F1 Academy’s inaugural season will get underway with 5 groups and 15 drivers (Credit: F1 Academy)
The inaugural season of F1 Academy, the brand new all-female racing sequence, will get beneath means in Austria this weekend.
The drivers and groups have had 4 days of pre-season testing in Barcelona and at Circuit Paul Ricard, with British driver Abbi Pulling topping each days of testing in France.
F1 Academy will race at seven places in 2023, with the season concluding at Formula 1’s US GP in October. Three races will probably be held at every venue over the course of the weekend.
Here Sky Sports F1 breaks down the brand new sequence.
What is F1 Academy?
F1 Academy was launched in November 2022 by Formula 1 and goals to arrange and develop feminine drivers to progress to larger ranges of competitors.
The class is designed to “give extra entry to trace time, racing and testing, in addition to assist with technical, bodily, and psychological preparations”.
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It is hoped the F1 Academy will present the expertise to progress to Formula 3, and assist Formula 2 and Formula 1 alternatives sooner or later.
Susie Wolff, the previous Williams F1 improvement driver and most just lately crew principal of Formula E crew Venturi, was named managing director of the sequence in March.
F1 Academy managing director Susie Wolff explains what she hopes the obtain with the brand new all-female sequence
F1 Academy managing director Susie Wolff explains what she hopes the obtain with the brand new all-female sequence
Who are the drivers and groups?
F1 Academy options 5 groups – ART, Campos, Rodin Carlin, MP Motorsport and Prema – every coming into three automobiles to make up a 15-strong grid.
All 5 groups additionally race in Formula 3 and Formula 2 and have pedigree for bringing by way of younger expertise: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are ART alumni, Lando Norris was given his F2 debut by Campos earlier than racing for Carlin, Charles Leclerc and Mick Schumacher each gained the F2 title with Prema whereas MP Motorsport had final season’s F2 champion Felipe Drugovich.
F1 Academy drivers and groups
Driver Team Car Number Nationality Age Lena Buhler ART Grand Prix 7 Swiss 25 Carrie Schreiner ART Grand Prix 8 German 24 Chloe Grant ART Grand Prix 9 British 17 Nerea Marti Campos Racing 1 Spanish 21 Lola Lovinfosse Campos Racing 2 French 17 Maite Caceres Campos Racing 3 Uruguayan 19 Abbi Pulling Rodin Carlin 10 British 20 Jessica Edgar Rodin Carlin 11 British 18 Megan Gilkes Rodin Carlin 12 Canadian 22 Amna Al Qubaisi MP Motorsport 6 Emirati 23 Hamda Al Qubaisi MP Motorsport 4 Emirati 20 Emely de Heus MP Motorsport 5 Dutch 20 Marta Garcia PREMA Racing 15 Spanish 22 Chloe Chong PREMA Racing 14 British-Canadian 16 Bianca Bustamante PREMA Racing 16 Filipino 18
Plenty of drivers have joined F1 Academy having beforehand raced in W Series. Among these is Pulling, who completed fourth in final season’s W Series standings.
Speaking to Sky Sports about her ambitions for her first season in F1 Academy, Rodin Carlin’s Pulling stated: “I need to win races and present consistency and present that I generally is a entrance runner.
“I believe I confirmed that at occasions final 12 months (in W Series) and I simply need to solidify that. The crew have gotten a very good package deal. There is plenty of work happening behind the scenes and I believe it is going to all add up and quantity to success.”
Abbi Pulling is certainly one of 4 British drivers on the F1 Academy grid
Prema’s Marta Garcia is a former winner in W Series whereas Campos’ Nerea Marti was on the rostrum 3 times.
And among the youngest abilities on the F1 Academy grid are British with 17-year-old Chloe Grant, 18-year-old Jessica Edgar and 16-year-old Chloe Chong becoming a member of Pulling on the grid.
Pulling is certainly one of two drivers on the grid affiliated already to an F1 crew, with the 20-year-old a part of Alpine’s academy. Lena Buhler is a part of the Sauber Academy.
What automobile will they be driving?
F1 Academy is utilizing the identical chassis as Formula 4
F1 Academy will see all drivers race in an identical automobiles – a Tatuus T421 chassis that can be utilized in Formula 4.
The automobiles are powered by turbo-charged engines equipped by Autotecnica and able to 174 horsepower, whereas Pirelli will provide tyres.
The automobiles could have a high velocity of 240 kph (149mph).
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Where will F1 Academy be racing?
F1 Academy will race at six European tracks in its inaugural season earlier than its finale on the US GP in October.
F1 Academy 2023 calendar
Round Date Venue 1 April 28-29 Spielberg, Austria 2 May 5-7 Valencia, Spain 3 May 19-21 Barcelona, Spain 4 June 23-25 Zandvoort, Netherlands 5 July 7-9 Monza, Italy 6 July 29-30 Le Castellet, France 7 October 20-22 Austin, USA
The season begins with a two-day occasion on the Red Bull Ring this weekend, April 28-29.
Spain will then host two occasions at Valencia and Barcelona in May earlier than summer time stops within the Netherlands (Zandvoort), Italy (Monza) and France (Le Castellet).
While solely the season-finale is a part of an F1 weekend in 2023, F1 president Stefano Domenicali has already confirmed F1 Academy will probably be held solely at Formula 1 race weekends in 2024.
What is the weekend format?
Each race weekend will function seven periods of observe motion.
They will start with two 40-minute apply periods earlier than two qualifying periods later within the day, every lasting quarter-hour.
Qualifying 1 will set the grid for Race 1 whereas Qualifying 2 units the grid for Race 3.
Race 2’s grid will probably be set by reversing the highest eight drivers from Qualifying 1.
Races 1 and three will each be half-hour lengthy plus one lap. Race 2 is a shorter, lasting 20 minutes plus one lap.
“The format is large for improvement,” Pulling instructed Sky Sports. “I’ve been preventing to get some seat time and this 12 months it appears to be like like it will likely be actually good.
“Seven weekends with three races per weekend – two 30-minute and one 20-minute reverse grid race in order that throws some race craft into the combination as even when somebody is driving away with it, they’re going to have to return.
“The testing that they supply…is nice for creating drivers at a younger age.”
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What is the factors system?
F1 Academy could have the identical factors scoring system as Formula 1 for Races 1 and three, with 25 factors being awarded to the winner and factors being awarded all the way down to P10.
The factors in descending order will probably be: 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1.
The shorter Race 2 will see 10 factors awarded to the race winner and factors being awarded all the way down to P8.
The factors in descending order for Race 2 will probably be: 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
F1 Academy race factors system
Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 P1 25 factors 10 factors 25 factors P2 18 8 18 P3 15 6 15 P4 12 5 12 P5 10 4 10 P6 8 3 8 P7 6 2 6 P8 4 1 4 P9 2 2 P10 1 1
In all three races, a driver will obtain an extra level in the event that they set the quickest lap, supplied they end within the high 10.
The driver who claims pole place in every qualifying session may even be awarded two factors.
