F1 Academy

F1 Academy is a female-only and junior-level single-seater racing championship founded by Formula One. The championship is a spec series, with all teams competing with an identical Tatuus F4-T-421 chassis and tyre compounds developed by Pirelli. Each car is powered by a 165-horsepower turbocharged 4-cylinder engine developed by Autotecnica.

The inaugural season in 2023 was won by Marta García driving for Prema Racing, who won the teams' championship.

History
The championship traces its roots back to 2004, when Formula Woman was established due to the lack of female drivers in other series. In 2019, the W Series was created for the same reason and was held for over three seasons, and the planned 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, after the 2022 season, the series was battling financial issues and was put into administration and liquidated.

On 18 November 2022, Formula One announced the creation of F1 Academy, a racing series for women aimed to focus on developing and preparing young drivers to progress to higher levels of competition. It was created to help smooth the transition from karting to the single-seater ladder.

The five teams that are currently participating in F1 Academy are ART Grand Prix, Campos Racing, Rodin Motorsport, MP Motorsport and Prema Racing.

On 1 March 2023, Susie Wolff was appointed the managing director for the series.

The initial season of the series was controversially not broadcast, with the exception of the season finale at the Circuit of the Americas. Every race of the second season will be broadcast, with live viewing available in more than 160 international territories and by a total of 23 broadcasters. Formula E presenter Nicki Shields became the lead commentator for the season, with Alex Brundle and Jordan King joining her as co-commentators.

For the 2023 season, Formula One subsidized the cost of each car, with drivers having to contribute €150,000. This was reduced to €100,000 for the 2024 season. Also for 2024, all ten Formula One teams supported one driver each who will carry the team's livery on their car. The remaining five drivers are supported by the series' partners.

On 3 May 2023, it was announced that Reese Witherspoon's production company Hello Sunshine would be creating a docuseries about F1 Academy. On 3 May 2024, exactly one year later, it was announced that the show would be available to stream on Netflix in 2025.

Championship format
The 2023 season consisted of seven event weekends with three races each, for a total of 21 races, plus fifteen days of official testing. Each race weekend included two 30-minute races, and a 20-minute race where the top 8 drivers from qualifying had their starting positions reversed. The final of the seven events was a Formula One support race during the United States Grand Prix.

On 31 March 2023, Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali announced that the 2024 season would take place exclusively on select Formula One weekends, joining Formula 2, Formula 3 and the Porsche Supercup as part of the support bill. This caused a change to the race weekend format, reducing the number of races to two by removing the reverse-grid race.

The 2024 season also saw the addition of FIA Super License points and Wild Card entries. The top five drivers in the championship will earn points towards an FIA Super License, with 10 for the champion, 7 for the vice-champion, 5 for third-place, 3 for fourth, and 1 for fifth. Wild Card entries will be introduced at specific rounds in order to promote and strengthen the talent pool in the areas where the series races. These entries will be operated as a fourth car by the reigning teams' champion Prema Racing, with the driver eligible to score points in the drivers' standings.

Progression
F1 Academy drivers must be between the ages of 16 and 25, and cannot do more than 2 seasons in the series. The Formula Regional European Championship has guaranteed a fourth entry to any team that signs a driver who finished P1, P2 or P3 in the F1 Academy standings. 2023 champion Marta García received a fully funded seat in the championship for 2024, courtesy of F1 Academy, PREMA Racing, Tatuus and Pirelli. However, FRECA is not the only option for progression, as the series announced that "each season F1 Academy will work in close collaboration with the F1 Academy teams to support its winner in progressing up the motorsport ladder".

Cars
The cars used are the Tatuus F4-T421 chassis used in Formula 4 championships globally since 2022, with tyres provided by Formula One partner Pirelli. The engine was provided by Autotecnica and consisted of a 1.4-liter turbocharged 4 cylinder, capable of delivering 174 horsepower at 5500 rpm.

Circuits

 * Bold denotes a circuit will be used in the 2024 season.