W Series looks to push accelerator on change as grid lines up for 2022 season

Making a big difference is often the summation of a series of small steps and the all-female W Series is putting its best foot forward as the new season opens on the Formula One bill in Miami this weekend. The drivers are, of course, pursuing individual ambitions but in so doing this generation of women are breaking the ground for the real change that is to come.

The W Series held its first season in 2019, a concerted effort to address the paucity of female drivers in motor sport. F1 has not had a woman compete at a grand prix since Lella Lombardi raced in Austria in 1976. The stated goal of W Series was to address that deficit.

The series embraced radical ideas from its inception. It meets the costs of the drivers, who compete in single-make F3 cars, and rewards them with prize money to help their careers. Added to the F1 bill last season, it has been successful in changing perceptions and showcasing the talent of its female protagonists, revitalising the careers of some and opening new doors for others.

Yet with season three about to begin, returning a woman to F1 still looks a long way off. This was never going to be easy nor accomplished overnight. Britain’s Sarah Moore is entering her third season in the series and the 28-year-old from Harrogate knows how hard these women are working. They will be racing on the same track as their male F1 counterparts in Miami but their reality could not be further from the gilded privilege of F1’s stars.

In 2020, with the W Series cancelled and her driver coaching job impossible because of the pandemic, Moore took to driving a supermarket delivery van to make a living. Even with the return of the series in 2021, there were still bills to be paid so when the racing was over for the