With the start of 2024 Formula 1 season, company’s ambitious F1 academy is set to start its second season with a lot of changes and improvements. The series promises to promote racing among young females and has the backing of Formula 1 teams and many big brands like Puma, Tommy Hilfiger etc.
What makes F1 Academy different?
So in simpler terms, F1 academy is an all female racing series with the goal of finding a female formula 1 driver. It is not a fresh idea. Only a few years ago, we had the W series.
But what makes this different? Backing of Formula 1 and all 10 teams. It is a part of F1’s official junior series list that include Formula 2 and Formula 3.
Last year, it was just Formula 1 but in 2024, all 10 teams have committed to join the series. This gives the series some serious strengths.
Susie Wolff is Leading the change
The series is lead by Susie Wolff, the only women to grab an F1 seat (reserve driver for Williams F1) in the recent past. In 2023, she talked about the ambitious plan for the series, “I would like to see at the end of next season, first and foremost, the Formula One teams saying, ‘Wow, it was great for us to be a part of F1 Academy.’ Because I think in the end, they are all taking a leap of faith to join us on this mission, and we need to make sure we’re delivering a strong package.”
Talking about the making the series profitable to sustain she added, “I know how tough it is, and I know how few women are participating on all the different levels.’ So we need to figure out how we’re going to change long term.”
What happened to the W series?
W Series, an all-female single-seater racing championship launched in Oct 2018. The aim was to address the underrepresentation of women in motorsport, particularly at the highest levels like Formula one. For a few years, it provided a platform to many talented female racers to showcase their skills and compete on equal footing.
However, financial instability forced it to shut shop in 2023. Only a few months after the announcement of shutting down, all the assets of the racing series were auctioned to the public.
The W Series ran for a total of three seasons: 2019, 2021, and 2022. Unfortunately, the planned 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All three editions were won by British driver Jamie Chadwick.
Just like the W series, F1 academy promises serious change. But unlike the W series, a strong backing from F1’s top management gives hope. If the teams and F1 commit to the goal of developing female F1 drivers it is only a matter of time before we see the 1st Female F1 driver of this century.
