Segregation or opportunity? Female racing drivers react to W Series

Plans to launch an all-women racing series next year have divided opinions among existing female racing drivers.

A new international racing series exclusively for female drivers, W Series, will launch next year in a bid to give women an easier pathway to Formula One.

W Series will be a free-to-enter, single-seater racing series that aims to increase female participation in motorsport. The grid will be formed of 18-20 drivers who will be chosen by a pre-selection programme to race in identical F3-level cars for a total prize fund of $1.5 million.

The series claims to have a "firm belief that women can compete equally with men in motorsport" but argues "an all-female series is essential in order…