Women in motorsports month: F1 Academy kicks off its second season

Hey everyone, and welcome to Women’s History Month! This March, we wanted to give special attention to women taking the motorsport world by storm. We’re kicking this off with Formula 1 (F1) Academy. Formulated as a bridge between karting and single seaters, the female-only Formula 4 (F4)-level championship hopes to build off of a strong debut season and propel more women into single-seater careers. 

The 2023 champion, Marta García, will not return to the grid; instead, she — and every future F1 Academy winner — will step up to the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) in 2024 with Prema Racing. Runner-up Léna Bühler will be racing alongside García in the ART outfit. Furthermore, each of the 10 F1 teams will sponsor an F1 Academy driver this year, integrating them within their respective development programs. F1 Academy races will be broadcast alongside F1 as well. 

Also new to this year, the winner of the 2024 season will be awarded 10 super license points. The series will also debut a new Wild Card entry option, operating as the fourth car for the Prema Racing outfit. Several brands — including Puma, Charlotte Tilbury and Tommy Hilfiger — are partnering with the series, sponsoring different drivers and liveries. 

The race calendar 

F1 Academy’s 2024 season started in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia this week! After two races, we currently have Abbi Pulling sitting clear with 44 points, followed by a close battle between Maya Weug with 33 points and Doriane Pin with 32. 

In 2023, F1 Academy raced mostly on European tracks, following the likes of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM), FRECA and the World Endurance Championship (WEC). This year, the seven rounds of the series will exclusively follow the F1 calendar. The drivers will then move to Miami, Florida in early May; Barcelona, Spain in June; Zandvoort, Netherlands in August; Singapore in September; Lusail, Qatar in late November; and then Abu Dhabi, UAE in early December. 

Prema Racing goes for a brand new line-up

There are several exciting faces to keep an eye out for this season. After winning the team and driver’s championship in 2023, Prema Racing is the favorite to win the title again this year. With three new drivers — all with some F4 experience under their belt — expectations are high for the team. 

The “Pocket Rocket”: Pin sets her eyes on the prize

French-born Doriane Pin will contest her first season with F1 Academy with Prema Racing as a Mercedes and Iron Dames-backed junior driver. Alongside Daniil Kvyat and factory-backed Lamborghini driver Mirko Bortolotti, Pin competed in the WEC in the Le Mans Prototype 2 class in the Prema Racing outfit. After strong performances in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and a podium at the 1000 Miles of Sebring, Pin was awarded the International Automobile Federation (FIA) WEC Revelation of the Year Award. 

The 20-year-old French racing driver made her single seater debut in the final two rounds of the F4 South East Asia Championship with Prema Racing, taking three podiums and a victory. She finished second in the championship overall and won the rookie’s championship. Alongside her F1 Academy commitments this year, she will also race in the Le Mans Grand Touring 3 category in the 2024 FIA WEC season. In an interview with F1 Academy, Pin highlighted winning the title as the “obvious target for the year.”

Ferrari-backed Maya Weug takes the stage

Weug is also competing in her first season of F1 Academy, backed by the Prancing Horses out of Maranello. After starting karting at the age of seven, Weug participated in the “Girls on Track - Rising Stars” series, organized by the FIA, alongside future F1 Academy teammate Pin. After winning the shootout, Weug joined the Ferrari Driver Academy. In 2023, Weug progressed to the FRECA championship as part of the KIC Motorsport team. The 19-year-old was the only KIC driver to score points in the entire season, and she finished third in the rookie's championship.  

New faces on the grid

Switching from the world of rally cross, 17-year-old American Lia Block will make her single seater debut in F1 Academy this year. Block is also the youngest-ever American Rally Association (ARA) champion after she won the ARA Open Two-Wheel-Drive championship in 2023. As part of the Williams Driver Academy, Block will be mentored by three-time W-Series Champion and current Andretti Autosport Indy NXT driver Jamie Chadwick.

Nineteen-year-old Chloe Chambers will be backed by the Haas F1 team. She has most recently competed in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship and the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America in the Cayman Pro/Am class. Additionally, she is under the representation of A14 Management, a driver management company established by two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso.

Tina Hausmann, the Aston Martin-backed F1 Academy driver, is also a rookie in the championship. She made her single seater debut in the inaugural Formula Winter Series, scoring a third place finish in her third race. She also competed in the 2023 Italian F4 Championship and the 2023 Euro 4 Championship for AKM Motorsport. She will be mentored by Jessica Hawkins, former W Series driver and current driver ambassador for the Aston Martin outfit. 

Pulling, Martí and the Al Qubaisi sisters return for a second season

We are in for an exciting rematch this year as sisters Hamda and Amna Al Qubasi, Brit Pulling and Spaniard Nerea Martí — who stood 3rd-6th-5th-4th in the standings, respectively — will return to our grid this year for another exciting competition. They make four out of the nine total returning drivers from the inaugural 2023 series.

Pulling, who is driving for Rodin Motorsport and is backed by Alpine, stands atop the grid after the two inaugural races of the season in Jeddah, benefitting from the penalty levied on Pin.