©WSeries
Lewis Hamilton believes F1 commercial rights holder Liberty Media should have stepped in and bailed out the W Series to ensure the continued presence of the all-female series on F1's support bill.
W Series has found itself in dire straits this year and in debt with several creditors after a multi-million-dollar investor reportedly bailed on the series, leaving its promoters scrambling for funds and forced to cut short its 2022 season.
The series' final round in Austin and Mexico have therefore been cancelled, with Jamie Chadwick proclaimed champion for a third consecutive year.
The promoters' focus is now in recapitalizing the company for 2023. But Hamilton believes that given Formula 1's current prosperity, it should have stepped in and financially supported the series.
"There has not been enough focus on women in sport for the whole of Formula 1’s life," commented Hamilton ahead of this weekend's US Grand Prix.
"There is not enough emphasis on it now. They're not magnifying enough the great work that is being done there.
"There is not enough representation across the board within our industry. There is not really a pathway for those young, amazing drivers to even get to Formula 1.
"Then you have some people who say: ‘We’re never going to see a female F1 driver’. That’s not a good narrative to be putting out. So, I think we need to be doing more."
One could argue that a series must survive on its own sporting and commercial merits. But Hamilton insists W Series and its quest to promote female talent in motorsport is worthy of being subsidized by Formula 1.
"With the organisation, with Formula 1 and Liberty doing so well, it was not a lot for them to be able to help out in that space," added the Mercedes driver.
"We need to be doing more to encourage young women.
"The work that I am trying to do with Mercedes, for example, trying to get 8000 young girls into the sport [through Mercedes' Accelerate 25 initiative], every team should be doing that."
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