LONDON (REUTERS) - The all-female W Series, which is supporting Formula One at eight grands prix this year, will become a team-based championship from 2022 as a result of strong sponsor interest, organisers said on Thursday (June 24).

Drivers will continue to race with identical machinery, however, with cars prepared and maintained by W Series Engineering.

The series, whose second season starts at Austria's Red Bull Ring this weekend and which has the ultimate aim of helping a woman race in Formula One for the first time since 1976, currently provides cars to the drivers individually.

The women racers, selected on merit, pay nothing for their seats and compete for a total prize fund of US$1.5 million (S$2 million).

The new team structure will see driver pairings representing a number of new sponsors including German sportswear company Puma.

"It transforms the business, it's bringing in money in order to create a sustainable business," W series founder and chief executive Catherine Bond Muir told Reuters.

She said putting on the series cost tens of millions of dollars but the link-up with Formula One provided a global stage and a "quality stamp" for sponsors.

She said there would be a teams championship in future but not a constructors' one, because W series wanted to ensure a level playing field.

Teams would not be allowed to charge the drivers any money or force them to bring sponsorship in order to secure the drive, as happens in other junior series.

Bond Muir envisaged a scenario where teams could be competing for the services of a driver, and that would be encouraged.

"We want the drivers to earn money so if there was competition and they got the best driver because they were paying more money, from my point of view that's all good," she said.

"What we're helping to do is empower female drivers and get money for them. We've still got our prize money this year... but going forward if teams wanted to come in and pay a lot of money for a particular driver then I'd personally welcome that."