Dutch racer Emely de Heus will continue her season with MP Motorsport in the new all-female championship F1 Academy, returning to the team where she made her formula debut in 2021.
We now discovered 13 of the 15 drivers that will race in the inaugural season of the F1 Academy championship, with MP Motosport completing its line up in just two days: after announcing Emirati sisters Amna and Hamda Al Qubaisi, the Dutch team has in fact now confirmed Emely de Heus as its final signing.
De Heus is the fourth driver to move from W Series to F1 Academy and will return to F4 after contesting the Spanish F4 championship in 2021 with MP. “It feels great to be back with MP, they are like a second home to me”, said Emely. “I had a wonderful time with MP back in 2021, and with the added experience that I gained with them I look forward to putting that to good use in my first season in F1 Academy. I can’t wait to get started for the first round at the Red Bull Ring in April and will especially enjoy racing in front of my home crowd at Zandvoort in June.” De Heus, 19, made her debut in single seaters in 2021, racing in the Spanish F4 championship, where she scored 13 top-20 finishes and a personal best of 14th at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia. She claimed 8 wins in the Female Trophy and eventually secured the class title. Daughter of GT racer Bert de Heus, Emely was then selected for the all-female W Series championship in 2022, after impressing in the Arizona F4 test and then in Barcelona in Formula Regional machinery. She joined Sirin Racing, partnering compatriot Beitske Visser. In W Series, de Heus scored points at her first race at the Miami street circuit, with a tenth place that would remain her best result of the year. With the aim of preparing for the following season, de Heus joined the Formula 4 UAE championship with MP Motorsport, collecting crucial experience in the new Tatuus T-421, which differs from the previous generation that she last drove in Spanish F4. In the Emirati-based series, de Heus made steady progress across the opening three rounds in Dubai and Kuwait; after significant improvement in the qualifying sessions, de Heus has consistently approached the top-20 in an almost 40-car field which include the most competitive teams and drivers in F4 in the world. While she missed the last two rounds - due to the team alternating drivers - de Heus got up to speed with the new car. MP Motorsport therefore confirmed its final driver for the new F1 Academy series, which will include five of the best feeder series teams on the F1 ladder. The Dutch team is the reigning FIA F2 champion, but has also extensive experience in Formula 4 machinery, having been dominant in five out of the last 8 years of Spanish F4.
“I’m delighted to welcome Emely back into the MP fold”, said Sander Dorsman, MP Motorsport’s team principal. “She proved to be a great asset in 2021, and I have no doubt that she will feature strongly in F1 Academy’s first year of action."
"With five of the leading teams on the single-seater ladder to Formula 1 supporting F1 Academy, the future is looking bright for the series, and Emely will be a well-deserved part of that.” The format of the new F1 Academy will grant increased track-time to the drivers, with a 7-event calendar featuring triple headers, as well as at least 15 official test days. The cars used for the inaugural season will be the Tatuus new generation F4, with Autotecnica engines and Pirelli tyres.