F1 Academy: a deep dive into the competition
- Lauren White
- Mar 17
- 3 min read
F1 academy is an all female competition that is formula 4 level which is founded by the Formula One Group with the inaugural season being two years ago in 2023.
The series helps female drivers make the step up to the higher levels of motorsport, including F3, F2 and F1. This helps them improve their track time as well as the technical, physical and mental support.
This season is the first time that the drivers from F1 academy will be forced to graduate away from the series as each driver is only allowed to compete in two seasons.
The race format allows maximum development and exposure opportunities for the women taking part and there are far more track opportunities compared to drivers in F2 or F3.
Drivers and Teams:
In the last two seasons, F1 academy has had 15 drivers compete in the series but for the 2025 season, it has risen to 18 drivers as this season, there has been another team to join the group, HiTech TGR. The side have joined ART Grand Prix, Campos, MP Motorsport, PREMA and Rodin Motorsport.
Each team gives three female drivers the opportunity to race across some iconic tracks throughout the year. The drivers are aged between 16 and 25 when doing their first race to give the younger drivers a chance to get further through the F1 pyramid.
There are 17 drivers on the grid that perform full time with a driver in each round being nominated to take part. All ten formula one teams will nominate a driver to feature in the series with other drivers being supported by big named brands such as Charlotte Tilbury, PUMA, Tommy Hilfiger and new for 2025 TAG Heuer.
Team Champions PREMA retained their vice champion Doriane Pin as well as Aston Martin’s Tina Hausmann. The side also recruited Alpine’s Nina Gademan for the season.
Rodin Motorsport welcomed three new drivers to their lineup this season as they welcomed Kick Sauber driver Emma Felbermayr and McLaren’s Ella Lloyd. Chloe Chong joined the side with Charlotte Tilbury after her rookie season last time out.
CAMPOS is Red Bull’s Academy with Chloe Chambers, Rafaela Ferreira and Alisha Palmowski joining the side for 2025. Danish driver Alba Larsen makes her debut with MP Motorsport and is joined by Australian Joanne Ciconte and Ferrari’s Maya Weug turning to the Dutch side.
Haas driver Courtney Crone joined ART as well as Puma’s Aurelia Nobels and Williams’ Lia Block.
HiTech will give AMEX driver Nicole Havrda and TAG Heuer’s Aiva Anagnostiadisa chance to compete as well as the wildcard on each occasion.
Wildcards:
The wildcard section started in 2024 and helps strengthen the talent in the regions where the series takes place. These are one off entries from each race region for the specific weekend.
In Shanghai (the first weekend) Chinese driver Shi Wei will join the new side HiTech as they will field the wild card drivers.
The drivers that take part will also be eligible to score points for both the team and driver championships meanwhile in 2024, it was only the drivers championship due to there being four cars racing under PREMA.
Race Venues and Dates:
There are seven rounds in six countries this season with all the rounds taking place during the formula one weekends and on the same track. The series features two races which means the drivers will race on 14 occasions.
This year, Canada makes its debut in F1 academy with the drivers racing in Montreal and the drivers will return to Zandvoort for their third time. Las Vegas also makes its debut this year as the drivers finish the championship off in the USA.
21-23rd March: Shanghai, China
18-20th April: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2-4th May: Miami, USA
13-15th June: Montreal, Canada
29-31st August: Zandvoort, Netherlands
3-5th October: Marina Bay, Singapore
20-22nd November: Las Vegas, USA
How does a race weekend work?
There are some changes for the 2025 season compared to 2024. There are up to two free practices during each weekend with at least 40 minutes on track for each session. There is a 30 minute qualifying session either on the Friday or the Saturday depending on whether there are one or two free practice sessions.
Saturday is when the drivers will perform their first race but the grid will be in reverse. The top eight from qualifying will be reversed meanwhile the other drivers will continue where they finished.
The top eight drivers will get points and another point for being the fastest lap. Race two is the same grid as how it finished on qualifying just like in Formula 1.
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