Prema, MP Motorsport, Carlin, Campos and ART Grand Prix will be the five teams that will contest the inaugural three seasons of the newly-founded all-female championship F1 Academy, the series confirmed.
One month after its official announcement at the F1 season finale in Abu Dhabi, the brand new all-female championship named ‘F1 Academy’ announced the five teams that will run the 15 cars from the 2023 inaugural season through 2025: the confirmed teams are five among the most highly-regarded organizations in junior single-seater championships, and are all competing in FIA F2 and FIA F3 already.
ART Grand Prix, Campos Racing, Carlin, MP Motorsport and Prema will in fact line up three cars each, aiming to develop and prepare the young women entering the F4-level series promoted by Liberty Media.
“It is exciting to be able to announce the five teams that will be racing in the F1 Academy for next year and who will be providing this fantastic opportunity to the young and talented women to begin their journey into competitive motorsport” – commented Stefano Domenicali, CEO of Formula 1.
“We believe it is important that everyone has the chance to follow their ambitions and get the support and guidance needed to progress and excel”, he continued. “The F1 Academy is an important part of our plan to increase diversity and representation in motorsport and we are looking forward to the first season in 2023 and stay tuned for more news in this area.”
The cars employed will be the Tatuus second generation Formula 4 T421, which made its debut in 2021 in most of the global F4 series. They will be fitted with a 165-horsepower Autotecnica-prepared engine, and with Pirelli tyres.
Most of the teams selected already have a significant experience of the new Tatuus F4 car: Italian powerhouse team Prema has been dominant in the Italian, German and UAE championship; Carlin has won the British series – at the first year since the switch from Mygale to Tatuus chassis – and both MP and Campos have shared victories in the last two years of the Spanish F4 championship. Despite being highly successful in F2 and F3, ART Grand Prix is the only team with no previous experience of F4 machinery.
“We know them very well and we have been collaborating with each one for many years”, added Bruno Michel, who will manage the series alongside FIA F2 and FIA F3. “They are well-known for their experience and expertise in nurturing and developing young drivers.”
“I fully trust that they will give the drivers competing in the F1 Academy the keys to grow technically, and that they will help them with the physical and mental preparations for the journey ahead.”
Among the teams, Prema and Campos have traditionally fielded female racers in the past years: the Al Qubaisi sisters Amna and Hamda have moved up from F4 to FRECA as part of the Italian team, as well as Jamie Chadwick contested her 2020 Formula Regional campaign with Prema.
Natacha Gachnang, Valeria Carballo, Samín Gómez, Pippa Mann, Carmen Jordá and Sophia Floersch – the last woman to have entered a FIA F3 round in 2020 – all raced under the banner of Campos Racing.
MP Motorsport has previously fielded Marta Garcia and Emely de Heus in Spanish F4.
According to the series’ statement, the inaugural season will feature a seven event schedule for a total of 21 races, plus fifteen days of official testing. While the calendar has not been released yet, it is believed that it will include one F1 event.