F1 star Lewis Hamilton has urged for the “lack of progression” from the W Series to be addressed.

The British star paid a visit to the W Series drivers yesterday as they prepared to race at the Hungaroring in Budapest.

Hamilton was in the city for the Hungarian Grand Prix, which takes place tomorrow.

He finished seventh in qualifying today as his Mercedes teammate George Russell claimed the first pole position of his career.

After the qualifier, Hamilton explained why he had visited the W Series drivers.

“I've been following the W Series for the last few years, and I’ve been trying to get down there because I’ve been wanting to meet the inspirational women," he said.

I've been watching the races in between sessions. Today I watched the race. So I wanted to get down there."

Hamilton then praised the competition, which was launched in 2019, but criticised the lack of progression from the W Series to F3.

“It’s great that we have the W Series, but we as a sport need to do way more for young girls getting into the sport, and for these women.

“There’s no progression from the W Series… when you win that, do you get a seat in F2, or whatever it may be? We can definitely do a lot more to support these girls.”

Jamie Chadwick, who has won both editions of the W Series so far, admitted earlier this year that she did not have the budget to progress up the single-seater ladder.

“I’ve said publicly before that I want to step up and out of W Series to showcase the opportunity it has given me and the platform I now have going forward,” Chadwick told Motor Sport. “It’s still difficult, even with the prize money.

“The next step is still four times the budget I have. It’s still not the easiest so we haven’t been able to confirm a programme just yet.”

Chadwick finished second in today’s W Series race after Alice Powell ended her unbeaten record this season.

The 24-year-old is still comfortably ahead in the standings with 143 points, but will have to wait a little longer before she can wrap up a third W Series title.

Powell’s result sees her jump from sixth in the drivers’ standings to second. Her Hungarian GP win puts her level with Visser on 68 points, while her protege Abbi Pulling occupies fourth with 65 points.