Formula One hunts for female track stars | Sunday Observer

Formula One hunts for female track stars

14 October, 2018

LONDON | AFP: A new women-only motorsport competition, W Series, will launch next year with the aim of finding female Formula 1 stars.

The series has been backed by major names in F1, including 13-time Grand Prix winner David Coulthard and Red Bull design engineer Adrian Newey. It will offer a prize fund of $1.5 million and free entry for 18-20 competitors, who will be selected on merit following tests and appraisals. The overall winner will collect $500,000.

Organisers aim to stage six 30-minute races at top circuits in Europe and future plans could see the series expand to America, Asia and Australia.

The last woman to start an F1 Grand Prix was Italy’s Lella Lombardi in 1976, but Coulthard says female drivers can compete with their male counterparts.

“In order to be a successful racing driver, you have to be skilled, determined and physically fit, but you don’t have to be a man,” Coulthard told the Daily Mail newspaper.

“We believe that female and male racing drivers can and should compete on equal terms if they have the same opportunity and training -- and we’re going to try to make that happen. There’s no reason the next Lewis Hamilton should not be a woman.”.

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