W Series announced an all-new ground-breaking free-to-enter single-seater motor racing series for women drivers only, with a prize fund of $1.5-million.
The inaugural W Series season will commence in the March of 2019 and will encompass a number of races run on some of the best and most famous circuits in Europe, most of which have staged Formula 1 races for many decades.
In forthcoming seasons the W Series schedule is set also to include races in America, Asia and Australia.
W Series will provide identical cars for 18-20 drivers in season one (2019), all of whom will have entered and passed a rigorous pre-selection programme/examination involving on-track testing, simulator appraisal, technical engineering tests, fitness trials etc.
The successful applicants will then be given a thorough training programme centring on driving techniques, simulator exposure, technical engineering approaches, fitness, media skills etc, all of it carried out by a group of experts with decades of Formula 1 experience.
The experts include: former F1 driver David Coulthard ; F1 chief design engineer Adrian Newey and many others.
The cars will all be identical Tatuus T-318 Formula 3 cars, powered by identical Autotecnica Motori inline four-cylinder 1.8-litre turbocharged engines, using Sadev six-speed sequential gearboxes, fitted with HALO safety devices.
How to get involved
W Series will be free to enter for all its drivers. In addition, significant prize monies will be awarded. Out of a total prize fund of $1.5-million, the overall W Series victor will scoop a pay-out of $500 000, and there will be prize money awarded all the way down to 18th place in the final standings.