F1 Academy announces plan to grow female talent pool in UK motorsport

08 June 2023 , 19:06

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F1 Academy is pushing to get more girls involved in motorsport at a young age (Image: F1)

A new initiative has been launched to get more girls into motorsport at a young age in the bid to discover the next female Formula 1 driver.

A handful of females have raced in the sport since the world championship was formed. But just two have ever even qualified for a race and only one has finished in the points.

That was Lella Lombardi, who scored half a point at the truncated 1975 Spanish Grand Prix. She qualified for 12 F1 races in total from 17 entries, the last coming in Austria in 1976.

Since then, no woman has taken to the grid. Susie Wolff has come closest in that time and took part in practice sessions for the Williams team, but was overlooked when in contention for a race seat.

Tatiana Calderon has raced in Formula 2 as recently as last year. Otherwise, the female racer currently highest on the single-seater ladder is Sophia Floersch, a member of the Alpine driver academy who races in Formula 3 for PHM Racing by Charouz.

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F1 Academy launched this year, slotting in below F3 on the single-seater ladder to give female drivers a clearer pathway to F1. But the major issue remains that there are not enough youngsters getting involved at grassroots level.

To change that, the F1 Academy has launched its global Discover Your Drive initiative. Talent identification will be at the forefront of what it tries to achieve, along with youth engagement, participation and community.

The first talent ID programme will take place in the UK in the form of a karting series for young women and girls. Motorsport UK and TeamSport Karting will operate the series in a bid to change the fact only five per cent of all Motorsport UK race licence holders are female.

F1 Academy's Discover Your Drive initiative has launched (F1)

The pilot will roll out at six UK venues this year with the plan to increase that to all of TeamSport Karting's 35 venues in 2024. 'Activation Days' will also take place globally in the build-up to F1 Academy race weekends to target girls aged 8-18 and encourage them to consider chasing a career in motorsport.

Wolff, now F1 Academy's managing director, said: "When we launched F1 Academy in March, one of our key objectives was to increase the pipeline of talent entering our sport, both strengthening the pool of drivers aiming to make it to an elite level and supporting those who want to pursue roles off track.

"The launch of F1 Academy Discover Your Drive is an important step to achieving this and as we join the F1 global calendar next year, the reach of the programme will be huge and will give us the platform to inspire many girls and young women around the world.

"To have the support of like-minded organisations like Motorsport UK and TeamSport Karting to deliver our first national programme is hugely important, and I look forward to seeing it grow and be impactful long-term."

Daniel Moxon