Discussion
These regional F3 cars are making it harder to compare lap times when a new series visits a circuit.
A 'proper' F3 car with a professional driver should be lapping Brands GP in around 1m 17. A good amateur in the same equipment, albeit on softer compound tyres will be in the 1m 19's. W series were in the 1m 22's, despite 40hp more.
A current "British F3" car which is a Tatuus F4 car with a bit more aero and more power than F4 equiv. will do a 1m 21. These have less aero than a proper F3 car and whilst similar power a lot less torque.
A 'proper' F3 car with a professional driver should be lapping Brands GP in around 1m 17. A good amateur in the same equipment, albeit on softer compound tyres will be in the 1m 19's. W series were in the 1m 22's, despite 40hp more.
A current "British F3" car which is a Tatuus F4 car with a bit more aero and more power than F4 equiv. will do a 1m 21. These have less aero than a proper F3 car and whilst similar power a lot less torque.
Zoobeef said:
JonChalk said:
Zoobeef said:
Cold said:
The "worst thirty minutes" of her life - apparently! 
Onward and upward for her.
She should try listening to the commentary.Onward and upward for her.
But in truth, she's s
t.Lee McK would have been a better choice - f
k, even Crofty would have been better.David Addison would be No.1 choice, however,
Good racing although the director focused on the front runners that did nothing for the first 10 minutes when esme Hawkins came from the back, overtook a load of cars then dropped to the back again and no mention of it.
Not to mention the on-screen graphics that looked like a 7 year old had been at the paintbox, and no word on screen the drive-thru penalties being applied?
And don't even get me started on the whole concept of "wimmin only" racing...
Koln-RS said:
When I was at Brands yesterday, I was chatting to one of the engineer guys and he said that the policy of rotating the cars amongst drivers, and with less scope for set up adjustments, meant times would be a little off some of the equivalent 'F3' cars
Do the drivers know who's car they have this weekend so they know if it's been crashed?
Zoobeef said:
Cold said:
The "worst thirty minutes" of her life - apparently!
Onward and upward for her.
She should try listening to the commentary.Onward and upward for her.
Great little series which established a meritocracy early and yet didn't become a procession.
An interesting thought occurred to me this morning- where do we think that the much maligned Lance Stroll would've figured if he was in the mix?
Personally I reckon he would've won it.
I hope that W Series' top drivers will quickly outgrow it and graduate into mainstream, unsegregated racing.
Koln-RS said:
When I was at Brands yesterday, I was chatting to one of the engineer guys and he said that the policy of rotating the cars amongst drivers, and with less scope for set up adjustments, meant times would be a little off some of the equivalent 'F3' cars
Yes, the cars are rotated from one round to the next, with the exception that if you crash it, you get the same car next race, so possible consequential damage doesn't hinder someone elses race. HustleRussell said:
An interesting thought occurred to me this morning- where do we think that the much maligned Lance Stroll would've figured if he was in the mix?
You do realise Lance is a fella...unless you know something we don't!I assume you mean the levelling nature of the series in terms of tuning out wealth from the level of on track success. It's an interesting point.
Taking gender out of the equation, the last proper 'leveller' series I can recall was Formula Palmer Audi. This had a modicum of success but many well financed drivers were put off on the basis of there being nowhere to hide when it came to performance levels. There were also question raised (IIRC) as to why a certain car for a certain driver was prepped and looked after separate to the others. Maybe that's how you become a BBC pundit!
Back to Formula W...
I have been impressed. I feel that there needs to be a second tier, something more akin to Formula 2 type specs and perhaps this will come along in the future.
I was at Brands on Saturday and what was very noticeable were a) the number of families with young girls waiting for autographs and b) that all of the drivers had the time and inclination to sign autographs, pose for selfies and generally engage with fans.
Having seen way too may F3 and even Formula Ford drivers wander around like they are already in F1, it was a refreshing change.
Cold said:
andyroo said:
Did anyone else think Chadwick’s defence by driving around the outside of Paddock Hill was amateurish? She did it again into Surtees, not sure what the thinking was there.
I suspect Chadwick was thinking about the title rather than the podium. Happy Chadwick won - even at her age she certainly seems to have a very professional outlook but at the same time still pretty laid back, honest, etc.
Pleased for Alice Powell as well - after the entire season it was nice she finally got a win - especially after a few years out of the sport
Gutted for Hawkey though - fantastic qualification and what could have been a podium to finish off the season but that stall / jump pretty much buggered that 
StevieBee said:
I have been impressed. I feel that there needs to be a second tier, something more akin to Formula 2 type specs and perhaps this will come along in the future.
Agreed. Really impressed. I was expecting a crash-fest during the Assen reverse-grid race and the wheel to wheel racing at Brands ending in disaster but the girls showed some superb racecraft. They've done themselves proud; so impressed was I that I couldn't help thinking the W Series should be aiming to run a second tier car from the motorsport ladder, as mentioned, something close on par with F2.
TBH I don't know what to make of Chadwick crumbling under pressure. Could've ended in Carlos Reutemann-esque disaster. Some might be put off by it but on balance I think she at the very least should be considered for Aston Martin/WEC entry.
Gutted and disappointed by Marta Garcia. Up and down all season. I was at least expecting her to mix it with Visser and Jaime more often. How many breaks with single-seaters does she need?
Hate to say this but it's going to take a dominant driver for the motorsport world to take notice more/seriously.
Good luck to Jaime's future and Visser's too with her association with BMW. This is what W Series is all about. Giving a chance for the girls to showcase their talent and promote themselves and help further their careers.
entropy said:
This is what W Series is all about. Giving a chance for the girls to showcase their talent and promote themselves and help further their careers.
It's not. Or it shouldn't be.It's to raise awareness and bring more women to the sport, if they want to showcase their talents that can be done in any series. It's just as hard for a bloke to get noticed in the sport (harder really as a good female driver would be snapped up as a better marketing asset) so to say this series is purely to promote those specific drivers is wrong.
Still wondering how the finances work.
Prize pot of $1.5 million
Purchase of 20+ spare Tatuus F3 cars
Purchase of spares package to service 20+ cars
Deal with Hitech to organise transport, maintenance and running of cars including providing all race staff.
Deal with Hankook for tyres
Fuel deal
Purchase of 150 minutes of track time per event on the DTM race event
Purchase of matching race overalls
PR / branding etc.,
and what the backers of W Series get out of it?
Prize pot of $1.5 million
Purchase of 20+ spare Tatuus F3 cars
Purchase of spares package to service 20+ cars
Deal with Hitech to organise transport, maintenance and running of cars including providing all race staff.
Deal with Hankook for tyres
Fuel deal
Purchase of 150 minutes of track time per event on the DTM race event
Purchase of matching race overalls
PR / branding etc.,
and what the backers of W Series get out of it?
andrewcliffe said:
Still wondering how the finances work.
Have been wondering the same thing. The whole shebang has to be close to a $10m a season thing yet the absence of any meaningful sponsor or partners is quite apparent.I believe that the slot on the DTM race card is gifted to them following the departure of the EuroF3 series. Nobody else wanted it and would have thinned the card somewhat. DTM are struggling to bring in the crowds (Brands wasn't exactly bursting at the weekend) so they probably see W Series as means to boost spectators. They've already paid for the track so may as well fill it with something. I doubt W Series would get any slice of gate receipts as a result though.
As the places in the series are awarded on merit, I don't think there's any obligation on the drivers to pay.
Maybe they get a bit of revenue from TV.
As it's an FIA series I wonder if they're underwriting it as part of their gender equality commitments or something?
However, it may be that investors backed the series in the hope that sufficient interest is gained in the first season to attract title sponsors for the next.
After all.....
"They're worth it!"
Zoobeef said:
It's not. Or it shouldn't be.
It's to raise awareness and bring more women to the sport, if they want to showcase their talents that can be done in any series. It's just as hard for a bloke to get noticed in the sport (harder really as a good female driver would be snapped up as a better marketing asset) so to say this series is purely to promote those specific drivers is wrong.
I'm aware of W Series original intentions but its just another series/championship and the end result is another shop window opportunity.It's to raise awareness and bring more women to the sport, if they want to showcase their talents that can be done in any series. It's just as hard for a bloke to get noticed in the sport (harder really as a good female driver would be snapped up as a better marketing asset) so to say this series is purely to promote those specific drivers is wrong.
Its hard to find the cost of a car, but Mygale offers a regional F3 car and theirs costs € 77,000 + VAT plus an engine lease agreement. Lease cost of a MSA Formula 4 Ecoboost engine is € 10,500, an F3 lease deal was reduced to a max of € 60,000 per car per season, so likely to be somewhere in between. If simply for the sake of round numbers total cost price of car with engines € 100,000, then 20 cars is €2m. As I am sure W Series and all their suppliers are VAT registered, items from European suppliers would not have VAT charged at the time, as that gets declared as part of their quarterly VAT returns.
Edited by andrewcliffe on Tuesday 13th August 18:19
2172cc said:
Chadwick is a class act and deserved the championship, but what was the flag being displayed behind Visser on the podium? Isn't she Dutch?
2 or all 3 of the drivers on the podium noticed too ,I have no idea what that flag displayed behind was ,not even sure it was Edited by 2172cc on Sunday 11th August 16:52
a country's flag at all.
pomodori said:
2172cc said:
Chadwick is a class act and deserved the championship, but what was the flag being displayed behind Visser on the podium? Isn't she Dutch?
2 or all 3 of the drivers on the podium noticed too ,I have no idea what that flag displayed behind was ,not even sure it was Edited by 2172cc on Sunday 11th August 16:52
a country's flag at all.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Friesland
FourWheelDrift said:
pomodori said:
2172cc said:
Chadwick is a class act and deserved the championship, but what was the flag being displayed behind Visser on the podium? Isn't she Dutch?
2 or all 3 of the drivers on the podium noticed too ,I have no idea what that flag displayed behind was ,not even sure it was Edited by 2172cc on Sunday 11th August 16:52
a country's flag at all.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Friesland
Alice Powell will be racing in the US IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at VIR on August 25th.
https://www.autosport.com/imsa/news/145383/w-serie...
https://www.autosport.com/imsa/news/145383/w-serie...
2172cc said:
Yes that's the one...... Very odd that happened at a major sporting event. Do think we would ever see this flag being flown on the podium next time Lewis wins?
I think this is the equivalent of me winning a race and flying the three seaxs of Essex!There's strict rules that govern the use of flags at sporting occasions. David Haye displayed the North Cyprus flag once and got hauled over the coals in a very big was as did the promotor of the fight (North Cyprus isn't recognised as a country other than by Turkey).
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