The last woman to compete in a grand prix, Desiré Wilson, believes the new all-female W Series made a successful start after its opening round at Hockenheim on Saturday. The 65-year-old South African, who presented the race winner, Britain’s Jamie Chadwick, with the trophy was impressed with the drivers, the quality of the competition and said it is feasible that the series could go on to propel a woman into Formula One.

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Wilson raced for Tyrell in a non-championship F1 meeting at Kyalami, South Africa, in 1981 and won a race in the short-lived British Aurora F1 Championship at Brands Hatch in 1980 in which F1 cars were competing.

Eighteen drivers competed in the W Series race won by Chadwick, with Britain’s Alice Powell in second and Spain’s Marta García finishing third. The drivers had already dealt with a wet qualifying session and the race, in single-make, single-seat cars, proved closely fought across the field.

“I was very impressed,” said Wilson. “There was some really good racing, overtaking, a few aggressive moves, which is good, showing they are on form to race competitively. I was impressed with the competition on track.”

Of the almost 900 drivers to start a Formula One race only two have been women. Maria Teresa de Filippis of Italy raced in the late 50s, while the last official appearance was by her countrywoman Lella Lombardi in 1976. Wilson believes that the new championship is absolutely necessary to address the difficulties women have in moving up the racing ladder. “It is overdue for sure, but this has been put together in a clever way,” she said. “Formula One is a long way away but it is feasible if the series produces a star. They still have to go to F3 and F2 but it is a way for them to make the next step.”

The W Series drivers have been selected on merit and do not have to bring financial backing. This has given many of them the chance to restart careers that stalled due to lack of funding and Wilson was pleased by the appetite for the fight she saw on track. “There is a lot of passion,” she added. “It’s not just: ‘Let’s go racing, a free season.’ There is definitely a lot of drivers who see this as an opportunity to do well. I saw a lot of disappointed drivers because they did not do as well as they would have liked, which shows their passion.”

Chadwick enjoyed a dominant weekend at the first round of the six-race season, quickest in both practice sessions and taking pole in the wet. However the 20-year-old believes she can still improve for the next round in Belgium in two weeks’ time. “We proved we have good pace in the wet and the dry but I am a bit disappointed in that I didn’t manage the race as well as I should have done,” she said. “I am confident but there are things to work on. Hopefully we can hit the ground running at Zolder and repeat what we have done this weekend.”