{"id":404327,"date":"2026-01-12T09:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T09:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/404327\/"},"modified":"2026-01-12T09:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T09:16:10","slug":"is-f1-academy-failing-to-get-women-drivers-into-formula-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/404327\/","title":{"rendered":"Is F1 Academy failing to get women drivers into Formula 1?"},"content":{"rendered":"

F1 Academy<\/a> launched with a clear objective: get a female racing driver into Formula 1<\/a>.\u00a0But we’re still no closer to seeing one! With no standout star and no tangible progress, is it just a waste of time?\u00a0\u00a0In the run-up to F1 Academy\u2019s fourth season, now feels like the perfect time to take stock. If the series were running as planned, I\u2019d be able to reel off a list of talents knocking on the door of F1\u2019s team bosses. But this simply isn\u2019t the case. Even its tragic W Series predecessor<\/a> did better. At least Jamie Chadwick<\/a>\u2019s dominance earned her a chance in IndyCar<\/a>. Who can you name in F1 Academy? Chloe Chambers and Bianca Bustamante gained fame thanks to Netflix<\/a>, and Doriane Pin has been given exposure by Mercedes. This is all well and good, but “inspiring people” is one thing; prepping women for F1 is another. <\/p>\n

F1 Academy only represents a step forward in one regard\u2014it offers ties to motorsport\u2019s top-tier teams. But how is this beneficial? Are we seeing women in free practice? No. <\/p>\n

On every other level: funding, the cars, super license points, it\u2019s completely failing. And worst of all? F1 doesn\u2019t care. It virtue signals, then continues with the status quo. <\/p>\n

F1 Academy: Barely a flash in the pan\"f1Let\u2019s start by doing away with some of the bullsh!t around this topic and assume that women are absolutely capable of driving F1 cars. If it\u2019s not a skill issue, it must be a systemic one. In this respect, F1 Academy has done nothing to move the needle. It’s just a rebranded feeder series shamelessly appealing to the Netflix<\/a> fanbase Liberty<\/a> has assembled. These “fans” don\u2019t watch the sport anyway, so why not pretend change is happening? In reality, motorsport needs more than a facelift if it\u2019s going to bring equal opportunity. <\/p>\n

That starts with the car. F1 Academy only races F4 spec. How are drivers supposed to demonstrate they\u2019re capable of competing at a higher level in sub-par machinery? <\/p>\n

This also feeds into the issue of superlicense points. Within the current framework, drivers need to earn 25 of these points to take part in an F1 practice session.F1 Academy awards its title winners just 10 points, 5 less than Chadwick got for winning W Series. If being signed by Ferrari<\/a> or Mercedes doesn\u2019t provide access to the senior team, why even involve them? Call me cynical, but it seems like a marketing ploy.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the elephant in the room: money. What\u2019s the main thing you need to succeed in motorsport? Cash\u2026 and lots of it. A few years ago, Toto Wolff said that F3 cost \u00a31 million per season.<\/p>\n

You can bet that figure has gone up as well. This makes funding critical to any driver\u2019s future\u2014man or woman. Structural issues take many forms, and money remains top of the list!<\/p>\n

Too much hot air, not enough substance\u00a0\"f1<\/p>\n

In an ideal world, F1\u2019s many feeder series would be all about nurturing talent. Occasionally, this idea can be left by the wayside in other categories, but F1 Academy is especially prone to sidelining skill and focusing on exposure, which is a distraction.<\/p>\n

It should be a case of getting their heads down and mastering their craft. Instead, Netflix<\/a> has them performing for TV. Bustamante is the standout example of how this backfires. McLaren<\/a> saw enough potential to sign her for their Academy. Instead of knuckling down, she pranced about doing Vogue interviews, talking a good DEI game, only to get the sack. Get a grip! Arguably, it\u2019s a bit like the situation with Lewis Hamilton<\/a>. When he was winning every other week, no one could question his extracurricular activities. Now things are a mess at Ferrari<\/a>, teams (and fans) just want him to focus on bouncing back. When you slip down the pecking order, any off-track messages carry less weight too. F1 Academy drivers should do the same as Lewis. Let your driving do the talking. What next? Start with less virtue signaling\"suzi<\/p>\n

If F1 was serious about getting women involved, it\u2019d tackle the real issues, provide funding where needed, and up the training and car specifications. Faster drivers, a better spectacle, actual equality. Not the virtue-signaling b******s we\u2019re currently being subjected to.<\/p>\n

Getting them in the same cars gives the F2 & F3 teams a real decision to make. Right now, they\u2019re faced with the prospect of promoting a prima donna that\u2019s unprepared to make the step up or a battle-hardened young man. Spare us the PR spin; equip women to take these drivers on. If they\u2019re faster, it\u2019ll show. As Max Verstappen said last year<\/a>, this is the route to F1. The fact of the matter is, it isn\u2019t happening. Ultimately, \u201crepresentation\u201d only takes you so far. Liberty has proven itself a brilliant marketing machine, but just like in the senior sport, it doesn\u2019t seem to value substance. If we\u2019re going to see women return after a 34-year hiatus, a bigger overhaul is needed. <\/p>\n

Otherwise, the sport will continue to move in the same old circles, and all this pandering will have been for nothing. <\/p>\n

What’s stopping women from making it into Formula 1?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"F1 Academy launched with a clear objective: get a female racing driver into Formula 1.\u00a0But we’re still no…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404328,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,170450,930,576,36000,38594,577,1193,33477,932,1885,590,1316,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-404327","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-f1-opinion","12":"tag-ferrari","13":"tag-formula-1","14":"tag-formula-2","15":"tag-formula-3","16":"tag-formula1","17":"tag-indycar","18":"tag-jamie-chadwick","19":"tag-lewis-hamilton","20":"tag-max-verstappen","21":"tag-mclaren","22":"tag-netflix","23":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}