The 2021 W Series was the second season of the W Series

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

championship, replacing the 2020 season after it was cancelled due of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The championship was exclusively open to

female racing drivers This is a list of notable, professional, and female racing drivers or Motorcycle racing, riders in any form of motorsport, sorted by country alphabetically. Albania * Desara Muriqi born Andorra * Margot Llobera born Argentina Australia ...

as a Formula 3-level racing series in support of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. Jamie Chadwick entered the season as the defending W Series champion, having won the title in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. Chadwick secured her second consecutive championship, winning the 2021 title at the season finale race, at

Circuit of the Americas Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas, in the United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States G ...

Entries

The following drivers and teams made up the grid for the 2021 W Series season. All teams used

Hankook Hankook Tire & Technology (; , also known simply as Hankook and stylised ), is a South Korean tire company. Based in Seoul, Hankook is the seventh largest tire company in the world. History Hankook Tire was established by Jae Hun Chung's grandf ...

tyres, and ran two mechanically identical

Tatuus Tatuus is an Italian chassis manufacturer for a series of formula racing series, being first founded in 1980. The company is known for its association with Renault Sport for its production of the Formula Renault chassis. History The Tatuus ...

–

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...

F3 T-318 cars with two drivers. All cars were operated by Fine Moments, and 'teams' were purely for sponsorship and identification purposes.

Driver changes

The top twelve drivers from the 2019 championship were all qualified for the 2020 season, leaving eight vacancies in the driver line-up. Forty new drivers applied to take part in the season; however, only fourteen of those took part in the first test which took place between 16 and 18 September 2019 at the , Spain. The final 18 drivers were announced on 17 December 2020, with the possibility of more being announced at a later date. A list of five reserve drivers was announced on 11 June 2021, comprising 2019 drivers

Gosia Rdest Małgorzata Agnieszka Łazarczyk ( née Rdest, born 14 January 1993 in Żyrardów) is a Polish female racing driver and businesswoman. She currently competes in the Alpine Elf Europa Cup. Racing career Rdest entered car racing in 2012 when she, ...

, Naomi Schiff and

Caitlin Wood Caitlin Wood (born 15 January 1997 in Maitland, New South Wales) is an Australian female racing driver who last competed in the 2021 W Series. Biography Hailing from Tenambit in the New South Wales Hunter Valley, Wood began her professional ...

, British F4 podium finisher

Abbi Pulling Abbi Pulling (born 21 March 2003) is a British racing driver. She currently competes for Racing X in the W Series, and is a member of the Alpine Affiliate programme. Career Karting Pulling started karting competitively in 2013 at the ag ...

, and

Tasmin Pepper Tasmin Jay Pepper (born 19 June 1990 in Edenvale) is a South African female racing driver. She is currently a reserve driver in W Series. She is the daughter of former South African Touring Car driver Iain Pepper and older sister of GT racer ...

, who was unable to take part in the season due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

travel restrictions.

Championship changes

Hitech GP Hitech Grand Prix (formerly known as Hitech Racing) is a British motor racing team. It was founded in 2002 by Dennis Rushen and David Hayle. The team started racing in the British Formula 3 Championship in 2003. The team also competed in the So ...

announced on 14 November 2020 that they would discontinue their involvement for 2021 as they moved into new series, and Fine Moments took over their role for the 2021 season. The series continues to use the same

T-318

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

chassis and

engines. On 24 June 2021 W Series announced it would pivot from a centrally-run series format to a team-based structure with assigned drivers and control over the car livery and team overalls, as well as the team name. The 2021 season would be used as a transitional season, with an unofficial teams' championship and all outfits still being centrally run, but with a vision for a fully team-structured grid and a legitimate teams' championship for the 2022 season. Prioritising the importance of driver skill within the championship, and to ensure technical equality, all 18 cars, although sporting a variety of liveries and team names, will remain mechanically identical, with preparation and maintenance managed by W Series Engineering.

was initially dropped as the tyre supplier for the 2021 season due to the move from the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a grand touring car series sanctioned by ITR e.V. who have been affiliated to the DMSB-FIA since 1984. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The ser ...

to F1 support bill, and W Series was reportedly "speaking to a number of tyre suppliers". On 5 May 2021, however, W Series announced

would continue to supply tyres for the 2021 season.

Calendar and results

The series management announced on 12 November 2020 that the season would consist of eight rounds all held in support of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. A provisional calendar was then revealed on 8 December 2020. After

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

made slight amendments to its calendar, the W Series moved its first event from

Circuit Paul Ricard The Circuit Paul Ricard () is a French motorsport race track built in 1969 at Le Castellet, Var, near Marseille, with finance from pastis magnate Paul Ricard. Ricard wanted to experience the challenge of building a racetrack. The circuit has h ...

to the

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from to . It was later sh ...

. Later on in the year, when Formula One postponed the 2021 Mexico City Grand Prix, the season finale was shifted from the

Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is a motorsport race track in Mexico City, Mexico, named after the racing drivers Ricardo (1942–1962) and Pedro Rodríguez (1940–1971). The circuit got its name shortly after it opened when Ricardo Rodr ...

to the

Championship standings

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers as follows:

Drivers' Championship

Notes

References

External links

* {{Formula Regional W Series W Series W Series (championship)