F1 Academy is a female-only single-seater racing championship founded by

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

. The championship is a spec series, with all teams competing with an identical Tatuus F4-T-421 chassis and tyre compounds developed by Pirelli. Each car is powered by a 165-horsepower turbocharged 4-cylinder engine developed by Autotecnica. Its inaugural season in 2023 was won by Marta García driving for

Prema Racing Prema Powerteam (competing as Prema Racing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the FIA Formula 3 Championship and European Le Mans Series and as Prema Orlen Team in the FIA World Endurance Championship) is a motorsport team from Italy. It mainly ...

, who won the teams' championship.

History

The championship traces its roots back to 2004, when Formula Woman was established due to the lack of female drivers in other series. In 2018, the W Series was created for the same reason. However, after the 2022 season, with the series battling financial issues, the series was liquidated as no sponsorship appeared. On 18 November 2022, Formula One announced the creation of F1 Academy, a racing series for women aimed to focus on developing and preparing young drivers to progress to higher levels of competition. It was created to help smooth the transition from karting to the single-seater ladder. The five teams that are currently participating in F1 Academy are

ART Grand Prix ART Grand Prix is a French motor racing team that competes in formula single-seaters in Europe. In 2012, it competed in the GP2 Series and GP3 Series as Lotus GP to reflect sponsorship from British sports and racing car manufacturer Lotus. The ...

Campos Racing Campos Racing is a Spanish motor racing team, founded by former Formula One driver Adrián Campos. The team has been successful in Formula Three and the GP2 Series. History After retiring from racing, Campos formed his own team at the end of 1 ...

, Rodin Motorsport,

MP Motorsport MP Motorsport (previously Marcel Peters Motorsport) is a Dutch auto racing team currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. The team has also participated in Auto GP, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Northern Europea ...

and

. On 1 March 2023, Susie Wolff was appointed the managing director for the series. For the 2023 season, Formula One subsidised the cost of each car, with drivers having to contribute €150,000. This was reduced to €100,000 for the 2024 season. Also for 2024, all ten Formula One teams supported one driver each who will carry the team's livery on their car. The remaining five drivers are supported by the series' partners.

Championship format

The 2023 season consisted of seven event weekends with three races each, for a total of 21 races, plus fifteen days of official testing. The final of the seven events was a Formula One support race during the

United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

. On 31 March 2023, Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali announced that the 2024 season would take place exclusively on select Formula One weekends, joining

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name re ...

, Formula 3 and the

Porsche Supercup The Porsche Supercup (officially known as Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, known as Porsche Michelin Supercup prior to 2007) is an international one-make sports car racing series supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship organized by Porsche ...

as part of the support bill.

Cars

The cars used are the

Tatuus Tatuus is an Italian chassis manufacturer for a series of formula racing series, being first founded in 1980. The company is known for its association with Renault Sport for its production of the Formula Renault chassis. History The Tatuus c ...

F4-T421 chassis used in

Formula 4 FIA Formula 4, also called FIA F4, is an open-wheel racing car category intended for junior drivers. There is no global championship, but rather individual nations or regions can host their own championships in compliance with a universal set of r ...

championships globally since 2022, with tyres provided by Formula One partner Pirelli. The engine was provided by Autotecnica and consisted of a 1.4-liter turbocharged

4 cylinder The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized. Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categorize ...

, capable of delivering 174 horsepower at 5500 rpm.

Champions

Drivers

Teams

Circuits

* Bold denotes a circuit will be used in the 2024 season.

References

External links

*
Official website of F1 Academy
* {{Female motorsport series Formula racing series Formula 4 series One-make series F1 Academy Women's sports competitions Women's sports organizations