A new all-female racing series, the W Series, was launched on Wednesday, supported by former Grand Prix Driver David Coulthard and top designer Adrian Newey, with the aim of helping women racers get to Formula One.

No woman has competed in Formula One since 1976 but organizers of the W Series hope to provide a platform for them to develop skills before taking on the men further up the motorsport ladder.

With a planned start in May 2019, the series will offer free entries to world's best female racers who will be together in F3-spec Tatuus cars. A prize fund of 1.5 million US dollars has been allocated to nearly 20 competitors who will be selected purely on merit after tests and appraisals, with the overall winner collecting 500,000 US dollars.

Organizers said they aimed to stage six 30-minute races at top circuits in Europe, most of which were past Formula One venues, with identical 1.8 liter Formula Three cars.

Future seasons would see the series expand to America, Asia and Australia.

"At the heart of W Series' DNA is the firm belief that women can compete equally with men in motorsport. However, an all-female series is essential in order to force greater female participation," organizers said in a statement.

Coulthard, winner of 13 Grand Prix between 1995 and 2003, is on the advisory board along with Red Bull's technical head Newey and both will be involved in the driver training program.

The idea of an all-female series is not new and many female racing drivers have backed the new W Series.

British F3 race winner and former British GT champion Jamie Chadwick said: "W Series is giving female drivers another platform to go racing.

"I'm a racing driver and, if I could, I would race 365 days of the year. I will still race against men in other championships but W Series is the perfect supplement to help me develop and progress further through the junior motorsport ranks. I'm excited about what's to come."