W Series, the motorsport series which was specifically introduced to promote women in motorsports, went into administration last year. Despite having few races left for the 2022 season, the governing body discontinued the series due to lack of funding. As the series went into administration, investors lost a huge amount of money. However, it was different for David Coulthard, as the former Red Bull driver lost around $3,000,000 in services, according to a report published by Business F1.
The mismanagement within the W series not only saw the competition get stopped midway, but also counted over $20 million in dues to several investors, as per a report by Blackbook Motorsport. Among them, the F1 Group owed $1.97 million.
The list had over 150 investors who owed money to the W Series during its administration. Ex Red Bull driver Coulthard is also on the list, and watching a renowned F1 figure lose money due to this brings bad faith. This is because the series was introduced to help women get into F1 in the first place.
How did ex Red Bull star David Coulthard lose money in the W Series?
According to the report by Business F1, former Red Bull starDavid Coulthard lost around $3,000,000 through services. On this, the report quoted, “The biggest creditors are two of David Coulthard’s companies, Velocity Experience and Whisper Films which provided hospitality and TV production services.”
“Coulthard’s companies are collectively owed nearly $3 million. Coulthard, to his credit, extended enormous credit to the business and persuaded some of his friends to invest. He appears to have been badly let down,” it further stated.
David Coulthard’s $3 million credit loss to W Series.
Credit: Business F1. pic.twitter.com/8ZVQCjqdXe
— TheF1Guy (@Sabyasaachii) September 20, 2023
After the series attracted huge criticism for its liquidation, F1 took an active charge to fill the vacuum. They introduced a set of rules for the F1 teams to follow in order to uphold the competition meant for women racing drivers.
F1 took charge of reinstating the women’s racing series
According to reports, Liberty Media proposed to release the F1 academy for women racing drivers under the leadership of Susie Wolff. Wolff has been a pioneer for women in motorsports. She herself, has ample experience from his F1 days with Williams.
For this, the F1 teams are obligated to pay a predefined sum to the series and help develop a driver per team to help the competition grow. Given how teams are saving money due to the presence of a budget cap, they are unlikely to face problems in this case.
Despite this, the new series meant for female racing drivers already found criticism due to its functionality. Nevertheless, one needs to wait and see how far things go with the new series.
