F1 management revealed that all of the current 10 F1 teams will be involved from 2024 in the all-female series F1 Academy, as each team will line up a liveried-car for one selected driver.
F1 and F1 Academy management revealed that all the current F1 teams will be involved from the second season onwards of the all-female championship, launched in 2023.
From 2024, each one of the 10 F1 teams will line up one female driver in F1 Academy and in a team-branded livery.
Ten drivers for the second F1 Academy season will therefore be nominated directly by F1 teams, according to the statement. The five remaining drivers that will make up the rest of the 15 car field will be supported by "other partners", with announcements in due course. It is unclear at the time if drivers will be picked from a talent pool, given the opportunity to test or chosen directly by said partners.
“First and foremost, I want to thank the Formula 1 teams for their support and vision as we embark on this journey together", commented F1 Academy Managing Director Susie Wolff. "This landmark moment not only demonstrates the depth of support for F1 Academy from across the F1 community but will inspire a whole generation of young girls to realise the opportunities both on and off track in motorsport.
“We created F1 Academy to bring about real and lasting change to ensure young female talent have the right system in place to follow and achieve their dreams", added F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali. "Today is a very important moment as it shows the impact the project is having and the support it is receiving from across the F1 community."
"Susie, the teams, and everyone involved are working tirelessly to ensure we go from strength to strength and continue to deliver on the important objective we have set out together."
F1 Academy will join the F1 support bill in 2024 with a calendar that is yet to be confirmed but that will see the all-female championship sharing the weekend with F1.
F1 Academy is set to round out its European campaign in 2023 this weekend at Paul Ricard, before joining F1 for the first time at COTA, for its season finale.
"In 2024 the F1 Academy will join our race calendar, raising the awareness and profile of the series globally and to have the F1 liveries on the grid will be something very special.” - concluded Domenicali.
In its inaugural season, TV rights issues prevented F1 Academy from being televised, with a 15 minute highlights package being released after the weekend. With its association with the F1 weekend, series management will surely work in the direction of improving accessibility to the audience at home.
At the same time, one of the main challenges of the F1 package will be to maintain one of F1 Academy's competitive advantages on the market - the highly competitive costs in relation to the offered track time and testing days.