2022 W Series

Jamie Chadwick is the defending champion, having won her second title in 2021.

The 2022 W Series will be the third season of the W Series motor racing championship. The championship is exclusively open to female racing drivers as a Formula 3-level racing series in support of the 2022 Formula One World Championship.[1]

Jamie Chadwick is the reigning champion, having won her second title in 2021.[2]

Entries

The following drivers and teams are currently confirmed for the 2022 W Series season. All teams will use Hankook tyres, and run two mechanically-identical Tatuus–Alfa Romeo F3 T-318 cars with two drivers. The rounds at Barcelona and Suzuka will use Tatuus–Toyota FT-60 cars loaned by Toyota Racing Series organiser Toyota Gazoo Racing New Zealand.[3]

All cars are operated by Fine Moments, and 'teams' are purely for sponsorship and identification purposes.[4]

Team No. Drivers Rounds
Sirin Racing 4 Emely de Heus[5] TBC
95 Beitske Visser[6] TBC
CortDAO W Series Team[7] 5 Fabienne Wohlwend[7] TBC
19 Marta García[8] TBC
Puma W Series Team[9] 7 Emma Kimiläinen[9] TBC
63 Tereza Bábíčková[10] TBC
Jenner Racing[11] 8 Chloe Chambers[12] TBC
55 Jamie Chadwick[13] TBC
W Series Academy 10 Juju Noda[14] TBC
91 Bianca Bustamante[14] TBC
Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors Racing[15] 21 Jessica Hawkins[16] TBC
27 Alice Powell[15] TBC
Quantfury W Series Team[17] 22 Belén García[18] TBC
32 Nerea Martí[18] TBC
Scuderia W 26 Sarah Moore[19] TBC
44 Abbie Eaton[20] TBC
Racing X 49 Abbi Pulling[21] TBC
97 Bruna Tomaselli[22] TBC
Reserve drivers
No. Drivers
17 Ayla Ågren[20]

Driver selection

The top eight finishers from the 2021 championship, as well as the two W Series Academy drivers Nerea Martí and Irina Sidorkova, are guaranteed a place in the 2022 season.[23] Sidorkova was later confirmed to not be competing as a result of the restrictions on the participation of Russian drivers following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[24]

From 31 January to 4 February, a five-day test with a Crawford F4-16 car for 15 prospective drivers was conducted at Inde Motorsports Ranch in Arizona, United States.[25] The following drivers took part:

  • Madison Aust
  • Júlia Ayoub
  • Tereza Bábíčková
  • Lindsay Brewer
  • Léna Bühler
  • Bianca Bustamante
  • Maite Cáceres
  • Chloe Chambers
  • Emely de Heus
  • Jorden Dolischka
  • Hannah Greenemeier
  • Nicole Havrda
  • Jem Hepworth
  • Corinna Kamper
  • Lola Lovinfosse

A second pre-season test took place at Barcelona on 2–4 March, with the nine automatic qualifiers from 2021 joined by 12 potential drivers — of which five had previous W Series experience and six were present at the Arizona test; Juju Noda the only driver to receive a free pass:[26][27]

The full driver line-up was revealed on 22 March 2022.[24] On 22 April 2022, Abbie Eaton was confirmed as the final driver, with Ayla Ågren announced as reserve driver.[20]

Championship changes

Though there were initial plans to introduce FIA-registered standings for formal teams for the season,[28] the championship is set to remain fully centrally-run for a third consecutive year, with 'teams' continuing to be purely for sponsorship and identification purposes.[29] The first of these teams to be announced was Jenner Racing, owned by media personality, Olympic champion and former racing driver Caitlyn Jenner.[11] Three further entries joined the championship: Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors Racing and the cryptocurrency-backed Quantfury and CortDAO teams.[15][17][7]

Calendar and results

The provisional calendar was announced on 27 January 2022. W Series will continue its partnership with Formula One, so all ten events will be part of Grand Prix weekends.[30] An updated calendar was announced on 30 March 2022, with the first and last rounds at Miami and Mexico City confirmed to be double-headers.[3]

Round Circuit Date Pole Position Fastest Lap Race Winner Winning Team Report
1 Miami International Autodrome 7 May Report
2 8 May
3 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya 21 May Report
4 Silverstone Circuit 3 July Report
5 Circuit Paul Ricard 24 July Report
6 Hungaroring 31 July Report
7 Suzuka International Racing Course 9 October Report
8 Circuit of the Americas 23 October Report
9 Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez 29 October Report
10 30 October
Source:[31][3]

References
  1. "All-female motor racing series offers potential F1 pathway". CNN. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  2. White, Megan (24 October 2021). "COTA W Series: Chadwick champion after dominating finale". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  3. Edwards, Jordan (30 March 2022). "W Series announces Miami double-header and use of TRS cars". Formula Scout. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  4. "@WSeriesRacing on Twitter". Twitter. W Series. 23 February 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  5. "Sirin Racing | W Series". W Series. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  6. "Beitske Visser on Twitter". Twitter. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  7. Forbes, Gonzalo (4 March 2022). "W Series – CortDAO, dernière équipe à rejoindre la grille". AutoHebdo (in French). Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  8. "CortDAO | W Series". W Series. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  9. "PUMA extends W Series Partnership and Signs Emma Kimilainen". W Series. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  10. "PUMA W Series Team | W Series". W Series. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  11. White, Megan (8 February 2022). "Caitlyn Jenner buys W Series team for 2022 season". Autosport. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  12. "Chloe Chambers joins Chadwick at Jenner Racing". Racers - Behind the Helmet. 22 March 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  13. Whitfield, Steve (22 February 2022). "Chadwick to defend W Series title as Jenner Racing driver". Formula Scout. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  14. "Bianca Bustamante and Juju Noda selected for Academy Team". W Series. 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  15. Gascoigne, Roger (28 February 2022). "Alice Powell latest to confirm W Series return". Formula Scout. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  16. "Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors Racing W Series Team | W Series". W Series. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  17. "Quantfury team to compete in 2022 W Series season". W Series. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  18. "Nerea Marti and Belen Garcia to Race for QuantFury Team". W Series. 23 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  19. "@WSeriesRacing on Twitter". Twitter. W Series. 5 March 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  20. "Abbie Eaton completes 2022 grid". W Series. 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  21. "@WSeriesRacing on Twitter". Twitter. W Series. 5 March 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  22. "Racing X | W Series". W Series. Archived from the original on 26 March 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
  23. "W Series' Top Eight Go Through To 2022". W Series. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  24. Allen, Peter (22 March 2022). "Five new drivers chosen to race in W Series in 2022". Formula Scout. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  25. Wood, Ida (13 January 2022). "W Series' first 2022 test to take place in USA using F4 cars". Formula Scout. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  26. "W Series Stars Set For Spanish Test". W Series. 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  27. "@WSeriesRacing on Twitter". Twitter. W Series. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  28. "W Series pivots towards new 'Team' structure". W Series. 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  29. "Ida Wood on Twitter". Twitter. 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  30. "W Series To Break New Ground At Eight F1 Weekends In 2022". W Series. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  31. White, Megan (27 January 2022). "W Series adds Suzuka round to eight-race 2022 calendar". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
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