The W series is struggling with financial problems, but the British Jamie Chadwick has said W Series drivers are committed to keeping the championship alive.
The W series is in its 3rd season but has been unable to guarantee that it will be able to finish this year’s remaining races or pay its drivers their prize money.
Jamie Chadwick has won the previous two W series titles, and this weekend in Singapore, if she wins, then it will be the third W series title for her.
The W series was founded in 2018 by Catherine Bond Muir and funded by investors and equity, and Muir was explicit that it had to become a viable business.
However, it has been struggling with funding, such as despite achieving a slot as a support race on F1 weekends, it has yet to attract a major title sponsor, whose outgoings are considerable.
The W series meets all the costs of its drivers and provides all the cars across a year, which runs eight races each season in the US, Singapore, Europe, and Mexico. It also distributes a major prize fund to drivers, such as the winner receiving $500,000 with a further $1m awarded across the rest of the field.
On Thursday, Chadwick confirmed that Muir had briefed all the drivers that they were facing financial difficulties, but she insisted the atmosphere among them remained positive.
Chadwick said The friendship between the group is massive, and when we were all briefed about the situation, it was cool to see how much the series means to everyone.
Moreover, she said for the past four years, It has been a lot of our lives and has been a huge opportunity for all of us, and all of us don’t want to see it go, and we all want to fight and help support the series in the right way.
Muir admitted that the series was facing a difficult period but remained positive for its future, and we’re having lots of conversations at the moment, and I’m very optimistic.
Moreover, she said we have had to fight from day one, which has always been a struggle, but we are fighters. We are looking at our budgets and are confident that we will continue to raise money, she said.
