W Series has officially entered administration, four years on from its launch.

In addition, all of the staff on its payroll have been made redundant.

W Series was established in 2018 and held its maiden championship the following year, supporting the DTM race calendar.

The 2020 campaign was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic before returning again in 2021.

However, problems arose late last year when the final two rounds of the campaign were cancelled due to funding issues.

And despite W Series asserting that it was confident the 2023 season would go ahead, administrators were appointed to the series on Thursday in Kevin Ley and Henry Shinners of Evelyn Partners LLP.

“The news will be upsetting for the Company’s employees and drivers together with the worldwide supporters of the championship,” said Ley.  

“The Company had been unable to commit to the 2023 race season due to its liquidity position. 

“The directors had been in discussions with various parties to provide additional funding together with a potential sale of the business. Unfortunately, these discussions did not progress.” 

Jamie Chadwick emerged as the champion in all three W Series seasons that were staged, including last year’s shortened campaign.

“The Joint Administrators will explore all available options to allow the W Series to restart in the future,” added the second administrator, Shinners.

“We are seeking expressions of interest in the business and assets of the Company. We would ask that any interest is registered with us as quickly as possible.

“Staff had been made redundant or had left the business before our appointment and it has unfortunately been necessary to make the remaining staff member redundant. 

“The Joint Administrators will be looking to support any staff impacted by the Administration, given the financial position of the Company, with making and progressing any claims with the Redundancy Payments Office.”

Jamie Chadwick was recently announced as a driver in the Indy NXT feeder series, joining the illustrious Andretti Autosport in her ongoing quest to advance up the ranks of the racing world.

Chadwick makes the move after nearly running the tables in the first three years of the women-only W Series, where she remains the only person to win a championship to date.

Even though the W Series was designed to allow women drivers to make a name for themselves and garner attention from sponsors and teams alike, the series is not part of any official ladder and does not have a promotion path to a top-level drive.

Facing a continued lack of opportunity in any European-based racing series, Chadwick realized that moving stateside to join the IndyCar ladder was the best way to get out of her deadlocked situation.

“Ultimately, I wanted to progress out of W Series into the next step, which in Europe would have been something like Formula 3, and then ultimately in America is Indy NXT,” said Chadwick.

“Really the opportunity I have here in Indy NXT is far greater than anything I was able to achieve over in Europe with Formula 3.

“You always want to put yourself in the best position with the best team and the best environment, and to be in that environment with the likes of Andretti and Indy NXT, I think it was definitely a huge opportunity that gave me a big, big chance now for the future, whereas unfortunately I didn’t quite have that come together in Europe.

“I think looking at the championship and everything that we’ve got coming ahead of us next year, I think it’s definitely the right move.”

Chadwick was able to sample an Indy NXT car recently at an open test session around the Indianapolis road course in late October.  She was nearly as fast as the other drivers on track, many of whom have already had racing experience with the nearly 500 horsepower cars.

The hope is that she will be able to excel in her new discipline as well as she did in the W Series, and will be able to advance to a top-level IndyCar in the next year or two.

“Looking at the opportunities in America with the seat time, the performance, everything, and the teams like something that Indy NXT offers, it seemed like a really obvious choice, somewhere to look.  It wasn’t until I actually drove the car that I felt even more strongly about that in terms of how much I’m able to develop learning in a car like that.

“Then of course as well, the commercial opportunities available over in America are significant, especially with the likes of DHL coming in to support me.  So there’s a few factors that go into it, but I’ve always seen racing in the States, coming over a few years ago for the USF test, it’s always been something that I’ve looked at and been interested in.”

Williams-backed Jamie Chadwick will compete in the newly-renamed Indy NXT series in 2023.

Chadwick has competed in W Series since its inception in 2019, emerging as its figurehead, and winning all three championships on offer.

W Series faces an uncertain future, after the withdrawal of a backer forced an early conclusion to its 2022 season, but Chadwick has already finalised her 2023 plans.

She will join Andretti Autosport for a full campaign in Indy NXT, previously known as Indy Lights, the primary feeder category to the IndyCar Series.

“I’m really happy to be stepping up into Indy NXT next year,” said Chadwick.

“It’s a great opportunity for me to be able to get a lot of seat time and continue my development.

“Racing for a team like Andretti is going to be an amazing experience and I’m really looking forward to racing in the United States.

“A massive thank you to Williams for the support they’ve given me on my journey since joining the Academy in 2019.”

Williams Sporting Director Sven Smeets said: “We’re very excited to see Jamie embark on a new chapter in Indy NXT.

“Throughout this year Jamie displayed an incredible level of skill and determination to claim her third W Series title. We look forward to supporting Jamie with her challenge stateside.”

The W Series has confirmed that it will not race in Austin or Mexico City to end its 2022 season due to funding issues.

The all-female single-seater racing category was due to have its final two race weekends of the series later this month in North America.

However, W Series says that it did not receive funding from a recent contracted investment, forcing it to curtail the 2022 campaign.

Jamie Chadwick, who won five out of the seven races that took place this year, has now claimed her third title in the championship.

A statement from W Series says that the decision to cut the remaining 2022 races was done so to focus on the “longer-term fundraising process to enable the longevity and financial health” of the category.

W Series CEO Catherine Bond Muir has expressed confidence that the series will return in 2023.

“It’s with both great sadness and frustration that we announce that our much-anticipated final three races of the 2022 season in Austin and Mexico City will not go ahead,” she said. 

“As a start-up in only our third season of racing, we are always working hard to ensure regularity of funding as we continue to grow our business, but due to recent unforeseen circumstances outside of W Series’ control, we had not been in receipt of contracted funds due to us.

“We have worked hard to raise the required funding to enable us to finish the season. 

“Unfortunately, it was not possible to do this in the short time frame required following the failure of contracted funds to arrive and the global economic downturn. 

“However, while we are all incredibly disappointed that this decision has had to be made in the short term, we remain positive about the future of W Series in the long term.

“We are incredibly thankful for the help and support we have received in recent weeks following the news of the financial difficulties we’ve been facing, which has accelerated our fundraising process and given us great optimism as we look to 2023 and beyond.”

W Series was on the support roster of F1 races this year, including at the inaugural Miami event in May.

The series was originally launched in 2018, and had its first campaign in 2019.

Seven-time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton says “way more” needs to be done to help W Series drivers progress beyond the category.

In 2019, W Series was launched as an all-female single-seater series to provide more opportunities to female drivers.

Currently in its third season, Jamie Chadwick is en route to score another title in the category, having triumphed in the previous two campaigns.

During the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, Hamilton ventured to the W Series paddock to speak to the W Series drivers, stating that he has been following the series for a number of years.

However, he feels more can be done to help the drivers progress forward in their career after W Series.

“I’ve been following the W Series all year and the last few years, and I wanted to try to get down there and to try to see the young, inspirational women there,” Hamilton said.

“I’ve been watching their races in-between sessions, and even today, I watched their race [in Hungary] so I really wanted to go down there.  

“For them, I really feel it is great that we have the W Series, but we as a sport need to do way more for young girls getting into the sport and for these women, if there is no progression from there, from W Series. 

 “It has been three years, so we need to really work on trying to create something. When you win that, do you progress into GP2 [F2] or whatever it may be?  

“We can definitely do a lot more to support those girls.”

Chadwick currently boasts a mammoth 75-point lead in the Drivers’ standings with four rounds remaining over Alice Powell and Beitske Visser, who both have 68 points to their name.

Last time out in Hungary, Powell won the race, marking the first time this season that anyone but Chadwick took to the top step of the podium.

Another packed weekend of motorsport action! Formula 1’s action before the summer break saw another Max Verstappen victory, while more questions are being asked of Ferrari. Phil Horton has your report.

The junior categories of Formula 2 and Formula 3 were also present at the Hungaroring, with the stars of tomorrow looking to impress. Find out inside which drivers grabbed the headlines.

Budapest is filled to the brim with racing, as the all-female W Series touched down in the city for its latest round.

Elsewhere, Formula E’s penultimate round took place in London, with every result now crucial to the championship fight. Sara Esposito pens all the action from the event.

IndyCar returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past weekend, a track that is often considered the home of the series. Kevin Dejewski describes all the intense endeavours from the weekend, with the North-American series also hitting its final races of 2022.

On the feature side of operations, Fergal Walsh says goodbye to Sebastian Vettel after the four-time World Champion announced his F1 retirement, and agony aunt Claire Millins has a word of discipline for fans.

You can read our magazine below, or for a better reading experience, click here for a full screen version.

Motorsport Monday is published every Monday and is the world’s leading free motorsport magazine, packed with reports, features, stunning imagery and the latest motorsport news. To subscribe, totally free, click here.

W Series driver Jessica Hawkins was given a bizarre penalty during free practice at the Hungaroring on Friday.

Hawkins, who drives for Click2Drive Bristol Street Motors Racing, exceeded track limits on four occasions during the session.

Race Control then opted to hand her a five-minute penalty as a result, forcing her to wait in the pit lane while the clock ticked down and other drivers rounded the circuit.

W Series is supporting the Formula 1 weekend in Hungary this weekend, with the sixth round of the campaign taking place.

Track limits have been heavily enforced in F1 and its support categories this year, with a large number of lap times deleted throughout the season, particularly in Austria.

It led to a debate over how track limits should be policed, and if the white line should define the edge of the track due to the sheer number of lap times that were deleted.

Beitske Visser ended the W Series practice session from Hungary in first place, followed by Sarah Moore and Jamie Chadwick.

Chadwick has taken every race victory on offer this year, and currently holds a mammoth 70-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship.

What a disaster for Ferrari! It was a race to forget for the Scuderia outfit at the French Grand Prix, as it witnessed Charles Leclerc crash out, while Carlos Sainz missed out on a podium. With Max Verstappen taking victory and another stride towards the championship, Philip Horton takes you through all of the Le Castellet action.

The Formula 2 junior category was also present at the circuit as the stars of tomorrow looked to impress on the big stage. Find out who performed admirably inside!

The all-female W Series also raced in France, with Jamie Chadwick continuing to dominate the category. Take a read inside to see how the weekend unfolded. In the United States, it was a busy weekend for IndyCar racing, as the series had a double-header event at the Iowa Speedway. Our man Kevin Dejewski was on location to pen the report for you.

On the feature side of operations, Fergal Walsh ponders who the next American F1 driver could be, while agony aunt Claire Millins provide advice for Williams’ Nicholas Latifi.

You can read our magazine below, or for a better reading experience, click here for a full screen version.

Motorsport Monday is published every Monday and is the world’s leading free motorsport magazine, packed with reports, features, stunning imagery and the latest motorsport news. To subscribe, totally free, click here.

It was an action packed weekend of motorsport and that means it’s a bumper issue of Motorsport Monday! We start off with Formula 1’s return to Europe where Spain hosted the sixth round of the championship and…rather surprisingly, delivered an action packed race. Phil Horton has your full report from Barcelona.

Barcelona also played host to F1’s support categories with W Series, Formula 2 and Formula 3 all back in action at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Just across the border to the west in Portugal, WRC reconvened for round four and it was a hat-trick of wins for Kalle Rovanpera. The young Finn is making his mark on the championship and Josh Disborough lays out how it went down in Porto.

Plus we have DTM from the Lausitzring courtesy of Phil Oakley and then across the Atlantic in Indianapolis, qualifying got underway for the famous 500. Read all about how they’ll line up for next Sunday’s main event in Kevin Dejewski’s report. Plus we have your usual news!

You can read our magazine below, or for a better reading experience, click here for a full screen version.

Motorsport Monday is published every Monday and is the world’s leading free motorsport magazine, packed with reports, features, stunning imagery and the latest motorsport news. To subscribe, totally free, click here.

Max Verstappen claimed the very first ever Miami Grand Prix victory to close the gap in the title fight after beating Charles Leclerc. Phil Horton has your Hard Rock report.

Toyota overcame the weather to return to the top in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Phil Oakley followed the action.

IndyCar Editor Kevin Dejewski sat down with HMD Motorsports to discuss their jump into the top flight of American open wheel racing and why they’re taking baby steps.

Plus we have your usual news from the motorsport world in the most read weekly digital motorsport magazine.

You can read our magazine below, or for a better reading experience, click here for a full screen version.

Motorsport Monday is published every Monday and is the world’s leading free motorsport magazine, packed with reports, features, stunning imagery and the latest motorsport news. To subscribe, totally free, click here.