Discussion
Saw a bunch of ladies racing various stuff at Brit Gt yesterday, most of them fairly average, but one or two getting decent results as well, it does seem that there are far more lassess taking part now in basic stuff which can only be good, it will happen one day that we find a talent worthy if F1.
The more people there are racing, women and men, the better. There are a number of talents in W Series, based on race experience, track time etc. But it is at this time a smaller pool, so therefore the pool of talent and capability is smaller.
The more track time the more experience and exposure, the more opportunities to develop will come along. That will lead to more track time and greater experience the more chance that talent will shine through or develop and come through. Possibly not in F1 yet, but in lower formula racing F4, F3 etc), GT racing, touring or sports car / prototype racing.
I enjoy racing of pretty much any kind at all sorts of levels. W Series adds another opportunity for me to enjoy racing, and hopefully provide those drivers with opportunities for them to develop.
There are more women out there starting to rise through the ranks in terms of capability and results, Michelle Gatting, Sarah Bovy, Rahal Frey, Doriane Pin and other drivers like Sophia Floersch, Maya Weug. All of whom are far better at driving anything than I’ll ever be.
Will any of that talent come from or develop from W Series? Well I hope so, the more the merrier I say! If watching W Series inspires some young girls to get involved in motorsport and they develop in to a real future talent, ten W Series will have done its job. W Series isn’t so much about now, it’s about 5 - 10 years time
The more track time the more experience and exposure, the more opportunities to develop will come along. That will lead to more track time and greater experience the more chance that talent will shine through or develop and come through. Possibly not in F1 yet, but in lower formula racing F4, F3 etc), GT racing, touring or sports car / prototype racing.
I enjoy racing of pretty much any kind at all sorts of levels. W Series adds another opportunity for me to enjoy racing, and hopefully provide those drivers with opportunities for them to develop.
There are more women out there starting to rise through the ranks in terms of capability and results, Michelle Gatting, Sarah Bovy, Rahal Frey, Doriane Pin and other drivers like Sophia Floersch, Maya Weug. All of whom are far better at driving anything than I’ll ever be.
Will any of that talent come from or develop from W Series? Well I hope so, the more the merrier I say! If watching W Series inspires some young girls to get involved in motorsport and they develop in to a real future talent, ten W Series will have done its job. W Series isn’t so much about now, it’s about 5 - 10 years time
Edited by bockaaarck on Sunday 8th May 14:34
rscott said:
MitchT said:
It looks like live coverage of W Series has disappeared behind the Sky paywall. Great way to build an audience... not!
Have I missed something or is there really no way to get live, free-to-air coverage?
I think it's highlights only on C4 now?Have I missed something or is there really no way to get live, free-to-air coverage?
Is there a "tongue in cheek" smiley?
Milkyway said:
30 mins....inc of pre race chat, adverts & post race interviews.
Not great coverage...
Unfortunately, just like the F1 coverage, C4 are now even more limited in what they can show hence the very abbreviated highlights package this year. Last year they were only contracted to show the buildup and race itself, but even then were restricted to a minimum broadcast time slot, meaning that if the race overan then the coverage just ended, with a statement advising people to catch up online or via W-Series social media, to avoid any breach (which it did on at least 2 events due to accident / weather issues). Not great coverage...
Some info online suggests that overall viewing figures on FTA for the live coverage never hit what was expected and as a result W agreed to put all live coverage in the UK behind the Sky F1 contract paywall for this season onwards, with C4 keeping some brief highlights like they do with the F1 to keep a minimal FTA presence.
I think anyone with any sense has realised this has been a complete and utter waste of time, it was always going to end this way.
It will be blamed on sexism and lack of opportunity, but the model was flawed from the very beginning and let's also face it DC has a history of backing doomed projects, aswell as doing well in others it is what people in that world do I guess.
It will be blamed on sexism and lack of opportunity, but the model was flawed from the very beginning and let's also face it DC has a history of backing doomed projects, aswell as doing well in others it is what people in that world do I guess.
I don't understand how the series is funded to begin with. They have almost no visible external sponsors, they run all the cars themselves, and then they give the winner half a million $ prize money. Is it just wealthy backers and TV money that's kept them going so far, with the hope that it will become established and start attracting more sponsors, TV and independent teams in the future to give them some ROI? If so, that's always a high risk strategy.
Don't know the business model, but we definitely need more women in the sport, at every level, and W Series has been a bold initiative to help achieve this. It's certainly contributed to the 'gender' discussion and helps tick F1's 'diversity' box.
Getting a female, or a male for that matter, into F1 is monumental task and requires a huge investment and long term program from an early age. W Series can only really be a stepping stone.
But, if it is getting more girls interested in karting, engineering, the support services......or the better drivers into other race series, then that's surely a good thing. A £7.5m debt doesn't seem much in motorsport, but guess it's got to pay its way, so a re-think seems to be called for. Personally, I hope it succeeds.
Getting a female, or a male for that matter, into F1 is monumental task and requires a huge investment and long term program from an early age. W Series can only really be a stepping stone.
But, if it is getting more girls interested in karting, engineering, the support services......or the better drivers into other race series, then that's surely a good thing. A £7.5m debt doesn't seem much in motorsport, but guess it's got to pay its way, so a re-think seems to be called for. Personally, I hope it succeeds.
I agree and I'm glad that the series has raised awareness and got people talking . But it is way past its sell by date - I rarely watch TV racing other than F1 and Goodwood (live is my thing )but I saw Formula W at Silverstone on a rare trip to the GP. From trackside the cars look old , slow and uninspiring and I'd love to see Jamie Chadwick in F3 or F2 - that would be a real measure of performance. I interviewed her a year or so ago and she was certainly feisty and almost worryingly professional
I think the big problem is that she has had tests and raced in other series and failed to impress any more or less than a male equivalent, she is very average as a top level racing driver, she is not a Max or Russell or Leclerc.
She is a great female racing driver, yes, but in real terms maybe not good enough to get higher than perhaps F3 or GP3.
That is not her fault, it is where female talent is right now.
Look at the Iron Dames in GT racing, regular front runners in ELMS and WEC, and not just in amateur racing, the pros struggle to beat them too, they are a shining light at the moment of what drivers can do at the top level regardless of gender.
I have said before that trying to get a female into F1 is very difficult, not only are you pulling talent from a miniscule pool, you then have to find a talent that is F1 level, and none of them are or really have ever been. Amati, Desire Wilson, Wolff, are all good drivers and some of raced in F1, but let's face it none were top drawer, but they were all beacons of hope.
BUT, it has not worked, they have not forced through a breed of good, female racing drivers, it is still sporadic. This series has done some good, but also done a lot of bad, you can see the idea, it came out of lots of anti-male stuff in the world and in F1, but it has not created anything more than we had before.
And if it is being suggested it dies because of lack of money, that is utterly pathetic, if these a
holes have not got the balls to invest in this long term, that is a real joke, anyone knew that if this was going to work it would be long term so to pull it without trying to work out what's wrong is a total and utter joke and the people running it should be made fools of. Why not look at lower categories, DGT racing, rallying. The mere notion that you could create a series and propel someone into F1 and then live off the profits is absurd beyond hope.
She is a great female racing driver, yes, but in real terms maybe not good enough to get higher than perhaps F3 or GP3.
That is not her fault, it is where female talent is right now.
Look at the Iron Dames in GT racing, regular front runners in ELMS and WEC, and not just in amateur racing, the pros struggle to beat them too, they are a shining light at the moment of what drivers can do at the top level regardless of gender.
I have said before that trying to get a female into F1 is very difficult, not only are you pulling talent from a miniscule pool, you then have to find a talent that is F1 level, and none of them are or really have ever been. Amati, Desire Wilson, Wolff, are all good drivers and some of raced in F1, but let's face it none were top drawer, but they were all beacons of hope.
BUT, it has not worked, they have not forced through a breed of good, female racing drivers, it is still sporadic. This series has done some good, but also done a lot of bad, you can see the idea, it came out of lots of anti-male stuff in the world and in F1, but it has not created anything more than we had before.
And if it is being suggested it dies because of lack of money, that is utterly pathetic, if these a
holes have not got the balls to invest in this long term, that is a real joke, anyone knew that if this was going to work it would be long term so to pull it without trying to work out what's wrong is a total and utter joke and the people running it should be made fools of. Why not look at lower categories, DGT racing, rallying. The mere notion that you could create a series and propel someone into F1 and then live off the profits is absurd beyond hope.The main problem (with this and other 'pathway' projects for all genders) is they go in with the headline of 'finding an F1 star' rather than perhaps the more useful aim of just showcasing the skills of lesser known or underfunded drivers such they can earn a living or find modest sponsorship opportunities for racing in sportscars, GTs or touring cars.
LukeBrown66 said:
Look at the Iron Dames in GT racing, regular front runners in ELMS and WEC, and not just in amateur racing, the pros struggle to beat them too, they are a shining light at the moment of what drivers can do at the top level regardless of gender.
I feel this is a good point. It shows how this sort of thing should be done, IMO the 'W Series' has had piss-poor publicity/coverage from the POV of as motorsport enthusiast. This in turn makes the series look a 'poor relation' not worthy of proper coverage, and devalues both the women competing and the notion of women being credible racing drivers, as "Aww you can't compete in F1, here's a women-only series for you to race in." 
The Iron Dames are doing damn well to further the plight of women competing in motorsport IMO, certainly done more than W Series and shouldn't think they've racked up as much debt doing so either.
Truckosaurus said:
The main problem (with this and other 'pathway' projects for all genders) is they go in with the headline of 'finding an F1 star' rather than perhaps the more useful aim of just showcasing the skills of lesser known or underfunded drivers such they can earn a living or find modest sponsorship opportunities for racing in sportscars, GTs or touring cars.
Should more accurately be promoted as "we'd really like to get someone into F3, which might lead to F2, which theoretically means a route into F1, but you know, it's very competitive and really quite unlikely whether you are male or female, and quite frankly nobody's really taking us seriously and the FIA are paying lip service to us"
...though I recognise this is somewhat less catchy than "next F1 star"
I feel the top drivers in this series have also been let down by management.
If you signed up for this, I would think you were perhaps told it was a gateway, yet it has proved nothing of the sort and to then find out that the money men are basically pulling the plug is awful
Or could it be that FOM don't want it around anymore and have put up the price as they do with everything else, perhaps it was contract renewal time?
If you signed up for this, I would think you were perhaps told it was a gateway, yet it has proved nothing of the sort and to then find out that the money men are basically pulling the plug is awful
Or could it be that FOM don't want it around anymore and have put up the price as they do with everything else, perhaps it was contract renewal time?
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