Formula 1 is increasingly interested in promoting the careers of young women in the world of motorsport. Starting next year, there will be a radical change in the organization of the F1 Academy, the category that replaced the W Series. In 2023, there are already 15 cars sponsored by teams that compete in minor championships, such as Prema, MP Motorsport, and ART GP.
However, in the upcoming season, each Formula 1 team will put its name on a livery and choose the female driver to field. The other 5 cars, instead, will be in the hands of other constructors. This does not mean, though, that the teams will modify the chassis and engine, as this is a single-make championship; they will simply provide more visibility to a series that is in great need of it. Additionally, in 2024, this category will follow the regular Formula 1 calendar.
The first person to be happy about this development is Susie Wolff, director of the F1 Academy, who has been working since the first GP of the year to get the major Formula 1 teams involved with the new series. “When I started working with the F1 Academy less than five months ago, I had a meeting with the team principals in Bahrain to share our points of view. I immediately made it clear that this was not an initiative wanted only by women and managed solely by us, but a way to progress the entire sport. I also said that their support would be crucial for us to have a real impact. To each and every Formula 1 team, thank you. The mission of the F1 Academy is to nurture talent and provide the fuel to propel these female drivers forward, both on and off the track. Together, we will create a platform to carry forward the future generations of female talent,” wrote the category director on Twitter.
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