Photo: W Series
W Series has announced it will continue to be one of Formula 1’s support series as it reveals its 2022 calendar, beginning with a race on Miami’s new ‘street’ circuit.
The all-women Formula Regional championship began in 2019 as part of the DTM bill, then switched to F1’s support paddock for its second season in 2021. Six of its eight races were in Europe, with Circuit of the Americas hosting two races.
Now it will race on three continents and with twice the number of flywaway rounds, starting with North America on May 6-8 on the purpose-built Miami International Autodrome that will use the roads around Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium.
Following F1’s inaugural running of the Miami Grand Prix, with the GP of Miami having run for Indy cars 10 times in the past, W Series then heads to Europe to race at Barcelona (May 20-22), Silverstone (July 1-3), Paul Ricard (July 22-24) and the Hungaroring (July 29-31). At Paul Ricard it will hold top billing on the support card, with Formula 2 and Formula 3 absent.
A lengthy summer break follows before series’ planned first race in Asia, with a trip to Suzuka in Japan on October 7-9. The championship harbours ambitions to establish an Asian feeder series to the F1-supporting one in the future.
As in 2021, the scheduled end of the season is in North America with races at COTA (subject to contract) and Mexico City a week after (October 28-30). W Series was supposed to race at Mexico for the past two years, but the cancellation of the 2020 season and then the removal of the Mexico City Grand Prix from the 2021 W Series schedule meant is has missed out so far.
Two-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick is looking unlikely to clinch the FIA F3 Championship seat at Carlin she had previously been linked to, but is intending to remain in single-seater racing this year after stepping back from her seat in the off-road Extreme E racing series with Veloce Racing.
The British squad is planning to join W Series if the rule changes are approved to make it a multi-team championship.