W Series to support F1 in the U.S. and Mexico

Following a successful maiden campaign, the W Series have announced that they will race on the support package for Formula One in the United States and Mexico.

Initially a controversial concept, the W Series won many people over with close, entertaining racing and unpredictable results. Of the seven races, including one non-championship reverse grid race in Assen, there were six different winners - Jamie Chadwick the only repeat winner on her way to the title.

For 2020, the FIA have decided to award super-licence points to the victor. This means that the champion of 2020 will not be able to return to the competition for a second year and also means that Chadwick could become the only two-time champion if her 2019 success can be replicated.

Races in the States and Mexico will massively increase the exposure of the W Series. Currently, the interest in the U.S. is very small. Having no race over there made it a difficult concept to sell, but in supporting the Grand Prix and having one of their own - Sabre Cook - racing, the possibilities become endless.

“We at W Series are absolutely delighted that, in only our second season, our championship has been welcomed by Formula 1, and we’re utterly thrilled that the final two races of the 2020 W Series season will therefore take place as part of the Formula 1 platform," said W Series CEO, Catherine Bond Muir. “Our two all-new races will follow six races on the DTM platform, making a very varied, extremely exciting and truly international eight-race championship, in eight countries across the globe. I’m particularly pleased that W Series will now stage races outside Europe, and the USA and Mexico are of course both very important new territories for us. “Interest in and enthusiasm for W Series was enormous in our first season, 2019, among media and fans alike, and the addition of two all-new W Series races on the Formula 1 platform will inevitably increase that enthusiasm and interest.

"Commercially, too, following the successful recent announcement of W Series’ new multi-year sponsor-partnership with ROKiT Phones, the fact that W Series will be even bigger and even better in 2020 than it was in 2019 will make the return on investment for our future sponsor-partners better and bigger, too. “A lot of work has gone into stitching the W Series / Formula 1 deal together, but above all I want to thank W Series’ drivers, the brave and talented young women who captured the imagination of the sporting world last summer. Mark my words: they’ll do so again this year, from May to October, all over the world.” Former F1 driver and advisory board member David Coulthard added, “Despite having raced in 246 Grands Prix, between 1994 and 2008, I’ve never driven in a Grand Prix at either Circuit of the Americas or Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, because neither racetrack was part of the Formula 1 calendar during my time as a driver. But I’ve commentated on a number of fantastic Grands Prix at both of them, and I can say with confidence that they’re both great racetracks. “For W Series, the announcement of two all-new Formula 1 support races is a truly impressive development, and it demonstrates very clearly the extent to which W Series has quickly been widely accepted as part of the international motorsport calendar.”

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