With Formula 1’s recent explosion into the mainstream it looks as though motorsport has been gaining more and more traction amongst a wider global audience. From IndyCar to Formula 1 to Le Mans, there’s no shortage of track action on any given weekend but there’s one more series you should be paying attention to, the F1 Academy.
This year marked the debut of Formula 1’s all new all-female single seater championship, the F1 Academy focuses on expanding the inclusion of the sport and provides women and with an unparalleled opportunity to get involved in motorsport, whether that’s on or off the track. So, here’s a brief introduction:
Before you begin watching the F1 Academy you need know who is who, there are 5 teams with 3 drivers a piece. Here is the complete list of the up-and-coming talent rising through the ranks of the F1 Academy:
| Team | Drivers |
| Campos Racing | Nerea Martí, Lola Lovinfosse, Maite Cáceres |
| MP Motorsport | Hamda Al Qubaisi, Emely De Heus, Amna Al Qubaisi |
| ART Grand Prix | Léna Bühler, Carrie Schreiner, Chloe Grant |
| Rodin carlin | Abbi Pulling, Jessica Edgar, Megan Gilkes |
| Prema Racing | Chloe Chong, Marta García, Bianca Bustamante |
Now than you’re aware of who’s in the fight for the inaugural F1 Academy championship, let’s take a look at where they’ll be racing in 2023:
| Circuit | Date |
| Spielberg | 28-29 April |
| Valencia | 5-7 May |
| Barcelona | 19-21 May |
| Zandvoort | 23-25 June |
| Monza | 7-9 July |
| Le Castellet | 29-30 July |
| Austin | 20-22 October |
The 15 cars are completely identical, similar to what we see in the junior formulas such as F2 and F3, but the weekend formats have their own unique spin and they slightly differ from what we’re used to seeing in F1.
There are two 40 minutes practice sessions followed by two 15-minute qualifying sessions, there are then 3 races that take place as follows:
- Race 1 – 30 minutes + 1 lap
- Race 2 – 20 minutes + 1 lap
- Race 3 – 30 minutes + 1 lap
The order of these races are determined by the qualifying sessions with the fastest driver in Q1 taking pole position for race 1, similarly the fastest driver in Q2 will take pole for race 3. So, what happens for race 2? The top 8 in Q1 set the order for race 2 in a reverse grid, P9 onwards fills out the positions as normal.
Race 1 and 3 share the same distribution of points where as race 2 has less on offer for the slightly shorter race.
Race 1 and 3:
| Position | Points |
| 1st | 25 |
| 2nd | 18 |
| 3rd | 15 |
| 4th | 12 |
| 5th | 10 |
| 6th | 8 |
| 7th | 6 |
| 8th | 4 |
| 9th | 2 |
| 10th | 1 |
| 11th | 1 |
| 12th | 1 |
| 13th | 1 |
| 14th | 1 |
| 15th | 1 |
Race 2
| Position | Points |
| 1st | 10 |
| 2nd | 8 |
| 3rd | 6 |
| 4th | 5 |
| 5th | 4 |
| 6th | 3 |
| 7th | 2 |
| 8th | 1 |
| 9th | 1 |
| 10th | 1 |
| 11th | 1 |
| 12th | 1 |
| 13th | 1 |
| 14th | 1 |
| 15th | 1 |
One additional point is given for the fastest lap providing the driver finishes within the top 10 or the leader has completed 50% of the race distance.
Throughout the course of the weekend each driver will be given three and a half sets of dry tyres and two sets of wet tyres.
Now that you’re aware of the basics, you’re probably wondering where you can watch the races, you can catch up with the race highlights every Monday after a race weekend on F1TV, YouTube and F1/F1 Academy’s social media. During the races you can keep up with what’s happening through the live updates across F1 Academy’s twitter. Although we’re 3 races in, it’s not too late for you to start watching, the highlights are waiting for you to bring yourself up to speed and there are still 12 races remaining to see who can battle it out for the championship in Austin.
Leave a Reply