Women are 'hot' in Formula 1, but W series on the brink of death

When will we see a female driver at a Grand Prix weekend for the first time since 1992? The moment when this happens seems to be getting closer and closer. More and more Formula 1 teams are taking talented women under their wing. Alpine has even had two women in the Alpine Academy since this week. At the same time, the premier racing class for women seems to be dying.

The call for more diversity in motorsport is clearly not missing its mark. The FIA, Formula 1's organisers and F1 teams are currently doing all they can to prove that participation in the world's premier racing class is not exclusively reserved for men. Alpine, for example, announced during the presentation of the 2023 car that it had established the Rac(H)er programme, among other things the reason for having added Sophia Floersch (competing in Formula 3) and Abbi Pulling (driving in F1 Academy) to its own training programme. It is still unclear whether Alice Moore will remain attached to the team as a development driver.

Alpine introduces Rac(H)er

By contracting two women and establishing the Race(H)er programme (which also includes six talented, karting girls), Alpine is following in the footsteps of Williams, among others. That English team has long had in its own Academy Jamie Chadwick, widely regarded as the greatest female talent of the moment. Chadwick will also be active in the Indy NXT (the successor to Indy Lights) in addition to her work as a Williams test driver.

At Aston Martin, which spearheads diversity in the sport, Jessica Hawkins is one of the drivers who may take a seat in the simulator. Late last year, the team informed GPblog that Hawkins may eventually test in a Formula 1 car too, but a date has not yet been set. Ferrari has included Brazilian Aurelia Nobels (16, driving in F4) in the Academy and Sauber (Alfa Romeo F1) announced this Friday that it has added Lena Bühler to the programme. She, like Pulling, will drive in the new F1 Academy next season.

Women a rarity in the sport?

More women getting a chance in a serious racing class, but the final step is not taken. Why not? Are women too physically short to drive an F1 car? Do teams perhaps not dare? Or are there no women good enough? Even in Formula 2 and Formula 3, women are a rarity. Tatiana Calderon may have recently had several seasons in Formula 2, but in those, the Colombian mainly impressed as a driving chicane.

The FIA and the Formula 1 organisation realise that a woman's breakthrough at the highest level depends on training. That is why this season they are launching the F1 Academy, a racing class for talented female drivers. Especially very young girls, some as young as 18, will participate.

Financial problems

By contrast, the W-series, a racing class for women, seems to be dying after three years. The 2022 season was cancelled prematurely due to financial problems, after which hopes were expressed to restart in 2023. GPblog went to investigate in recent days and discovered that there appears to be no sign of a revival for the time being. "We’re working hard on plans for 2023. At present we don’t have anything we can share," the organisation revealed when asked about it. Follow-up questions about the status of the class, received no response. While the W-Series social media account is up and running, there is no word anywhere on the future.

Among drivers and teams participating (or participating?) in the W-Series, there are many questions: will there still be racing in 2023? To questions from this site, they usually do not give concrete answers, and often refer to the W-series press department. Probably the biggest problem for W-series is the budget to be able to race another season, only no one expresses that out loud. It is almost March already and there is no prospect of a racing calendar yet. So time is running out, while female drivers are eager to get into a race car.