Extreme E: innovators for women in motorsport

From a sporting and development perspective, it's a good time to discuss the innovation seen in Extreme E regarding gender equality. In season 1, the ratio of talented men to women was about 100 to 1. Very few women had the off-road experience needed to compete toe-to-toe with men due to their inexperience.

Fast forward four years, and we see significant progress. Our driver, Molly, for instance, is now very competitive, with her lap times averaging just 20 seconds off those of experienced men. Sometimes the difference is negligible. That just comes down to the fact the men have been doing it for a lot longer – many since they were 8 years old – they’ve had all the years and years of development and driving experience. Molly, in comparison, is still tens of thousands of kilometres behind someone like Kevin, our other driver, in terms of car driving experience.

In terms of innovation, Extreme E has forced gender equality to happen in sport. From a race perspective, you’re always going to try to win with the most competitive driver line up you can have. Traditionally, this meant choosing the fastest drivers, who were usually men. However, Extreme E's requirement for one male and one female driver has shifted this dynamic.

Jamie Chadwick, who has been with Veloce for 7-8 years, is a prime example of this progress – and someone who absolutely has the ability to go to Formula 1. At 26, it’s challenging for her, but she won’t get the opportunity in the current system because Formula 1 teams prioritise the fastest drivers, who are often men. Unless there are measures to ensure women’s involvement at that level, it’s unlikely to change. It’s up to the governing bodies to create a system that nurtures talent from a young age.

I think what Extreme E has done from a pure innovation standpoint is saying "no, we’re going to make sure men and women have to compete in this side-by-side" and, they have to do an equal amount of running. We've seen that in a competition where track time is limited, the performance gap has very quickly narrowed.

Motorsport is the ultimate destination for accessibility to be tested. Running any car, from starting out at go-karting to competing at Formula 1 level, is costly, which creates a huge barrier to entry.

The gaming revolution has itself has been a pioneering force for our business, establishing itself as an innovator in sport. Without sounding too cliché, part of our vision has been to embrace the virtual world. Imagine taking a group of school children—among them, there's bound to be one with the natural aptitude. Guiding them through their journey has always been our dream. By giving them ultimate access, they can sit down at the simulators, take a shot, set a fast lap, and outpace everyone else—regardless of gender. The barriers to entry are vastly different, enabling them to rise through the ranks based purely on talent.

When you give that access to the other 50% of the population, it just becomes your pool of talent. The drivers in Extreme E simply refer to each other as drivers – not by gender. For us, being nimble and innovative is crucial to competing against giants like McLaren, Audi Group, or Lewis Hamilton's team. Tapping into the untapped 50% of the world – women and girls - is a strategic advantage.

For us, that theme of innovation – it takes teams, governing bodies to really move that equality forward. For a business like ours, we’re small enough to be nimble, but big enough to make an impact. We’re kind of the perfect size to implement that gender equality.

The true innovation is using technology to give access to everyone, including the other 50% of the world that hasn’t had many role models like Molly or Jamie. To be able to give young girls and women these role models to inspire to – something that the generation before wouldn’t have been able to do.