Photo credits: F1Academy.com
As last season marked the end for the W series, Formula 1 announced its very own racing category all made of women: the F1 Academy.
In what has traditionally been a male dominated environment the academy has the aim to support young female talents in the world of motorsports, developing their technical skills on some rather challenging tracks.
From Barcelona to Zandvoort and Monza, this first season kicked off in Spielberg in mid April and will be in Austin in October alongside the Formula 1 Grand Prix for the finale.
Five teams – ART Grand Prix, Campos Racing, MP Motorsport, PREMA Racing and Rodin Carlin – with three cars each that are seeing a total of 15 drivers racing for the seven rounds of the championship.But things are set to change for the 2024 season, as it was announced today that each and every F1 team will run their livery on one car in this new series.
While details are yet to be disclosed, it is certain that the grid will be made up of 10 drivers chosen by F1 teams and another 5 drivers which will be supported by other partners.
“First and foremost, I want to thank the Formula 1 teams for their support and vision as we embark on this journey together,” commented Susie Wolff, Managing Director of F1 Academy.
“This landmark moment not only demonstrates the depth of support for F1 Academy from across the F1 community, but will inspire a whole generation of young girls to realise the opportunities both on and off track in motorsport.”
And it’s in order to better support it that F1 Academy’s calendar for next season will cross paths with F1 2024 schedule, joining the maiden series on as many weekends as possible.
“As we join the F1 calendar for next year and host F1 Academy Discover Your Drive events in the lead up to our races, I am confident that we will have a positive impact across our sport in the long term,” she concluded.
F1 President and CEO Stefano Domenicali also remarked the importance of creating better chances for females to progress to higher motorsports categories.
“We created F1 Academy to bring about real and lasting change to ensure young female talent have the right system in place to follow and achieve their dreams,” he said.
“Today is a very important moment as it shows the impact the project is having and the support it is receiving from across the F1 community.”
A milestone in a journey that has still a long path to follow.
“Susie, the teams, and everyone involved are working tirelessly to ensure we go from strength to strength and continue to deliver on the important objective we have set out together,” continued Domenicali.
“In 2024 the F1 Academy will join our race calendar, raising the awareness and profile of the series globally and to have the F1 liveries on the grid will be something very special.”
