A woman in the driving seat? Formula E boss confident his series will beat F1

LONDON, Aug 10 : Formula E chief executive Jeff Dodds has no doubt his all-electric series will beat Formula One in the race to put a woman in the driving seat.

This weekend marks 50 years since a female driver last started a world championship grand prix, Italian Lella Lombardi who finished 12th in Austria on August 15, 1976.

Formula E, whose first season was in 2014-15, has featured three female competitors - one more than in 76 years of the Formula One championship - with the most recent being Switzerland's Simona de Silvestro in 2016.

"Would I have a bet that Formula E will (again) have a woman racing driver competing at the main championship level ahead of Formula One? Absolutely I would make that bet," Dodds told Reuters ahead of Formula E's season-ending races at London Excel this weekend.

"Obviously, I'd never make a financial bet, because that would go against any governance rules, but if you and I want to have a private beer on it then I'm happy to make it."

WOMEN'S PROGRAMME USES SAME CHAMPIONSHIP CAR

Dodds explained his confidence was due to a number of factors.

The first was a structure in place that allows female drivers to test the actual cars raced in the championship, unlike Formula One where the all-female F1 Academy support series uses Formula Four-level cars.

Drivers who succeed in F1 Academy are given a career boost but even Formula Three and Formula Two, critical steps towards obtaining sufficient points for an F1 superlicence, remain a long way off and require substantial funding. There is currently no woman racing in either of those junior series.

"I think the F1 Academy is a really good championship, and I really like what they're doing in terms of creating opportunities for women drivers," said Dodds,