[Joxster]

How to make F1 more inclusive? By making an exclusively female series, apparently.

Say a big hello to W Series, an all-new single-seater race series just for women. Whether the W stands for ‘women’ or ‘woke’ we’re not quite sure, but it’s designed to lead us to a point where there’s a far greater gender balance in motorsport.
It’s free to enter, and its score of competitors will be selected via lots of on-track auditions, simulator tests and fitness appraisals. They’ll then go through a “thorough training programme”, with big names like Adrian Newey and David Coulthard tutoring them along the way. “At the moment, women racing drivers tend to reach a ‘glass ceiling’ at around the GP3/Formula 3 level on their learning curve, often as a result of a lack of funding rather than a lack of talent,” says Coulthard.
Mind, the first W Series car is a Formula 3 car. The first season starts in spring 2019 and will visit “some of the best and most famous circuits in Europe, most of which have staged Formula 1 races for many decades,” though none have yet been named. Future seasons will spread out to America and Asia. The prize fund for the first season is $1.5 million (just over £1m).

I think that this is a great initiative! Would be very interesting to see the fairer sex show-off their driving skills and prowess.
As it stands right now, famous women drivers are few and far between globally. This series should increase those numbers.

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[Arjun Reddy]

I am all for it. My mother is an awesome driver at 64. She can put me or atleast my brother to shame.

Would love to tune in, just to increase the TRPs which will finally decide if this venture will be successful.

Great initiative. I have seen some truly amazing women behind the wheel.

Denise McCluggage,Helle Nice , Jutta Kleinschmidt are all driver's par excellence and Maria Teresa Filippis has Formula 1 points to her credit. I am not sure but a couple of other women have also scored points in F1.

[swissknife]

Originally Posted by Arjun Reddy

I am not sure but a couple of other women have also scored points in F1.

As far as I can remember, only one woman has scored points in F1. Lella Lombardi, driving for Ford scored 0.5 points when she was in 6th position in the curtailed Spanish GP of 1975. Since 75% of the race distance wasn't finished, only half the points we awarded to the first 6 places.

[V.Narayan]

Excellent step forward. In tune with the times.

[asr245]

Top female drivers hit back against W series

I am not sure what they are harping about. How is this segregation? Aren't men/women championships different in more or less all sports?

[Thermodynamics]

Arguably Men and Women have distinctive pattern of interests. Be it color (pink and blue) or studies (arts, science and engineering) or Jobs (Medical to Automotive), there is an overwhelming pattern between genders.

When it comes to sports, beyond interests, physical strength also matters and gender segregation makes sense. But there are sports which do not demand muscle power but rather are skill based and car racing is one of them. There might be equally good female races. Do we really need gender segregation here ?

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by asr245

Top female drivers hit back against W series
I am not sure what they are harping about. How is this segregation? Aren't men/women championships different in more or less all sports?

Originally Posted by Thermodynamics

But there are sports which do not demand muscle power but rather are skill based and car racing is one of them. There might be equally good female races. Do we really need gender segregation here ?

Segregation, as we know, is a word tainted with negative emotions. Maybe exclusive is a better turn of word to use for these races. While the top line women drivers are entitled to their strongly expressed views I believe these W races will encourage more women to step forward and participate in car racing in an environment safe from prejudice and unspoken obstacles placed by the other half.

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by asr245

Top female drivers hit back against W series

I am not sure what they are harping about. How is this segregation? Aren't men/women championships different in more or less all sports?

Exactly. Dont know why so many women are not thrilled about this. This is another opportunity and surely more the racing the better!

Unless the few established women racers think it is below their level to race against other women! Hope not!