Earlier this week F1 Academy launched their social media (@f1academy on Instagram and Twitter) where they posted some details on the new series and here’s what we know so far:
F1 Academy will be used as a way to help promote women into Formula One. It will be a similar level to Formula Regional, meaning the next step would be Formula 3, if the drivers perform well.
It’s important that all drivers have an equal opportunity to race in F1 regardless of gender and this FIA-run championship seems the best chance so far. Unlike W Series which is the most comparable existing series, F1 Academy will have clearer links to higher support series, as I will explain later in the article.
The announcement of the championship was made not long after Stefano Domenicali expressed his desire for women to join the sport.
The season will consist of seven rounds with three races each. They have confirmed today that at least one of these rounds will take place alongside a Formula One race weekend.
Each team will race three drivers. As Formula 2 fans, the names on the list of teams will be extremely familiar to you. MP Motorsport, Campos, ART Grand Prix, Carlin, and PREMA will all compete this season.
ART were the first team to announce a driver on Thursday morning. They confirmed that Spanish Formula 4 superstar, Léna Bühler will race for them this year.
Sébastien Philippe spoke of the announcement in a statement on their website and expressed his excitement to “take up this new historic challenge with Léna”. Full article here.
Using established teams to form the grid will further help to develop the drivers’ skills to shape them for other categories, such as Formula 3. It also has the potential to give them a team to progress with, which is something that many teams do from Formula Regional to F3 and F3 to F2.
Like Formula 2 and other support series, all cars will run standardised chassis but further details on the cars are limited.
No official calendar has been set so far but we can’t wait to see how this all-female series helps to create a more diverse future for Formula 1!
