Briton Jamie Chadwick does not see her return to the W Series for a third season as a backward step after failing to raise the funding to move up into Formula Three or Formula Two.
The announcement drew criticism of the series, whose objectives include helping women climb the motorsport ladder to Formula One, which has not had a female race driver since Italian Lella Lombardi in 1976. "I also wanted to make that step and I made no secret of that when I won the championship last year."
Chadwick sees her return to the W Series as a chance to raise the budget to fund the next step in her career.