Tennis Icon Billie Jean King Publicly Thanks Lewis Hamilton For Speaking Up on $8.3 Million Problem

Recently, the W Series had to come to an early end this season due to a lack of funding. This stirred a new topic of debate regarding the lack of importance toward women’s representation in the sport. Tennis Legend, Billie Jean King, brings this to notice, whilst applauding Lewis Hamilton for taking a stand as well.

The W Series was introduced in 2019 to create a platform to get more women into motorsports. As per the accounts filed with Companies House on Sept. 5, the net liabilities were $8.29 million at the end of 2021. The lack of funds had the series in debt of various contractors.

The former world number one, Billie Jean King, who holds 39 major titles, took to social media to address the situation. She also mentioned the seven-time champion and gave him big ups for standing up for inclusivity.

A while back, Lewis Hamilton was asked about his thoughts on the subject. He was questioned if F1 should aid struggling junior platforms like the W series. The Briton said, “100 percent I do. Particularly the W Series. There has not been enough focus on women in the whole of F1’s life. There is not enough [female] representation across the board within the industry.”

Sharing this, Billie Jean King posted, “The #F1 W Series (the all-women single-seater racing championship) ended prematurely due to financial problems.”

“Thank you, @LewisHamilton, for using your platform to advocate for more inclusivity and representation for the women of racing to grow the sport.”

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The W series champion, Jamie Chadwick, shed some light on the subject as well.

Jamie Chadwick shares her thoughts on the early end of the W series season

Three-time W series champion, and Williams F1 development driver, Jamie Chadwick, was declared champion for the 2022 season. Despite retaining her title this year, the star is a little disappointed with the way things have come to a halt, and justifiably so.

Jamie explained that as the news broke, it highlighted how important the series meant to many. It held tremendous opportunities for everyone involved. It was an emotional turmoil to let it go this way. No one was ready for this.

She emphasized the importance of fighting to keep the series afloat. In conclusion, she said, “Hopefully if I win the championship, that should give other opportunities as well, (rather than) just being fully reliant on the W Series.” 

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As soon as the news came out, the Mercedes driver congratulated the deserving champion, Chadwick, through Instagram. However, Hamilton too showed his displeasure as he was looking forward to the remaining races in the series.