2020 W Series champion will get 15 points towards F1 super licence

This year’s W Series champion will earn 15 FIA super licence points to help in their bid to reach Formula 1.

To qualify for an FIA super licence, drivers must accumulate a total of 40 points over the course of three seasons. From 2020, W Series will reward its champion with 15 points, putting it in line with other single-seater championships including Indy Lights, Formula Renault Eurocup, Euroformula Open and Japan’s Super Formula Lights.

Inaugural W Series champion and Williams F1 development driver Jamie Chadwick did not receive any super licence points for clinching the 2019 title, and has subsequently returned to the all-female championship to defend her crown.

“I think we are already starting to achieve our ambitions,” Bond Muir said during a conference call with media including Crash.net.

“We are closer to getting women into F1 and at the end of our second season our champion will have 15 superlicence points that will help them on their way.

“But then that champion will have to go onto another championship and hopefully get the superlicence points.”

The move is in line to help successful drivers progress up the single-seater ranks easier, with the new W Series champion prevented from returning to contest another season.

Earlier this week, W Series announced a deal with F1 that will see the championship act as the undercard for the United States and Mexican grands prix later this year, expanding its 2020 calendar to eight rounds in the process.

Bond Muir hopes the increased exposure will act as a significant career boost to the drivers competing in W Series in 2020.

“Progressing within motorsport requires people to have access to a lot of money because you need the support and the sponsorship as well as the talent to progress,” she explained.

“I think what this will give our drivers is a much bigger and better platform in which to promote themselves, so hopefully as their careers progress, they will be able to attract more sponsorship. I do think that this is of crucial importance.

“In Ross Brawn’s quotes, he says that F1’s ambition is to get women into F1 but I think W Series, as well as a whole variety of other efforts, is that we are still nascent in our ambitions of promoting women into F1.

“What we did in the first season is give 20 drivers more experience, a lot of coaching to help their motor racing skills.

“Hopefully in the second season we can do more of that but also what is also starting to happen is that a whole variety of other brands and series are looking very carefully at our drivers.”