Formula 1 has been only a “man” sport ever since it started in 1950, but in recent years, more women have started to get involved with the sport. F1 Academy is a female-only single-seater racing championship series. It started last year in 2023 and Suzie Wolff, the wife of Toto Wolff, helped bring this championship series to life. 

There are 15 drivers on the F1 Academy Grid with all of the ten F1 teams supporting one of the Drivers. Other famous brands like Charlotte Tilbury, Tommy Hilfiger, and Puma also support a Driver. 

Last year, F1 Academy races did not line up with the F1 races and they did not necessarily race at all the same tracks as F1 did. This year F1 Academy has 7 rounds of racing and all of the races line up with the F1 races. Also, many tv channels will be streaming the F1 Academy races which is a big deal since women motorsports races do not usually get broadcasted. 

The first race for the 2024 F1 Academy season happened in Jeddah this past weekend (March 6th-8th). Many of the F1 Drivers like Lewis Hamilton showed their support to the Female drivers as they made their debut on national television. 

Just like the F1 races, the F1 Academy races have a Free Practice, Qualifying and a Race day. Unlike F1, F1 Academy does two races so the Drivers and the Teams can score double the points. The winner of the first race was Doriane Pin who is a 18 year old French driver. She is supported by Mercedes and has a Prema Racing car. The winner of the 2nd race was Abbi Pulling who is a 20 year old British Driver. She is supported by Alpine and Rodin Motorsports. 

Pin was supposed to win the 2nd race too, but she got a 20 second penalty for doing another racing lap when the checker flag was out. 

Right now in the Driver Championships, Abbi is first followed by Maya Weng. Then, Prema Racing is first for the Constructors Championship. 

My favorite F1 Academy Driver is probably Bianca Bustamente. She is a Filipino driver and she is supported by Mclaren which is my favorite team. I love watching her Tik Toks and she seems like she truly enjoys the sport and has given up a lot to be where she is today. 

My favorite car livery on the track has to be the Charlotte Tilbury car. It has a bunch of lips all of the car and I think it is the perfect livery for F1 Academy. It brings the feminine side of this sport out and shows people that this sport can be for women too. 

I am so excited to continue watching and supporting the F1 Academy this year. Having F1 Academy broadcasted on national television allows little girls to believe that they can dream big and if a man can do it so can a woman. I can not wait to see more women in the motorsport industry soon!