F1 Academy 2024 - Jeddah

The 2024 F1 Academy season has officially begun and this season marked a paradigm shift for the all-female racing series because ten out of 15 drivers will have liveries and suits based on the existing teams while the other five are from announced partners.

Red Bull, Charlotte Tilbury, PUMA, and Tommy Hilfiger were named partners of the 2024 F1 Academy season. In addition, familiar female drivers from other sports are joining in the fun such as Lia Block, former W Series driver Chloe Chambers, Iron Dames' Doriane Pin, Maya Weug, Tina Hausmann, and Aurelia Nobels.

Seven venues will each have a wild card driver and in the season opener in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Reema Juffali is the guest driver in the two-part season opener.

Screengrab from F1 Academy

The first part of the season opener saw the first F1 Academy race win for newcomer Dorianne Pin, representing Prema Racing while driving in Mercedes-AMG colors, while Rodin Motorsport's Abbi Pulling, in Alpine colors, finished 2nd, and another Prema newcomer Maya Weug, running in Ferrari colors, finished 3rd.

In the final part, meanwhile, following Pin's penalty for crossing the checkered flag twice, Abbi Pulling and Maya Weug were promoted from 2nd and 3rd to 1st and 2nd, while Nerea Marti scored her first podium finish after being promoted from 4th to 3rd.

The next event will be at Miami this May 3-5.

F1 Academy 2023 FINALE

The final leg of the inaugural F1 Academy, held at the Circuit of the Americas, will decide who will be crowned the first champion as well as the first team champion. It's time to find out.

Screengrab from F1 Academy

PREMA's Marta Garcia made history in the first part as the first-ever F1 Academy champion after beating Abbi Pulling and Lena Buhler to seal her maiden title. In the second part, meanwhile, MP's Hamda Al Qubaisi trumped Buhler and Jess Edgar, and in the third part, Edgar won while Nerea Marti finished 2nd and the champion finished 3rd. Still, the PREMA team's performance in the final leg earned the right to be crowned the F1 Academy's first Team Champions.

This concludes the first-ever F1 Academy. Beginning next year, all 10 Formula 1 teams will have one driver and one race car with the team's livery. The remaining five drivers in the series will be supported by other partners. Not only that, the seven venues will coincide with the F1 '24 season schedule starting with Saudi Arabia this March 7-9 and concluding in Abu Dhabi on December 6-8.

See you next season.

F1 Academy 2023 - Le Castellet

Le Castellet is the next stop for the inaugural F1 Academy season and this three-parter will decide whether Marta Garcia will snag the first world champion title. In any case, it's every woman's game after all.

Screengrab from F1 Academy

Beginning with the first part, Campos' Nerea Marti nabbed her first win of F1 Academy, eclipsing the likes of Abbi Pulling and Lola Lovinfosse. In the middle part, Marta Garcia's recent victory over the likes of Lena Buhler and Amna Al Qubaisi placed her on the brink of the title, and in the second part, Garcia's at it again after beating the likes of Buhler and Lovinfosse.

Still, that title will have to wait for Marta Garcia but will she fight her way to become the first F1 Academy champion? Find out as the inaugural season concludes in COTA this October 19-21.

F1 Academy 2023 - Monza

Monza is the next stop for the inaugural F1 Academy season, a chance for young female drivers to shine in the "Temple of Speed".

Screengrab from F1 Academy

The first part saw a horrifying incident involving Chloe Grant. Although her condition is okay, Grant has withdrawn from the entire Monza weekend. Following Grant's on-track accident, Marta Garcia delivered a close-call photo finish win against Lena Buhler while Jessica Edgar of Rodin delivered her first podium finish with a third-place finish. In the second part, it's payback time for Buhler as she managed to win the race from the likes of Bianca Bustamante and Abbi Pulling. And in the final part, it's revenge by Bianca Bustamante as she defeated the likes of Pulling while Nerea Marti got promoted to 3rd place after Amna Al Qubaisi got slapped with a 0.3 second time penalty.

After Monza, Garcia is leading the standings with 190 points, 36 points ahead of Hamda Al Quibaisi.

The next event is at Le Castellet, France, this July 28-29.

F1 Academy 2023 - Zandvoort

Zandvoort is the next stop for the inaugural F1 Academy season and this three-parter became a familiar feast because it joined alongside the DTM as part of the race weekend extravaganza in the said Dutch racetrack, meaning there are some leftover DTM audiences witnessing it.

Screengrab from F1 Academy

The first part saw Hamda Al Qubaisi of MP Racing continuing her road to becoming the first F1 Academy champion after beating the likes of Lena Buhler and Nerea Marti. The second part saw Carrie Schreiner nail her first F1 Academy race win while Marta Garcia finished 2nd and another third-place finish for Buhler. In the final part, MP Racing's extended its lead with a 1-2 finish with Hamda Al Qubaisi the winner and Emily De Heus the 2nd placer. As expected, it's a three-race third-place finish for Buhler.

After Zandvoort, it's now a five-point gap between Marta Garcia and Hamda Al Qubaisi, 155 vs 150. As for the team standings, MP Racing leads with 301 points.

The inaugural F1 Academy season continues in Monza this July 6-8.

F1 Academy 2023 - Barcelona

This weekend's F1 '23 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix may be canceled due to the recent flooding in Northern Italy, but it's business as usual for the inaugural F1 Academy as the girls went to Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for their third leg of the inaugural season.

Screengrab from F1 Academy

It's an orange fever in Catalan as two out of the three races in Catalunya were won by MP drivers; one by Emely De Heus and the other by Amna Al Qubaisi. In the final part, ART Grand Prix's Lena Buhler claimed her first win of the season following a disastrous DNF in the first part.

With three venues down, Marta Garcia leads with 135 points while Hamda Al Qubaisi's in 2nd with 94 points, and Lena Buhler's in third with 83 points. In terms of teams, MP and Prema are now 4 points apart, 207 vs 203. The next event will be at Zandvoort this June 22-24.

F1 Academy 2023 - Valencia

After its slow debut in the Red Bull Ring, the first-ever F1 Academy all-female racing series continues in Circuit Ricardo Tormo.

Screengrab from F1 Academy

The first race saw MP's Hamda Al Qubaisi overcome all odds to score her first win of the F1 Academy series while Bianca Bustamante, a Filipina representing PREMA, nailed her first win, and the final race saw PREMA driver Marta Garcia scored another win. 

Judging by last week's patterns, two out of three victors were PREMA drivers. Will this pattern continue or break? The next race is at the Circuit de Catalunya this May 18-20.

F1 Academy 2023 - Spielberg

The first-ever F1 Academy all-female racing series made its debut in Spielberg's Red Bull Ring for the first three-parter round. 

15 aspiring female drivers from five teams with record experiences with past and current aspirants from other junior races like F2 are competing to determine who will be the first-ever F1 Academy champion. This series will serve as a turning point for female drivers looking for ascension to top-level motorsports such as F3, F2, and of course, F1.

Screengrab from F1 Academy

In F1 Academy's debut round at the Red Bull Ring, Marta Garcia of PREMA made headlines as the first winner of the first F1 Academy race while fellow PREMA driver Bianca Bustamante and Rodin Carlin's Jessica Edgar got promoted to 2nd and 3rd due to Nerea Marti's disqualification. The reverse-grid second part saw Amna Al Quibaisi of MP Racing bag her first win, and in the final part, it's a two-out-of-three race weekend win for Garcia after defeating the Al Quibaisi sisters, Hamda and Amna.

The first round of the first-ever F1 Academy is a success but there's plenty of action coming up as the next race will be at Circuit Ricardo Tormo on May 4-6.