The W Series enters administration after it couldn’t land new funding

The GIST: The W Series is hitting the brakes. After prematurely ending its 2022 season due to financial woes and failing to stage a single race in 2023, the women’s racing championship went into administration late last week after it couldn’t land new funding.

The details: Over the last few months, W Series leaders were in discussions to score additional funding or outright sell the championship, but no deals came to fruition. The W Series will now go through the U.K.’s administration process, which allows companies to financially restructure and temporarily avoid creditor enforcement rules.

• Evelyn Partners LLP, the W Series’ administrators, said it will explore all options to reboot the championship and has invited potential investors to indicate interest ASAP.

The context: Last October, the W Series canceled its final three races of the 2022 season as it couldn’t afford to stage them. The championship posted net liabilities of around $8.3M in 2021 and owed money to its contractors, but CEO Catherine Bond Muir also said the W Series didn’t receive funds it was owed by partners. Yikes.

The landscape: If the W Series fully disappears, who will pick up the slack for women drivers? While 2022 champ Jamie Chadwick competes in the Indy NXT Series, all signs likely point towards Formula One’s F1 Academy. The feeder series for women aged 16 to 25 launched this year and could develop Formula One’s first woman driver in decades.

• F1 Academy’s success may establish a future where men and women compete alongside each other in Formula One, an idea already supported by a prospective expansion team owner. Start your engines.