In a surprise move, GT3 star Carrie Schreiner returns to single seaters and joins ART Grand Prix for the inaugural season of the all-female F1 Academy
ART Grand Prix added a second driver to its F1 Academy stable, with a remarkable and unexpected signing: German GT3 specialist Carrie Schreiner. She joins the French squad alongside Léna Bühler, who became the first driver to be announced at the team last week. “It’s a great honour to be driving for ART Grand Prix." - Carrie said. "Not many teams have the amount of records they do, or have been champion so many times." "I am proud to be joining the list of their drivers and excited about what we can achieve together. I think it’s an important step that F1 has its own championship for women. It will certainly be fun to drive the car with the new aero and with a team like ART. I have the best requirements I need to perform well. I will give everything to achieve the best results and compete for front positions”. Schreiner, 24, started her motor racing career in karting and became the first ever female driver to win the ADAC karting championship in 2012, in the X30 Junior category. She then graduated to race cars in 2015, and contested two seasons in the ADAC F4 Championship championship with HTP Motorsport and US Racing. In 2016, she completed a double program in the German and British series - where she had the most success in her single-seater stint: Schreiner scored her first points and was fourth at Thruxton as a best result. But it would be in GT cars that Schreiner made headlines, as she contested some of the most competitive racing series, at the wheel of the most diverse GT4 and GT3 cars. Her GT racing career started from the Lamborghini SuperTrofeo - where she won the Middle-East Cup in 2018 - as well as the GTC series in Germany with Rutronik Racing. With the same outfit she graduated to ADAC GT Masters in 2019, in one of the world's top GT3 series. Schreiner claimed her first podium in Hockenheim in GT Masters, then returned for a second season while also contesting the Nurburgring-based NLS series with all-female team Girls Only by WS Racing. Schreiner became a GT3 specialist and continued to collect notable results in NLS - where she stepped up to the top class - as well as in Italian GT, where she raced with Ferrari machinery and battled at the top of the GT3 ProAm class and climbed the podium on three occasions. In 2022, Carrie raced in a multiple program in both Mercedes and Porsche machinery: she claimed the title in the GTC GT60 by Pirelli in a Mercedes AMG GT3 and fought for the championship in Porsche Sports Cup Endurance. Carrie will now return to single seaters for the newly-announced F1 Academy, aimed to provide a pathway for female drivers up the F1 ladder. The series was announced in November at the Abu Dhabi F1 GP and will feature five of the most successful teams in junior formulae, with three drivers each: ART Grand Prix is joined by Prema, Rodin Carlin, MP Motorsport, Campos Racing. “I’m happy to welcome Carrie into our team, her experience and technical background will be important pillars for building a strong career in the new F1 Academy championship." - commented Sebastién Philippe, team principal at ART Grand Prix. "She has already proven that she can adapt to some very different championships and I have no doubt she will find her feet right from the start of the season”. In her previous open-wheel racing appearances, Schreiner drove the first gen Tatuus F4 car as well as the Mygale car used in the British series, but will have to adapt to the all-new Tatuus T-421 employed in the F1-promoted championship. The 7-event calendar - as well as the program of collective testing - are yet to be announced.