What is F1® Academy? Future of Women in Motorsports

Meet the female racing drivers at the forefront of women in motorsport

The 2026 F1® Academy season is underway. Last season, Prema Racing's Doriane Pin won the championship for Mercedes. The French motorsport star has now graduated from the F1® Academy and works as a development driver with Mercedes. This season, If you want to keep up to speed with this new and exciting series, join us at F1® Arcade, where we'll be showing each race on our screens.

What is F1® Academy?

F1® Academy had its inaugural racing season in 2023.

In 2026, there are seven rounds, which take place as support races on a selection of Formula 1® weekends. This year, the circuits are Shanghai, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Montreal, Silverstone (Great Britain), Zandvoort (Netherlands), Austin, and Las Vegas, running between March 13and November 21.

The cars in this series are equivalent to Formula 4 cars. Like Formula 4, F1® Academy is meant to be a stepping stone between karting and open-wheel racing. The goal is to discover female racing talent and feed it into Formulas 3, 2, and, ultimately, 1.

Who is Susie Wolff?

Susie Wolff is the managing director of F1® Academy. Those who have followed the wider racing scene for a while might remember her as Susie Stoddart, who raced in Formula Renault and Formula 3 between 2001 and 2005. Her surname today is thanks to her husband, Toto – yep, that Toto Wolff, Mercedes F1’s team principal.

Susie has driven in Formula 1®, as a Williams test driver during practice in 2012. That makes her one of a handful of women to have driven F1® cars at official venues during race weekends.

How fast do F1® Academy cars go?

F1® Academy is a junior formula designed to prepare racers for the lower Formulas, with the cream of the crop impressing enough team principals to make it to Formula 1®. To the untrained eye, they might look just like F1® cars, with their open wheels, wings and distinct halo over the driver’s helmet. But in performance terms, they’re quite different.

For example, the top speed of an F1® Academy car is about 150 mph, compared to an F1® car, which can reach more than 210 mph at a fast circuit like Monza, where wings are kept to a minimum.

Still, when you’re approaching a bend with a rival on your gearbox, and the 174hp engine is screaming at 5500 rpm right into your ears, 150 mph is more than enough to keep you sharp.

F1A Points System

The six teams are competing for points towards the championship, but scoring points is a little more complicated than in F1®.

After practice on Friday, there’s a qualifying session to set the fastest lap for Race 2 on Sunday. However, in Race 1 on Saturday, the top eight qualifiers have their order reversed on the grid, so 8th in qualifying sits at the front of the grid, and the quickest qualifier sits 8th. From 9th to 18th, the drivers occupy their qualifying positions.

• The first points of the weekend go to the pole sitter from Friday, and that’s worth 2 points.
• For Race 1, the top eight score points: 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point respectively.
• For Race 2, the top 10 score points: 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 point respectively.
• For both races, the driver of the faster single lap will score 1 point, provided they finish in the points.

All that means there are a potential 39 points up for grabs over a weekend for a single driver. As there’s a 30-minute time limit for each race, it’s possible that only a fraction of the planned laps will be run. When that happens, fewer points are distributed, depending on the number of laps completed.

F1® Academy Drivers & Teams

Here are the teams and drivers for the 2026 season, in the format Name (Nationality, Sponsor)

Prema Racing (Italy)

• Mathilda Paatz (Germany, Aston Martin)
• Payton Westcott (United States, Mercedes)
• Natalia Granada (Spain, Sephora)

Campos Racing (Spain)

• Megan Bruce (United Kingdom, Tag Heuer)
• Rafaela Ferreira (Brazil, Racing Bulls)
• Alisha Palmowski (United Kingdom, Red Bull Racing)

MP Motorsport (The Netherlands)

• Nina Gademan (Netherlands, Alpine)
• Alba Larsen (Denmark, Ferrari)
• Esmee Kosterman (France, Lego)

Rodin Motorsport (New Zealand)

• Emma Felbermayr (Austria, Audi)
• Ella Lloyd (United Kingdom, McLaren)
• Ella Stevens (United Kingdom, McLaren Oxagon)

Art Grand Prix (France)

• Lisa Billard (France, Gatorade)
• Kaylee Countryman (United States, Haas)
• Jade Jacquet (France, Williams)

Hitech (United Kingdom)

• Wei Shi (WCD) (China, Juss Sports)
• Ava Dobson (United States, American Express)
• Rachel Robertson (United Kingdom, Puma)

2026 F1® Academy Season

Here’s the calendar for F1® Academy 2026

• March 13-15 – Shanghai, China
• April 17–19 – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
• May 22-24 – Montreal, Canada
• July 3-5 – Silverstone, Great Britain
• August 21–23 – Zandvoort, Netherlands
• October 23–25 – Austin, USA
• November 19–21 – Las Vegas, USA

Where to Watch F1® Academy

We’d love to see you at one of our F1® Arcade venues, where we’ll be showing all the action from the F1® Academy on our big screens. If you can’t make it, you can watch all the races on Apple TV, F1 ACADEMY's YouTube and X channels, and via F1 TV.

F1® Academy Watch Parties

If you’re truly dedicated to Formula 1®, come join us at one of our Watch Parties for a fully immersive experience. Surrounded by fellow fans, you can drive the arcade games to get yourself completely in the action zone. Then, have some phenomenal food and drink before settling down to watch the action unfold on the track. We show the races and sprints as well as the qualifying sessions, so you won’t miss a thousandth of a second. Why not sign up for a reminder so you’re guaranteed to see everything on offer?