F1 launches all-women racing series
FORMULA One on Friday (Nov 18) launched an all-women racing series that is set to hit the track next year and prepare young girls to race in the sport.
The new category, which will be called F1 Academy, will feature five teams run by outfits currently competing in F1-feeder series, Formula Two and Formula Three. They will each run three cars, creating a 15-strong grid, Formula One said in a statement.
Drivers will be required to bring 150,000 euros (S$213,360) in funding, with F1 matching that amount and teams raising the rest of the 2.25 million euro total budget.
Next year’s inaugural season will comprise seven events with three races each, with one round likely to feature on the Formula One support bill, and 15 days of official testing, the statement said.
The series, which will be run by F2 and F3 organiser Bruno Michel, will feature Tatuus T421 chassis fitted with a 165 horsepower engine and tyres from F1 supplier Pirelli.
F1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali said in the statement: “Everyone should have the opportunity to follow their dreams and achieve their potential, and Formula One wants to ensure it is doing everything it can to create greater diversity and routes into this incredible sport.
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“That is why I am delighted to announce the F1 Academy, which will give young female drivers the best chance to fulfil their ambitions through a comprehensive programme that supports their racing careers and gives them everything they need to move into F3 and hopefully to F2 and then the pinnacle of Formula One.”
F1‘s launch of the new all-women series comes after a cash crunch forced the existing W Series, which was free-to-enter and paid the championship winner US$500,000 out of a total US$1.5 million prize money pot, to cancel the last three races of its season last month.
Organisers at the time said they were confident the series, which debuted in 2019, would return in 2023.
There was no mention of prize money in the F1 Academy statement, but Formula One said it would prepare young women drivers to progress to higher levels of competition, including the W Series.
The F1 Academy would complement the W Series, providing an “extra route for the next generation of young female drivers”, the statement added.
No female driver has started a grand prix since the late Italian Lella Lombardi, who was also the only woman to score a top six finish, in 1976. REUTERS
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