With the W-series ending their season early due to financial issues, fans were placing more and more pressure on Formula 1 to support female racing drivers, either financially helping the W-series, or creating an entirely new championship.
Formula 1 decided to go for the latter option, creating F1 Academy. It is a Formula 4 championship using the Tatuus T421, in comparison to the W series, using F3 cars. This is to reduce costs and the cars will be run by current F2 and F3 teams. There will be 7 events with three races, summing up to 21 overall. It will be a grid of 15 cars that line up on the grid each race.
“That is why I am delighted to announce the F1 Academy that 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 1."
- Stefano Domenicali (President and CEO of F1)
Financials are often a fundamental problem with these series, and to combat this Formula 1 will subsidise the costs of the car with a budget of €150,000, with drivers covering the same costs. The teams then cover the rest of the budget. This means the running costs of the championship for each driver individually are a fraction of what they would be if competing in similar championships elsewhere.
It is designed to leg-up female drivers in the changeover phase from karting to racing cars. Overall, it is aimed to try to get young female drivers through the ranks and into the top tier of motorsport.
Do you think a separate series was the best idea, or should Formula 1 support the W-series, an already established championship? Arguably, there should be a rule similar to F2, that once you have won the championship, you must move on. The dominance of Jamie Chadwick was what arguably killed the championship; it became stagnant.
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