Following financial troubles, the W Series was forced to cut its 2022 season short. Now, eight months later and two weeks after going into administration, it has been revealed that a number of the drivers the all-female racing series sought to promote have still not been awarded the prize money they earned on the track.
The situation is somewhat delicate for the drivers, many of whom are said to be keeping quiet for fear of damaging their opportunities in other racing series, something that even more important now that their racing seats have disappeared from under them.
However, the 2022 season’s third and fourth-place finishers, Alice Powell and Abbi Pulling, revealed to Top Gear that they have not been paid the $125,000 and $100,000 they were supposed to have earned with 2022 performances.
And they aren’t alone. Unnamed sources revealed to the outlet that the series’ three-time champion, Jamie Chadwick, was not paid the $500,000 she was due to receive for taking the drivers’ championship in 2022.
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For the drivers, the situation is tricky. Many say that they are still grateful for the opportunity the series gave them. On the other hand, many were counting on the prize money, which is a central element of numerous racing series, including Formula 1.
“There’s two sides to it,” Powell said. “A lot of people at junior category levels – let’s say F2, F3, Formula Regional – they don’t get prize money. They don’t get paid down the order to last position. So in that sense you could say, ‘Well, you’ve not missed out.’”
However, she said that prize money was one of the major attractions that drew drivers to the W Series. For some, it was their livelihood, while others were counting on it to help them propel their racing careers – which was, after all, the stated goal of the W Series.
Meanwhile, it isn’t just the drivers who are still awaiting money owed to them. Reports indicate that in addition to many of the drivers, suppliers and employees are also still waiting for money from the series. Although the future for them remains in doubt, W Series Limited joint administrator, Kevin Ley, is hopeful.
“The Joint Administrators will soon be announcing the start of a formal sale process of the business and assets, and it is hoped that an interested party may seek to re-start the W Series under new ownership in the future,” Ley told Top Gear. “We recognize this remains an unsettling time for the many parties involved and our priority as Joint Administrators is to complete the process as quickly as possible, while at the same time maximizing as much funds as possible on behalf of creditors that are owed money.”
