The 2024 F1 Academy was a formula racing championship that is the second season of the F1 Academy, an all-female, Formula 4-level racing series founded and organized under the management of Formula Motorsport Limited. All seven rounds will support the 2024 Formula One World Championship, with 10 of the 15 drivers' cars sporting liveries sponsored by the 10 teams competing in Formula One during 2024.
Prema Racing started the season as defending team's champions, having won the 2023 title with inaugural drivers' champion Marta García. Prema Racing retained the team's championship whereas Rodin Motorsport's Abbi Pulling won the drivers' championship with three races to spare.
Entries
F1 Academy is a spec series; all teams competing with an identical Tatuus F4-T421 chassis and tyre compounds developed by Pirelli. Each car is powered by a 165-horsepower turbocharged 4-cylinder engine developed by Autotecnica.[1]
For the 2024 season, all 10 Formula One teams support one driver and have their livery on that driver's car. The remaining five drivers in the series are supported by other partners.[2]
Wildcard entries were added for the 2024 season. Selected drivers will be offered a drive operated by Prema Racing (in addition to their three permanent entries) for a single weekend in select rounds and will be eligible to score points in the Drivers' Championship. Susie Wolff stated the goals of the wildcard entries are to "promote regional talent, engage with local communities, and increase the talent pool in the regions in which we race".[30]
Saudi Arabian GT driver Reema Juffali was the wildcard entry for the first round of the season in Jeddah.[19]
American LMP3 and GT driver Courtney Crone was the wildcard entry for the second round of the season in Miami, supported by QVC.[21]
Dutch driver Nina Gademan, who competed in the 2024 British F4 Championship, was chosen as the wildcard for the fourth round in Zandvoort, supported by series partner The Female Quotient.[16]
Fellow British F4 driver Ella Lloyd was the wildcard entry for the fifth round in Singapore, competing in an F1 Academy Discover Your Drive livery.[17]
British GB4 Vice-Champion Alisha Palmowski was the wildcard entry for the sixth round in Qatar.[18]
The wildcard entry for the seventh round in Abu Dhabi was Dubai-based Scottish driver Logan Hannah, who raced under an Emirati licence. Her entry was supported by Away.[20]
Calendar
The calendar for the 2024 season was announced in October 2023, reducing to two races a weekend instead of three and having a singular qualifying session. All seven rounds will support the 2024 Formula One World Championship.
In the second race, Chloe Chambers tagged Lola Lovinfosse into a spin on lap three. Lovinfosse re-entered the track directly in the path of Lia Block, which earned her a five-place grid penalty for the next race. The sole safety car period happened after Juffali crashed out on lap six. Pin crossed the finish line first, but was unaware that the race ended and took the chequered flag twice. She was investigated and later penalised for the mistake. Pulling inherited the win ahead of Weug and Nerea Martí, with Pin moving down to ninth. Pulling left Jeddah as the championship leader, with Weug in second and Pin in third.[34]
Round 2: Miami
Pulling took pole in the next round at the Miami International Autodrome. In the first race, Bianca Bustamante stalled from fourth on the grid and could only recover to ninth with the fastest lap. Lap one contact from Aurelia Nobels spun Hausmann into the wall, which caused her retirement and a 10-second time penalty for Nobels. Block spun on lap seven, but remained in the race. Pulling took a comfortable victory from Pin, while Chambers achieved her first podium in the series from Weug, who eventually fell to sixth after a penalty.[35]
Pulling started again from pole in the second race. Lovinfosse locked up in the first corner and tagged Hausmann, who was forced to retire for the second race in a row. On lap eight Lovinfosse locked up again, this time hitting Nobels. Both were able to rejoin the race, with Lovinfosse earning two 10-second time penalties for her collisions. Edgar spun on lap eleven but was able to rejoin the race. Pulling once again crossed the finish line in first, but this time it was Bustamante who would finish second ahead of Pin.[36]
Round 3: Barcelona
Pulling claimed her third and fourth pole positions in a row as the series began its European leg, with title rival Pin only fourth as she recovered from fractured ribs sustained in the break between events.[37][38] Pin's problems were compounded when she stalled at the start of Race 1, and fought back to only seventh as Pulling claimed her fourth race win in a row. A safety car was called after Weug and Amna Al Qubaisi collided. Martí and Chloe Chambers survived minor first-corner contact to finish second and third respectively.[39]
Chambers dominated the second race of the weekend, jumping Pulling at the start and taking a lights-to-flag win. The win allowed Chambers to draw level with Pin for second in the championship, both of whom sat 66 points behind Pulling.[40]
Round 4: Zandvoort
Race 1 was rescheduled to Sunday and shortened to thirteen laps after adverse weather postponed the original start. Pulling again started from pole position, and took another dominant lights to flag victory. Pin crossed the line in second, but received a 5-second time penalty for a jump start, which dropped her down to fifth place. Martí and Weug rounded out the podium, while Nina Gademan finished fourth, becoming the first wildcard entry to score points.[41]
Pin returned to pole position for Race 2. Block and Edgar both stalled on the start, and Martí was pushed wide in the first corner. A battle between Nobels and Gademan ended with Nobels taking a trip through the gravel and Gademan receiving a ten-second time penalty for causing a collision. Pin took the fastest lap and the victory ahead of Weug and Pulling. All three drivers finished within 2.2 seconds of each other, and had a 12-second gap to fourth place.[42]
Round 5: Singapore
Pulling once again took both pole positions for the weekend. Race 1 was shortened to 11 laps after a second formation lap was taken because Bustamante missed her grid box, for which she received a 10-second stop and go penalty. Emely de Heus spun on lap six, but was able to rejoin the race. Pin was once again penalized for jumping the start, but she managed to build a gap and was still classified in her finishing position of third, while earning a point for the fastest lap. Wildcard driver Ella Lloyd also received a 5-second penalty for a jump start. Pulling finished in first, ahead of Weug.
Pulling took another lights to flag victory in Race 2. Weug and Pin battled for second over the first lap, with Weug ending in front of Pin. The safety car came out on lap 4 after Bustamante hit the curb and spun, although she was able to rejoin the race. On the restart there was contact between Bustamante and Hausmann, with the latter receiving a 10-second penalty. Block achieved her highest finish of the season, ending in fourth place for both races.[43]
Round 6: Qatar
Pin took pole position for both races. Pulling overtook Weug at the start of Race 1, ensuring enough points to become the 2024 Champion with 3 races to spare. A 5-second penalty for jumping the start was given to Chambers, dropping her from seventh to eleventh, and to Hausmann, dropping her from fourteenth to fifteenth. Bustamante spun on lap 12 but was able to rejoin the race. Pin won the race, her third victory of the season.[44] Race 2 was cancelled after a crash barrier that was damaged from the preceding Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East race could not be repaired in time. This is the first instance of a cancelled race in the series.[45]
Round 7: Abu Dhabi
As a result of the cancellation of Race 2 in Qatar, F1 Academy announced that a third race would be added in Abu Dhabi. Race 3's starting grid would be decided by the drivers' third-fastest time set in the qualifying session.[46] This meant two more points were in play than initially scheduled, and Pulling was no longer champion elect, as Pin could win the title if she swept the weekend and Pulling failed to score any points.[47] In qualifying, Pulling took all three poles for the season finale and scored 6 points, to re-secure the drivers' championship.[48]
In Race 1, Chambers took the lead into the first corner, but spun on the first lap and received a 5-second penalty for an unsafe rejoin. On lap 6, Hausmann hit the back of Lovinfosse, who was then spun by Chambers. Hausmann was given a 10-second penalty for the incident, which was added to a 5-second penalty she received earlier in the race for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Abbi Pulling won the race, ahead of Hamda Al Qubaisi and Doriane Pin.[49]
Race 2 was the first race with multiple lead changes, as Pulling and Chambers battled for the win. On lap 1, Lovinfosse crashed into Schreiner and sent her airborne. Schreiner was forced to retire the car, and Lovinfosse received a 10-second penalty for causing a collision, while Amna Al Qubaisi also received a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage when she evaded the incident. On lap 12, Lovinfosse hit a bollard while trying to make a move on the inside of Jessica Edgar, which spun the latter and also resulted in contact with Nobels. This caused a safety car, which lasted until the end of the race, where Pulling took her ninth victory ahead of Chambers and Hamda Al Qubaisi.[50] After the race concluded, Amna Al Qubaisi was given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Block, and Lovinfosse was given a five-place grid drop for Race 3, for causing the collision with Edgar and Nobels.[51]
Nobels stalled on the starting grid of Race 3, but was able to get going. Pin and Chambers collided into the first corner, resulting in a front wing change and 10-second penalty for Chambers, who also later received a 5-second penalty for a jump start. On lap 4, Bustamante collided with Hamda Al Qubaisi, and was given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision. Multiple cars cut the chicane on lap 7, resulting in a 5-second penalty for Edgar and Block, and a 10-second penalty for Amna Al Qubaisi. Block was then given an additional 10-second penalty for spinning Hamda Al Qubaisi on lap 12, which caused a safety car. Maya Weug's 10-second lead was neutralized by the safety car, but she successfully defended against Pulling on the restart, to take her maiden victory and secure the teams' championship for Prema.[52]
Two points will be awarded to the driver(s) who start Race 1 and Race 2 from pole position. Fastest lap points are also handed out in each race to the driver and team who achieved the fastest valid lap time and classified inside the top 10. No points are given to the driver who clocked in the fastest lap time but finished outside the top 10 or if the leader has completed less than 50% of the scheduled race distance.[55]
^Doriane Pin finished first on track, but was given a post-race drive-through penalty due to crossing the chequered flag twice. This was converted into a 20-second time penalty, and Pulling inherited the win.[53]
^ abcdeRace 2 in Qatar was cancelled due to barrier damage caused by a crash in the preceding Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East race, which could not be repaired in time for the F1 Academy race to go ahead.
