Swiss racer Léna Bühler is the first driver to be confirmed in F1 Academy, as she joins ART GP for the 2023 season
Léna Bühler is the first driver to be confirmed on the grid of the brand-new all-female championship F1Academy, as the Swiss joins ART Grand Prix.
Bühler currenlty competes in F4 UAE, as she prepares for the upcoming season and adapts to the new generation Tatuus F4 after racing in 2021 and in a partial 2022 campaign in Formula Regional machinery.
After a remarkable karting career, Léna made her single seater debut in 2020, when the Swiss racer contested the Spanish F4 championship scoring six point-scoring finishes and two top-five, as well as a front row start. Léna made the step up to one of the most competitive junior series in Europe, Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine in 2021, but her sophomore season in FRECA came to an end after the Monaco round, when she announced her departure from the series for financial reasons.
Nevertheless, Bühler has worked tirelessly behind the scenes to secure her long-term future in the sport and, six months later, the Swiss talent sealed a deal that will bring her back behind the wheel - first in F4UAE and now in F1Academy.
“It's with great pleasure that I will be able to discover the first F1 Academy championship and even more so with ART Grand Prix, a team with a fantastic record" - Léna said.
"It will be a great challenge for me and for the team as we learn more about this new single-seater. I'm looking forward to coming to grips with it. This will only be my 4th year in a motorsport and I still have a lot to learn, but I am ready to give 100% both mentally and physically to honour the trust ART Grand Prix has in me, together with that of my partners without whom this adventure would not be possible”.
The new championship has been created with the aim of providing female racing drivers with a pathway from F4 up to the higher feeder series on the F1 ladder; it will consist of 7 triple-header weekends and has a capped budget aimed at helping accessibility.
ART Grand Prix, one of the most successful teams in junior formulae, will therefore line up Bühler as one of its three title challengers.
“We are happy to welcome Léna to our team", said Sébastien Philippe, Team Principal of the French squad.
"She will be one of the first 15 drivers to write her name in the history books of the F1 Academy. This corresponds perfectly to the philosophy of ART Grand Prix, which is to help young drivers climb the ladder of the junior formulas which lead to the highest level of motorsport. The team will do everything sportingly, humanly and technically possible to take up this new historic challenge with Léna”.