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Nico Rosberg wants to see a clear pathway emerge for another female driver to reach Formula 1.

In the sport’s history, five women have competed at F1 race weekends. Only two of them, Italian duo Maria Teresa de Filippis and Lella Lombardi, started races. Lombardi scored a half point in the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix.

Davina Galica, Desire Wilson and, most recently, Giovanna Amati in 1992, all tried and failed to qualify for races.

However, the profile of female drivers in various motorsport categories is continually increasing – and the presence of the W Series, with live TV coverage on grand prix weekends just before qualifying, is helping greatly in that regard.

Rosberg is actively playing a role in helping to create opportunities for female drivers due to being a team principal in Extreme E.

Last year, Rosberg X Racing became the inaugural champions in that male/female driver series and with Johan Kristoffersson now partnered by a fellow Swede in Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky, who has taken over from Molly Taylor, the team are well on course to retain the title.

The 2016 World Champion has been extremely impressed with Ahlin-Kottulinsky, whom he describes as “in my eyes, the best female racer in the world at the moment” after the 29-year-old “unceremoniously swept away nine-time rally world