Plan for new women-only races with F1 test as prize

Plans have been drawn up to stage an historic women-only motor racing championship which could be launched in 2019.

In the potentially groundbreaking series, women drivers would compete at six races – five of which will be staged in Europe and the other in America – with the champion promised a Formula One test drive.

The London-based company behind the project is believed to have the financial muscle required and its ambitious organisers want the championship to be second only to Formula One within three years of its launch.

A leaked document also claims that a number of television companies have expressed an interest in broadcasting the series.

The proposal fits with Bernie Ecclestone’s desire for an all-women’s F1 championship. In 2015, Ecclestone, the sport’s then chief executive, hoped a separate event for women racers would ease their path to competing in Formula One.

Scotland’s Susie Wolff was a development and reserve driver for Williams and took part in four grand prix practice sessions, but never achieved a full-time race seat.

It has been more than 40 years since a woman driver entered a Formula One race when Italian Lella Lombardi took to the starting grid at the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix.

Carmen Jorda, 29, a Spaniard who was also an F1 development driver for Lotus and Renault but never tested the car, said: “I believe a women’s F1 championship would give us the chance to achieve our dreams and compete on an equal footing. “One day it will happen and it is the right thing to do.”

Some women drivers in Europe and America have been approached but some are understood to be sceptical and believe a women-only championship may undermine them.

A spokesperson for the organisers said: “There will be no announcement for a number of months as we are undertaking a lot of research and completing our strategy.”