A new international single-seater racing championship series for women will launch in 2019 with the goal of establishing a platform for female race car drivers and help them pursue their goals of competing in Formula One. The series, called the W Series, has the backing of former F1 driver David Coulthard, former F1 team manager Dave Ryan, and the F1 technical designer Adrian Newey. The W Series will feature six rounds scattered all over the world. It will launch in May 2019.

The W Series is an important step towards establishing a roadmap for female race car drivers to pursue their dreams of competing in Formula One. It’s far from a novelty, too. A lot of established individuals from the world of Formula One are part of the team that’s bringing this series to life. It’s not just David Coulthard’s presence. Former F1 team manager Dave Ryan is involved. More importantly, Adrian Newey, one of the most influential people in the sport, is also part of the team.

Coulthard, though, appears to be the face of the movement. “We at W Series firmly believe that female and male racing drivers can compete with one another on equal terms given the same opportunity,” he said. “At the moment, however, women racing drivers tend to reach a ‘glass ceiling’ at around the GP3/Formula 3 level on their learning curve, often as a result of a lack of funding rather than a lack of talent.”

The launch of the W Series is a big step in addressing a lot of the shortcomings in the sport that Coulthard alluded to. The series will also use the same Tatuus F3-spec race cars, ensuring that all competitors will have the same type of car to showcase their skills. All six rounds of the series will feature 30-minute races in race tracks scattered throughout Europe, including one round that will be held in the U.K. For now, the W Series’ calendar will be limited to European races, but there are already talks of expanding the series to Australia, Asia, and the Americas.

As for the racers, those interested to compete in the W Series will have to showcase their racing qualifications through an intensive section process that will include judges. The judges for the first W Series include Coulthard, Ryan, and Newey. Those who are selected aren’t required to bring any sponsorship, ensuring that all the conditions they need to meet is limited to their actual skills as race car drivers.

W Series CEO Catherine Bond Muir is another driving force behind the creation of the racing series. “There are just too few women competing in single-seaters at the moment,” she said. “W Series will increase that number very significantly in 2019, thereby powerfully unleashing the potential of many more female racing drivers.”

Most importantly, it’s a good way to foster an environment where female race car drivers are judged on equal terms with their male counterparts. “I believe that the reason so few women have so far raced successfully at the highest levels against men is a lack of opportunity rather than a lack of capability,” Newey said.

“That’s why I’m so pleased to be involved in W Series, to do what I can to contribute to creating a platform on which women drivers can improve by racing one another and from which they may then springboard their careers forward and, yes, ultimately race and indeed eventually beat their male counterparts.”