The new series had its first race at Austria’s Red Bull Ring in April, with the 15-car grid filled with drivers all hoping to further their career and perhaps even making their way to an F1 seat.
Former Williams test driver Susie Wolff was announced in March 2023 as managing director of the F1 Academy, and she will view getting world championship teams involved as the next step in her mission to inspire the next generation of female racers.
F1 has stated that this championship was not to act as a direct competitor to the W-Series, but that has since gone into administration and folded.
Below is everything you need to know about the F1 Academy, including what it is, who will be racing, where the series’ seven events will be held and how to watch it.
What is F1 Academy?
F1 Academy is a new all-female racing category, formed of 15 drivers and five teams that aims to develop and prepare them for the next level of motor sport, which includes Formula 3, Formula 2, Formula 1 and the W-Series.
Testing for the debut season has already taken place, with ART, Campos, Carlin, MP Motorsport and Prema all taking to the track at Barcelona and Paul Ricard – Britain’s Abi Pulling went fastest at the latter.
In order to encourage inclusion, F1 will subsidise the cost of each car with a €150,000 budget, which will be matched by each driver. This is significantly less than the usual costs that drivers and their sponsors are forced to pay in comparable series, however is still substantial when compared to the W Series’ provision which covered all competitors’ budgets. The remainder of the F1 Academy cost not covered by the driver or world championship will be picked by the teams.
Who are the F1 Academy drivers?
The F1 Academy grid is composed of 15 drivers from five different teams, all from varying levels of motor sport background. Here are the contenders:
Campos Racing
Nerea Marti
Bursting onto the Spanish F4 scene in 2019 with a debut podium, Nerea Marti will be one of the most experienced drivers on the F1 Academy grid. She was quickly promoted to the W-Series in 2021, where she finished fourth in the drivers’ standings, and earned a debut pole position at the Miami International Autodrome the following year.
Lola Lovinfosse
Despite difficult recent seasons in the Spanish F4 series, 17-year-old Lovinfosse showed her experience and talent in the Female Trophy, in which she won 13 of the 21 races. She didn’t quite capture the title but the results did earn her a W-Series test alongside 14 other prospective drivers in early 2022 at the Inde Motorsports Ranch in Arizona.
Maite Caceres
After racing in the highly competitive Formula 4 USA Championship in 2022, Caceres will race for the first time on European soil for the F1 Academy. The Uruguayan driver also took part in the Formula Winter Series with her new team Campos Racing.
MP Motorsport
Hamda Al Qubaisi
In her relatively short march through motor sport, Hamda Al Qubaisi has already earned herself a reputation as a serial winner. In 2017, she finished 3rd in the IAME X30 Championships before moving to Italian F4 in 2019. In 2020, she won three races in UAE F4 before making a return to Italian F4. Another Formula 4 UAE campaign brought three wins and six podiums, amounting to a P4 finish in the standings. Last season, Hamda took part in the all-woman’s FIA F3 test at Magny-Cours.
Emely de Heus
After competing in the Rotax Max Challenge karting series in ’19 and ’20, de Heus moved up to the Spanish F4 championship for MP Motorsport, winning the 2021 Female Trophy. She switched to the W Series in 2002, with a best finish of 10th in Miami. She began driving in the F4 UAE championship this season, with a best finish of 21st so far.
Amna Al Qubaisi
The older sister of team-mate Hamda, 23-year-old Amna Al Qubaisi became the first Arab woman to reach the RMC World Finals in 2016, before becoming the first Arab woman to win the UAE RMC championship a year later. Amna joined Prema in the Italian F4 series for 2018 with a best finish of 12th. She has since competed in the F3 Asian Championship and the Formula Regional Asian Championship.
ART Grand Prix
Lena Buhler
Having competed in European BMX championships as a teenager, Lena Buhler made her racing debut in 2017. Having progressed through the Swiss Karting Championship, Buhler impressed in the 2020 Spanish F4 series, qualifying on the front-row at Jarama with a best finish of fifth. A move to the Formula Regional European and Asian championships in ’21 and ’22 proved tricky, but now the Swiss driver has a chance in F1 Academy.
Carrie Schreiner
Starting out in karting, 24-year-old Carrie Schreiner impressively won the X30 championship in 2014. Competing in the ADAC F4 championship in ’15 and ’16, she then moved to the British F4 championship and finished 17th overall the year after. The German then took part in several Lamborghini Super Trofeo championships for 2017, finishing runner-up in the Middle East series. Subsequently Schreiner has competed in various GT championships before stepping up to F1 Academy.
Chloe Grant
17-year-old Chloe Grant got started early, karting from the age of seven in 2013, winning the ESKC karting series four years later. She claimed the crown again two years after that, as well as finishing runner-up in the NSKC and third in the Grampian series – the only driver to take podiums in all three championships in the same year. She won another title – the CKRC – in 2020, before finishing ninth in GB4 last year.
Rodin Carlin
Abbi Pulling
Arguably the most high-profile driver on the grid, Pulling won karting titles as a junior before finishing sixth in British F4 in 2020, but had to stop mid-season the year after due to lack of budget. She came into the W Series in 2021 halfway through the season, scoring a pole and runner-up position at the final race in Austin. She scored two more podiums in 2022, finishing fourth in the championship. Pulling is also part of Alpine’s ‘Rac(H)er’ programme to help further the careers of female drivers, testing an F1 car in Saudi Arabia last year.
Jessica Edgar
18-year-old Edgar began karting in 2010 aged five. Winning a number of races across several seasons she moved up to GB4 series for 2022. A podium at Oulton Park and a string of competitive finishes meant Edgar finished seventh in the championship.
Megan Gilkes
Hailing from Ontario Canada, Gilkes first began karting aged nine when her family lived in Barbados. Winning a junior karting title back in Canada in 2016, Gilkes then moved up to single seaters, taking on the national F1200 series. She took part in the inaugural W Series in 2019, before moving to Formula Ford. Gilkes then competed in GB4 last season, winning two races on her way to sixth in the championship.
PREMA Racing
Chloe Chong
At just 16, Chong is the youngest driver on the F1 Academy grid. The British-Canadian driver has competed in UK karting championships since the age of 6, before stepping up to European competition. Chong was a finalist in the FIA Women In Motorsport ‘Girls On Track – Rising Stars’ initiative, just missing out on a place in the Ferrari Driver Academy.
Marta Garcia
One of the more prominent names on the grid, Garcia progressed through the junior karting ranks with race wins before competing in the first W Series in 2019, finishing fourth. In the wake of the Covid-hit 2019 championship, she finished second in the e-sports equivalent before returning for 2021, finishing 12th. She took part again last year, improving to sixth.
Bianca Bustamante
Born in 2005, Filipino racer Bustamante has competed in various junior single seater championships, including those on the ‘Road to Indy’ ladder and the Indian Racing League. She took part in W Series last year, finishing 15th, and has a best finish of ninth in the UAE F4 championship this season.
What cars are used in the F1 Academy?
F1 Academy cars will use the same chassis as W-Series, the T421 by Tatuus. However the 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine supplied by Autotecnica will produce around 100 less horsepower – 174bhp as opposed to W Series’ 270bhp. Each car is identical, keeping the emphasis of the series on driver ability, with the tyres supplied by F1’s global partner Pirelli.
With performance similar to Formula 4, the car hits top speeds of 165mph – driving in these machines is critical to climbing up the F1 pyramid, allowing drivers to develop in formulae racing before they jump to the next level.
Where does F1 Academy race?
| Round | Location | Date |
| 1 | Spielberg, Austria | April 28-29 |
| 2 | Valencia, Spain | May 5-7 |
| 3 | Barcelona, Spain | May 19-21 |
| 4 | Zandvoort, Netherlands | June 23-25 |
| 5 | Monza, Italy | July 7-9 |
| 6 | Le Castellet, France | July 29-30 |
| 7 | Austin, USA | October 20-22 |
Where can I watch and follow F1 Academy?
Highlights of each race can be watched on the YouTube channels of Formula 1 and F1 Academy, as well as their respective websites, on the Monday following the each event.
Additionally, F1 Academy has announced that a 15-minutes highlights and behind-the-scenes programme will be available to each country’s respective broadcast rights holder from the Wednesday after the event.
During the race, the championship’s Twitter channel will post live text updates, race clips and imagery to keep followers up to date with the action.