The F1 Academy 2024 season started in Jeddah, but there are some changes. What’s the new format of the all-female category?
F1 Academy’s 2024 season started at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix alongside Formula 1. This category was created at the end of 2022 after the previous W Series was unable to continue. The new female championship saw the green light in 2023 and crowned Marta Garcia as the first-ever F1 Academy Champion.
The idea behind this category is to increase women’s presence in the motorsport. The Academy gives them the chance to increase their skills, offering them physical, mental and technical support. Thanks to the series, the young drivers will have access to more track time, racing and testing to make their own name in the world of motorsport. The drivers can then advance to an upper category, such as Garcia who now races in the Formula Regional European Championship.
For the 2024 season, the F1 Academy changed something of its format and introduced some interesting news.
What changed?
Just as last year, there will be five teams on the grid (Prema Racing, MP Motorsport, Rodin, ART Grand Prix, Campos) with three drivers each. The fifteen drivers will fight each other on the track for seven races around the world. The rules and the cars will be the same as the Formula 4 Championship, and the Italian company Truus provides the chassis.
However, for this season there are some major changes. Starting with partnerships, this year Formula 1 teams are supporting this young generation of women. Each one of them chose one of the girls on the grid to race with their liveries and represent them.
Let's get down to business 🏆
Here are the 2024 F1 Academy opening titles in all their glory! 🤩#F1Academy pic.twitter.com/cxOZsVBhBK
— F1 Academy (@f1academy) March 7, 2024
As for this season, there will be a wild card who will race in a car provided by the defending champion team. Being that Prema won the constructor championship last season, the team will use the wild card and select the drivers. The selected ones can score points in the driver’s standings.
But the major news is the FIA Superlicense for the first five drivers at the end of the series. The champion will have 10 points on her Superlicense, and the second one will have 7 points. The third will have 5 while the last two will have 3 and 1 points respectively.
Also, F1 Academy announced a new rule to increase and support upcoming talents. For this very reason, the drivers can only compete in the series for two seasons maximum.
The new format
A few things changed in the format compared to last year. In 2023, the drivers went wheel-to-wheel for three races in each round. They had two sessions of Free Practice of 40 minutes each. After that, in Qualifying, Q1 decided the starting grid of Race 1 and Q2 served the same purpose for Race 3. Meanwhile, the top eight drivers of Q1 were reversed for the starting order of Race 2.
This season, there is no longer a third race. The new format includes Qualifying which will last 30 minutes. The pole sitter will start at the front in Eace 1 while the second best lap time will be in pole position for Race 2.
As for the points system, it will follow the current one used in F1. Also, two bonus points will be added for each pole position and there will be one extra point for the driver that will mark the fastest lap of the race.
While last year, the race weeks of the F1 Academy were on six European tracks with only one appointment overseas in Austin for the final, this season will be different. The series will follow Formula 1 and its minor series (Formula 2 and 3) all around the world.
Preparations are well underway here in Jeddah, but this is only the beginning!💪
Hitting 7 countries across 3 continents, this is F1 Academy 🌏
Save the 2024 calendar so you never miss the action 🗓️#F1Academy pic.twitter.com/bfCNGg15It
— F1 Academy (@f1academy) March 6, 2024
Moreover, this year all seven races will be broadcast on official Formula 1 channels such as Sky Sports. With this decision, the F1 Academy will receive the media coverage that was missed last season. In fact, in 2023 the only televised race week was the one in Austin.
During the weekend in Jeddah, the rising star of Doriane Pin, a Prema driver for Mercedes, dominated all the races even though she lost the Race 2 podium. However, the Championship fight is still alive with six races to go.
