
“We at W Series are absolutely delighted that, in only our second season, our championship has been welcomed by Formula 1, and we’re utterly thrilled that the final two races of the 2020 W Series season will, therefore, take place as part of the Formula 1 platform,” said CEO Catherine Bond Muir.
“Our two all-new races will follow six races on the DTM platform, making a very varied, extremely exciting and truly international eight-race championship, in eight countries across the globe.
“I’m particularly pleased that W Series will now stage races outside Europe, and the USA and Mexico are of course both very important new territories for us.
“A lot of work has gone into stitching the W Series / Formula 1 deal together, but above all, I want to thank W Series’ drivers, the brave and talented young women who captured the imagination of the sporting world last summer.
“Mark my words: they’ll do so again this year, from May to October, all over the world.”
The profile of female drivers in motorsport has been rising in recent years, first with Susie Wolff completing two Friday practice sessions at Williams in 2014 and more recently Tatiana Calderon breaking that glass ceiling in F2 last year and will do so again in Japan’s Super Formula this year.
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As for F1, however, no female driver has competed since Giovanna Amati in 1992 and motorsport director Ross Brawn hopes the inclusion of W Series can move towards ending that wait.
“We are delighted to welcome W Series to two such spectacular events of the 2020 FIA Formula 1 World Championship such as those in Austin and Mexico City,” he commented.
“In just one year, W Series has contributed significantly to increasing interest in the topic of diversity and inclusion in motorsport.
“We are convinced that our sport must offer equal opportunities for men and women to compete together – it is no coincidence that improving the diversity of the F1 grid by supporting and promoting driver talent from under-represented backgrounds is one of our strategic objectives.
“The ability for the great crowds who traditionally attend the Austin and Mexico City Grands Prix to see these talented female drivers up close will definitely further raise the awareness of the importance of inclusion and diversity in motorsport.”
