W Series, the championship that was brought up to give opportunities to female drivers and encourage them to be a part of motorsport has gone into administration just three years after it was established. Now as per Business F1, Formula 1 Group headed by Liberty Media ‘persuaded’ all the standing F1 teams to collectively contribute $6,000,000 to revive the championship yet again and this is headed by Susie Wolff.
The W series which was formed in 2019 went into administration in 2022 as the competition faced a huge financial crunch. Due to this, the final three races of the 2022 season had to be canceled.
The W series has cancelled the final three races of the season due to a lack of financial funding.pic.twitter.com/22Hm7aaHLy
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) October 10, 2022
Therefore, admitting to the severity of the situation, the F1 teams that are full of cash have all decided to come together to revive the championship. This is because they are all ‘obligated’ to pay to keep up the financial solidification of the newly constructed series.
Liberty Media and Formula 1 teams to come together to help W series
As per a report by Business F1, ten teams have been “strong armed” by Liberty Media to pay up to $600,000 each to sponsor all the drivers of W Series individually. This will bring the total accumulated funding to $6,000,000.
The report about this states, “Liberty’s subsidiary Formula 1 Group (F1G) has ‘persuaded’ all the teams to pay $600,000 to sponsor a team and a driver for the 2024 Academy Series which will support the 2024 Formula One World Championship at selected races.”
Good by F1 or not?
Credits: Business F1 pic.twitter.com/wE2Ypvygub
— F1 Library (@dnf_fastest) September 13, 2023
However, it is important to note that no team can bow out of the deal. This is because Liberty Media made this deal compulsory. However, the teams are less likely to be affected by the amount as they have deep pockets, thanks to the existing budget cap.
Teams can easily afford the W series payment due to cost cap
Since the introduction of the cost cap in 2021, teams have been forced to save up a lot of money. Leaving aside the smaller teams in terms of budget such as Haas or Williams, top teams like Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, or McLaren have saved up a lot of money.
This is because they cannot spend more than the allocated budget. Earlier, teams like Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull spent nearly half a billion dollars every year on their development. Now, they cannot exceed the $135,000,000 mark.
Furthermore, the teams can now spend their saved up money and resources on other racing categories. For example, Ferrari spends a great number on Le Mans. Nevertheless, this seems to be a concrete move by F1 to uplift the status women in motorsport and bring them up to the limelight, giving them the recognition they deserve.
