The curious case of an undervalued F1 feeder series
OPINION: The FIA awards superlicence points according to how it values the feeder series to Formula 1, so it was baffling when the body reduced the Formula Renault Eurocup's allocation
The FIA's Formula 1 superlicence points system was thrown into the spotlight again last week by the W Series' announcement that, having been selected by the sport's governing body as worthy of qualifying for inclusion in the superlicence structure for its second season in 2020, its champion would be awarded 15 points of the 40 required to compete in F1.
A flurry of stories immediately appeared in media outlets everywhere, all of whom have been impressed by the women-only series since it made its remarkably successful debut in 2019.
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Marcus Simmons is the Deputy Editor of Autosport magazine. As a child he was a regular on the chalk banks of Thruxton – hence his unhealthy obsession with 1970s Formula 2 and F3 – before he became an MSA timekeeper at the age of 17. At 19, his reporting debut for Motoring News arguably overshadowed Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal as the sporting moment of June 1986, and he joined the staff in 1990 after graduating from his degree course in Plymouth. A parallel Formula First career – which was as incident-packed as his childhood exploits in show-jumping and hunter trials – finished when he wrote off his car and put himself in hospital in 1991.
Marcus moved to Autosport in the summer of 1996. Since then he has had two stints as a freelancer and a brief spell as editor of Motor Sport magazine, during which the revered green cover was revived, before he rejoined Autosport in 2008. He lives in Teddington with his wife (who, gratifyingly, grew up within earshot of Castle Combe), daughter, stepson, dog, cat and guitars, and additionally has an adult daughter and stepson.
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