Bernie Ecclestone is considering a women’s Formula One championship to give fans extra value for money during grand prix weekends. Ecclestone, the sport’s chief executive, floated the idea at a meeting with team bosses before Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix. If he manages to get his way, the likes of Williams test driver Susie Wolff, her counterpart at Lotus Carmen Jorda, IndyCar’s Danica Patrick and emerging British talent Alice Powell could all be handed drives. Bernie Ecclestone floated the idea at a meeting with team bosses before Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix . ‘I thought it would be a good idea to give them a showcase,’ said Ecclestone. ‘For some reason, women are not coming through — and not because we don’t want them. Of course we do, because they would attract a lot of attention and publicity and probably a lot of sponsors. ‘We have to start somewhere so I suggested to the teams that we have a separate championship and maybe that way we will be able to bring someone through to F1. They could race before the main event or perhaps on the Saturday qualifying day. ‘It is only a thought at the moment but I think it would be super for Formula One and the whole grand prix weekend.’ The likes of Williams test driver Susie Wolff could feature in Ecclestone's proposed women-only race . Lella Lombardi was the last woman to start a Formula One race, in 1976, and the only one to score points. Ecclestone’s support for a female series comes 15 years after he controversially joked that women should dress in white like all domestic appliances. Lotus F1 development driver Carmen Jorda is another driver who could feature in the proposed move .
Bernie Ecclestone floated the idea at a meeting with team bosses before Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix . Lella Lombardi was the last woman to start a Formula One race, in 1976 . The likes of Susie Wolff could feature in Ecclestone's new race idea .