The Red Bull Junior Academy has produced some iconic drivers over the last 15 years. Some notable ones are Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen, Liam Lawson (Red Bull reserve driver), and Sebastian Vettel. They have been helping drivers to gradually climb the ladder of race formats, right from the karting level.
Recently, Red Bull Academy brought in three female drivers from the F1 Academy who will compete on track for them in the 2024 season.
Hamda Al Qubaisi and Emely De Heus will drive for Red Bull Racing, and Amna Al Qubaise will drive for Visa Cash App RB — the cars will be run by MP Motorsport. This is Red Bull’s first investment in female drivers, which marks their commitment to the future of women in motorsports.
All You Need To Know About the Drivers:
The three talented drivers on Red Bull Academy’s roster have won multiple championships and races earlier.
Hamda Al Qubaisi started racing karts in 2015. She drove in the IAME X30 Championships before racing in the Italian F4 Championship in 2019. She won three races in UAE F4 in 2020 and participated in the FIA F3 Test at Magny Cours. She raced with MP Motorsports in F1 Academy and finished third in the Driver’s Standings last year behind Garcia and Bühler, with a total of 207 points.
De Heus started kart racing in 2019 and won the Dutch Wintercup Senior Series title. She finished fourth in the National Championship in 2020 before racing in single-seaters. She raced in Spanish F4 in 2021 followed by the W series, where Emely finished in points in her debut race.
The Dutch driver raced in the UAE Formula Championship with MP Motorsports in 2023, where she competed in the F1 Academy. She finished ninth in the Driver’s standings with 87 points, with her most successful race in Barcelona, where she finished P1.
Amna Al Qubaisi, aged 23, is representing Visa Cash App RB for the 2024 season. She began her karting career when she was 14 years old and has raced in multiple Championships since.
Appearances at the Rotax Max Challenge World Finals, X30 Euro Series and Italian X30 Championships brought strong results and she moved up to Italian F4 for 2018.
The Emirati driver has since made appearances in Formula 4 UAE, F3 Asian and, most recently, Formula Regional European Championships. In 2023 she raced in F1 Academy with MP Motorsport finishing sixth overall in the Driver’s Standings, with two first place finishes in Spielberg and Barcelona and a total of 117 points.
Sarah Harrington, Red Bull Academy Programme Manager said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming Hamda, Emely and Amna, three incredibly talented drivers, into the Red Bull Academy Programme and are looking forward to working with them closely this season. This is a landmark moment for us and is testament to our complete commitment to the future of women’s motorsport. F1 Academy provides an opportunity to promote genuine change in our industry and this is a great stepping-stone to help ensure that the drivers progress to the next level. This is a pivotal moment for women in motorsport and we are excited to see what this season brings.”
Sander Dorsman, MP Motorsport’s Team Principal said: “I’m happy to confirm Hamda, Amna and Emely as our F1 Academy line-up for 2024 and as members of the Red Bull Academy programme. This means we will stick with the drivers whose talent we are familiar with – all three have already become true members of the MP Motorsport family in recent years. Together, we look forward to a challenging new F1 Academy season in which we hope to repeat and further improve on our strong 2023 results. Hamda proved to be one of the title favourites while Amna and Emely each took their wins. And since we narrowly missed out on the teams’ title last year, we hope to go one better this year! Also, I’m grateful for Red Bull’s unwavering support of our efforts and we aim for a successful partnership together.”
