F1 Academy is back for a new season and you can see all the races in 2025 I live in Sky Sports F1.
After British Abhi Puru dominated last year and chose not to defend her title, all eyes will be who can become the champion in 2025.
F1 Academy creates a smooth transition from cartting up the ladders in the F1 feeder series, with women in F1 potentially racing in the future.
The last female driver to participate in the Formula 1 weekend was when Susie Wolf, the managing director of Williams’ Formula 1 Academy, took part in the practice at the 2014 UK Grand Prix.
Lera Lombardi was the last driver to race at the Grand Prix itself in 1976, and the only woman to score points when she finished sixth at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix.
What is the F1 Academy?
The F1 Academy was launched by F1 in November 2022 and aims to prepare and develop female drivers to allow female drivers to advance to a higher level of competition.
This category is designed to “enable more access to track time, races, tests and support technical, physical and mental preparation.”
It is hoped that F1 Academy will provide an experience to move on to Formula 3 and will help provide future Formula 2 and Formula 1 opportunities.
Susie Wolf, a former Williams F1 development driver and the last woman to attend the F1 practice session 11 years ago, leads the series as managing director.
Susie Wolf
What cars are used at the F1 Academy?
At the Formula 1 Academy, all drivers race on the same car. This is the Tatuus T421 chassis, also used in Formula 4.
The car is powered by Autotecnica and is turbocharged engine capable of 174 horsepower, while Pirelli supplies tires.
The maximum speed of the car is 240kph (149mph).
Maya Weug placed third in the F1 Academy last year.
What happened in 2024?
Abbi Pulling won nine out of 14 races, heading his way to the title and finishing markedly all of his races on the podium.
Pull scored 121 points for Mercedes Junior Dorian Pin.
Maya Weug was third in the rankings and won the thrilling season finale in Abu Dhabi. I hope this continues this year.
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Definitely highlights of last season’s F1 Academy race in Abu Dhabi
Who are the drivers and teams in 2025?
The F1 Academy has six teams: Art, Campos, Rodan Carlin, MP Motorsports, Prema and new entry hits, each entering three cars and making up 18 powerful grids.
All six teams race in Formula 3 and Formula 2 and have a pedigree to guide young talent. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are art alumni.
There is a new F1 Academy champion as the 2024 winner moved to the GB3 Championship. Marta Garcia, the first champion in 2023, races in a sports car.
Last year’s runner-up Dorian Ping will begin the season as a favorite, and it is expected that her nearest title rival will be Maya Ug.
Chloe Chambers, Aurelia Novel, Aurelia Novel, Leah Brock and Tina Hausman have returned since last season, while British Ella Lloyd has a full-time seat.
F1 Academy 2025 Calendar
In the second season, the Formula 1 Academy will be held only on the Formula 1 weekend of this season, starting in Shanghai on March 21-23 at China’s Grand Prix Arabia Grand Prix.
Jeddah will continue from April 18th to 20th, with two trips to North America with Miami on May 1-3, and will be visiting Montreal for the first time on June 13-15th.
This year there is only one European event on the calendar, with Zandvoort being August 29th-31st.
The F1 Academy will return to the tricky streets in Singapore from October 3-5, before the weekend of its final race in Las Vegas on November 20-22.
F1 Academy Weekend Format
At least five sessions of track action will take place over the weekend of each F1 Academy race.
The first practice will take place on a Friday morning of the race weekend, prior to qualifying or additional practice sessions later in the day.
The new 2025 is a reverse grid race in Race 1, as the top 8 in the qualifying round will flip and determine the starting grid. Those who qualify 9th to 18th will start in those positions in both races.
Race 2 will be held on Sunday morning on the starting grid set by the results of the qualifying round.
F1 Academy Point System
Two points will be awarded to the pole position, and if you finish in the top 8 of Race 1 and the top 10 of Race 2, one point will be awarded to the fastest lap in each race.
Only the top 8 will earn points as points are provided for reverse grid races: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.
Race 2 uses the same points system as F1, so the top 10 earn points: 25-18-15-12-10-8-8-4-2-1.
Sky Sports F1 Live China GP Schedule
Thursday, March 20th
- 5am: Driver press conference
Friday, March 21st
- 1am: F1 Academy practice
- 3am: China GP Practice (sessions start at 3:30am)*
- 5:30am: Team Principal’s press conference
- 6am: F1 Academy Qualifiers*
- 6.45am: China’s GP Sprint Qualifiers (sessions begin at 7:30am)*
Saturday, March 22nd
- 2.25am: China’s GP Sprint Buildup*
- 3am: China GP Sprint*
- 5.45am: F1 Academy Race 1*
- 6.35am: China’s GP Qualifying Build-Up*
- 7am: China’s GP Qualifiers*
- 9am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*
Sunday, March 23rd
- 2.40am: F1 Academy Race 2*
- 5:30am: China GP buildup: Saturday Grand Prix*
- 7am: China’s Grand Prix*
- 9am: China’s GP Reaction: Checkered Flag*
- 10am: Ted’s Notebook*
* Live at Sky Sports Main Event
The Formula 1 Circus heads straight to Shanghai this week to live Sky Sports F1 at Chinese Grand Prix on the first sprint weekend of the season. Stream Sky Sports Now – No Contract, Cancel Anytime
