W Series under threat but drivers pledge to fight despite fears for future

The British driver Jamie Chadwick has said W Series drivers are united in their commitment to keeping the championship alive as it struggles with financial problems.

The all-female series is in its third season but has been unable to guarantee it will be able to conclude this year’s remaining races or pay its drivers their prize money.

Chadwick won the first two W Series championships and will take her third if she wins in Singapore this weekend. However on Wednesday it was reported in the Daily Telegraph that there were financial issues facing the series, and significant sums owed to creditors.

The W Series was set up by Catherine Bond Muir in 2018, and funded by investors and equity, but Muir was explicit at the time that it had to become a viable business. However it has struggled for funding. Despite achieving a slot as a support race on F1 weekends it has yet to attract a major title sponsor and its outgoings are considerable.

The series provides all the cars and meets all the costs of it drivers across a calendar that runs to a proposed eight races this season in the US, Europe, Singapore and Mexico. It also distributes a major prize prize fund to the drivers. The winner receives $500,000 with a further $1m awarded across the rest of the field.

On Thursday Chadwick confirmed that Muir had briefed all the drivers confirming they were facing financial difficulties but she insisted the atmosphere among them remained positive.

“The camaraderie between the group is massive,” she said. “When we were all briefed about the situation it was really cool to see how much the series means to everyone. It has been a lot of our lives for the past four years, it’s been a huge opportunity for all of us and there is an emotional