Formula One Announces Women's Wildcard,The Female-Only Qualification Route

Formula One announces Women’s Wildcard, a female-only qualification route for the Esports Pro Exhibition.

The Pro Exhibition allows for Formula One teams to add talent to their rosters for the upcoming 2021 Pro Championship. The Women’s Wildcard will be open for female competitors, and the racers will virtually compete in the 2021 game in May to determine the fastest racer.

The fastest competitor will proceed to go through the Pro Exhibition in May, where ten Esports teams will select from the simulated racers. Both the Pro Exhibition and Women’s Wildcard assessments will be shown live across Formula One social media channels on May 27.

At the Pro Exhibition, there will be further in-game assessments that will help the teams finalise their rosters for 2021.

More on Women's Wildcard:

The Women’s Wildcard marks the first Esports project to focus on the virtual side of racing. In the real world, there has not been a female driver start a Grand Prix since 1976. The Women’s Wildcare aims at encouraging female racers to take on Esports.

A statement from Formula One stated, “The introduction of the F1 Esports Series Women’s Wildcard follows the reaffirmed commitment to improving diversity and inclusion.”

Even though female competitors have been featured in other Formula One Esports events, there has not been a woman racing in the professional ranks of the Esports series.

What is Esports?

Esports, or electronic sports, is a form of competition that uses video games. The Formula One Esports Series was created in 2017. The next year, the official teams joined the program to set up their Esports teams. The Virtual Grand Prix Series was held in 2020 after the cancellation of several Grand Prix races. In total, eight Virtual Grand Prix were held, and George Russell with four victories was crowned as the unofficial champion.