We’ve all heard the jokes saying women can’t drive as well as men, but this weekend 18 racing drivers will categorically show the world that women can be just as fast and furious when they take part in a brand new, all-female motorsports racing series.

The W Series is made up of six races across Europe and starts Saturday 4 May with its first race in Hockenheim, Germany. The drivers will be competing in Formula Three cars, which are often seen as a stepping stone to competing in Formula One. What’s more, those taking part were selected on merit, and don’t have to pay to enter with cars provided by the racing series.

If anything can wave the chequered flag on Formula One’s gender imbalance, it’s the W Series.

Women have raced in Formula One in the past, but it’s certainly not the most inclusive of sports. While men become megastars, only two women have ever made it through qualifications to race in a Grand Prix, and the last woman to do so and the only woman to score points in Formula One – Lella Lombardi – raced between 1974 and 1976.

In giving women their own racing platform, the W Series is breaking down the barriers that have historically stopped women from competing on the same level as their male counterparts. And there’s no real reason why women couldn’t join Lewis Hamilton on the starting grid.

When the series was launched last year, former Formula One racing driver and W Series board member David Coulthard said: “In order to be a successful racing driver, you have to be skilled, determined, competitive, brave and physically fit, but you don’t have to possess the kind of super-powerful strength levels that some sports require. You also don’t have to be a man. That’s why we at W Series firmly believe that female and male racing drivers can compete with one another on equal terms given the same opportunity.”

The feminist race for Formula One equality - why we should talk about the W Series