The W Series has renewed its free-to-air broadcast deal ahead of the long-awaited 2021 season.Channel 4 will show all eight of this year's races when the new campaign commences next month in Austria. Equipped with a new star-studded commentary team, the W Series is set to push through the glass ceiling and bring in record-breaking audience numbers.After 400,000 viewers tuned in for the inaugural season – going above and beyond initial expectations – the bar has been set high. CEO Catherine Bond Muir was thrilled as she discussed the numbers, waxing lyrical about how they "knocked [it] out of the park" with the Channel 4 coverage.W SeriesThe new commentary team will consist of eight panellists, with Sky Sports' Anna Woolhouse partnering Lee McKenzie as the presenters of the series. The latter is currently the deputy presenter of Channel 4's Formula 1 coverage and has also worked within rugby and tennis, while Woolhouse majors in boxing, having worked alongside the likes of Tony Bellew and Johnny Nelson.With an all-female presenting duo, it will keep with the theme of channelling the mantra that women belong in motorsports. But the more diverse commentating crew will help squash the stigma surrounding a heavily male-dominated industry.Racing legend and 13-time Grand Prix winner David Coulthard is one of the main names on the list. He will be joined by Ted Kravitz, who both worked alongside McKenzie to cover the 2019 W Series. Making up the rest of the panel are motorsport commentators Alex Jacques and Amy Reynolds, double-amputee racing driver Billy Monger and former W Series competitor Naomi Schiff.Coulthard and Monger will act as co-commentators throughout the season. Monger, nicknamed 'Billy Whizz', got involved as a pundit in the W Series Esports League last year during the absence of on-track racing. Kravitz, one of the most informed media individuals in the sport, is set to be a pit-lane reporter alongside Reynolds, while Schiff will be the season's analyst.

"The interest in W Series’ inaugural season was remarkable and it will only increase this year when W Series races in partnership with Formula 1," said Coulthard, who is also a W Series Advisory Board Chairman. 

F1's partnership with the W Series will only continue to push the sport into the spotlight as the women prepare to take on this season's racing calendar that coincides with the top formula's term. 

The 2021 season will get underway at the Red Bull Ring on June 26th and the promise of top quality coverage and easy access to all races will be a huge milestone in the growth of the W Series. You can find out more about what to expect from the season, including race dates and locations here.