Lewis Hamilton has called for action in helping women progress through the ranks of motorsport, having showed his support for W Series during 2022. Hamilton was seen visiting the W Series paddock and meeting the drivers during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, after which he praised the women as an "inspiration" in a social media post. While the winner of W Series receives prize money and FIA Super Licence points, there are no stipulated opportunities to progress into another category of motorsport, something that Hamilton feels has to change.
Hamilton praises "inspirational" W Series drivers
After meeting with several W Series drivers, Hamilton explained that he had been keen to do so after closely following the series, which first began in 2019. "I've been following the W Series all year and for the last few years," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365.com . "I've been trying to get down there, because I wanted to go and meet the young, inspirational women there. I've been watching their races in-between sessions, so I really wanted to go down there."
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View this post on Instagram A post shared by Lewis Hamilton (@lewishamilton)
Why Hamilton wants change to help female drivers progress
With W Series now into its third season – having not taken place in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic – Hamilton believes that there needs to be more in place in order to help its drivers climb the motorsport ladder. "I feel it's great that we have the W Series, but we as a sport need to do way more for young girls getting into the sport," the seven-time World Champion said. "For these women, there's no progression from W Series. It's been three years, and we need to really, really work on trying to create [something]. "When you win that, do you progress into GP2 [Formula 2] or get a seat in GP2 [F2], whatever it may be? We can definitely do a lot more to support those girls." Jamie Chadwick – who won both prior W Series championships in 2019 and 2021 – currently leads the standings in 2022 by a significant margin. The Briton holds 143 points, with nearest rivals Alice Powell and Beitske Visser both on 68 points in second and third.
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