F1 Academy is a female-only, Formula 4–level single-seater racing championship founded by the Formula One Group. The championship is a spec series, meaning that all teams compete with an identical Tatuus F4-T421 chassis and tyre compounds developed by Pirelli. Each car is powered by a 174-horsepower turbocharged 4-cylinder engine developed by Autotecnica Motori.

F1 Academy held its inaugural season in 2023 and was won by Marta García. The 2024 drivers' championship was won by Rodin Motorsport's Abbi Pulling. 2025 saw Doriane Pin claim the title as Prema won the teams' championship for the third year straight.

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 2019, the W Series was created for the same reason and was held for over three seasons, and the planned 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, after the 2022 season, the series was battling financial issues and was put into administration and liquidated. On 18 November 2022, Formula One announced the creation of F1 Academy, a racing series for women aiming 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. On 1 March 2023, Susie Wolff was appointed the managing director for the series.

The five teams that participated in the series in the first two seasons are ART Grand Prix, Campos Racing, Rodin Motorsport, MP Motorsport and Prema Racing. Hitech Grand Prix joined the series in 2025 as the sixth team with two full-time drivers. Hitech TGR took over Prema's 2024 role of running wild card entries as the team's third driver entry and continued that role through the 2026 season.

The inaugural season in 2023 was controversially not broadcast with the exception of the season finale, which supported the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas. Every race of the second season was then broadcast with live viewing available from a total of 23 broadcasters in more than 160 international territories. Formula E presenter Nicki Shields became the lead commentator for the season with Alex Brundle and Jordan King joining her as co-commentators. This continued into the third season.

On 3 May 2023, it was announced that Reese Witherspoon's production company, Hello Sunshine, would be creating a docuseries about F1 Academy. On 3 May 2024, exactly one year later, it was announced that the show would be available to stream on Netflix in 2025. F1: The Academy was released to Netflix on 28 May 2025. The series was dropped in 2026.

Finances 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 onwards, all the Formula One teams will support one driver each who carries the team's livery on their car. The remaining drivers, including the wild card entries that was introduced in the same year, are supported by the series' partners.

The F1 Academy is supported by several commercial partners and sponsors that aim to promote women in motorsport. These partnerships include global brands such as Charlotte Tilbury and TAG Heuer. On 11 March 2026, Sephora, a beauty retailer owned by LVMH, became an official partner and official beauty retail partner of the F1 Academy.

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. Each race weekend included two 30-minute races, and one 20-minute reverse-grid race, where the top 8 drivers from qualifying had their starting positions reversed. The final of the seven events was a Formula One support race during the United States Grand Prix.

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 3 and the Porsche Supercup as part of the support bill. This required a change to the race weekend format, reducing the number of races to two by removing the 20-minute reverse-grid race. The 2024 season also saw the addition of FIA Super Licence points and wild card entries. The top five drivers in the championship earn points towards an FIA Super Licence, with 10 for the champion, 7 for the runner-up, 5 for third-place, 3 for fourth, and 1 for fifth. Wild card entries will be introduced at specific rounds in order to promote and strengthen the talent pool in the areas where the series races. The wild card drivers are eligible to score points in the drivers' standings.

For the 2025 season, the weekend format changed with the first race becoming a reverse-grid race. This change put the series' format more in line with Formula 2 and Formula 3.

In the 2026 season, after the cancellation of the Jeddah round due the Iran war, F1 Academy announced that Montreal at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve and Austin at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) will feature a third race to restore the cancelled rounds. The additional race is called the opening race and will use the drivers' second fastest qualifying lap time to determine the grid.

Progression F1 Academy drivers must be between the ages of 16 and 25, and cannot race for more than two seasons in the series. From the 2027 season onwards, drivers who had participated in two seasons may be granted an exemption to enter for a third season if it is thought to be beneficial for their development. The driver has to enter the 2026 season as their second season to qualify for the exemption.

Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA) has guaranteed a fourth entry to any team that signs a driver who finished in the top three in the F1 Academy standings. 2023 drivers' champion Marta García received a fully funded seat in the 2024 championship courtesy of F1 Academy, Prema Racing, Tatuus and Pirelli. FRECA is not the only option for progression as the series announced that "each season F1 Academy will work in close collaboration with the F1 Academy teams to support its winner in progressing up the motorsport ladder." 2024 drivers' champion Abbi Pulling received a fully funded seat with Rodin Motorsport for the 2025 season of GB3 Championship. For 2025, drivers' champion runner-up Maya Weug received a fully funded opportunity by F1 Academy to test a Ferrari 296 GT3 with AF Corse whereas drivers' champion Doriane Pin joined Duqueine Team to compete in the 2026 European Le Mans Series in the LMP2 Pro-Am class and became the first F1 Academy driver to receive a F1 test where she tested the Mercedes W12.

F1 Academy has been credited with increasing female participation in kart racing, where it supported nine drivers in the Champions of the Future Academy Program (COTFA) until 2025, later increasing to 27 across national and international competition for 2026. In 2024, with her victory in the OK-N class of COTFA, Luna Fluxá became the fifth woman in history to win a major senior international karting title, and the first in a global championship since Susanna Raganelli in 1966.

Cars

F1 Academy cars are built on the Tatuus F4-T421 chassis used in Formula 4 championships globally since 2022, although modified front and rear wings make the aero package unique. The tyres are provided by Formula One partner Pirelli. The engine is supplied by Autotecnica Motori, a Tatuus subsidiary, and consists of a 1.4-litre turbocharged 4 cylinder, capable of delivering at 5500 rpm.

Champions Drivers SeasonDriverTeamPolesWinsPodiumsFastest lapsPointsClinchedMargin 2023 Marta García Prema Racing57126278Race 19 of 21562024 Abbi Pulling Rodin Motorsport109146338Race 12 of 141232025 Doriane Pin Prema Racing0487172Race 14 of 1415

Teams SeasonTeamPolesWinsPodiumsFastest lapsPointsMargin 2023 Prema Racing5916741982024 Prema Racing (2)54165423302025 Prema Racing (3)0512829660

Circuits Bold denotes a circuit will be used in the 2026 season.

NumberCircuitsRoundsYears 1 Circuit Zandvoort42023–present2 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya22023–2024 Circuit of the Americas2023, 2026 Jeddah Corniche Circuit2024–2025 Miami International Autodrome2024–2025 Marina Bay Street Circuit2024–2025 Shanghai International Circuit2025–present Circuit Gilles Villeneuve2025–present Las Vegas Strip Circuit2025–present10 Red Bull Ring12023 Circuito Ricardo Tormo2023 Monza Circuit2023 Circuit Paul Ricard2023 Lusail International Circuit2024 Yas Marina Circuit2024 Silverstone Circuit2026

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