F1 Academy: Doomed like W Series?

The recent launch of the all-female racing series is designed to promote women up the ladder to F1, but its introduction has caused quite the controversy and sparked questions.

F1 Academy driver grid 2023. Photo credits to F1 Academy.

F1 Academy was launched prior to the Formula One 2023 season with Susie Wolff with the goal of getting more women onto the F1 grid. The girl-only racing series has been introduced with all the correct intentions but has so far been met with controversy – from questions to its authenticity to its lack of live TV coverage. Many are asking, is this really the way to promote female racing drivers up the ladder into F1?

Before diving into the issues many have with the new series, it’s important to have some background knowledge on why its launch has fans questioning its purpose.

Our story begins in 1975 with Lella Lombardi. The second ever F1 female driver and the only woman to score a Championship point in F1 - well, half a point. The race was stopped early due to a crash that sadly killed spectators. Lella was a fearless and empowering woman, proudly voicing her love for cars and championing for LGBTA+ people during a time such topics were considered taboo.

Fast forward some years, and we are met with Susie Stoddart (now known as Susie Wolff). The Scot has been the most recent woman to come close to breaking into F1, having been a test driver for Williams F1 team and taking part in the first 2015 Barcelona test and practice sessions. Susie would go on to retire shortly after and is now the Managing Director of F1 Academy.

In 2018, W Series is launched. It's goal - much like F1 Academy - was to promote more women into F1. It had the backing of names such as David Coulthard and was predicted to do well. However, the series was full of empty promises for the female drivers and has recently entered administration after its cancellation mid-season in 2022.

While W Series may have failed to successfully promote women up the ladder to F1 it did get one thing right - Jamie Chadwick. She is a three-time W Series champion and is now more widely known due to the racing series. Despite this, it seemed like winning a championship three consecutive times was still not enough to promote Chadwick into F1, due to her lack of sponsorship funding and technical problems with F1 licensing.

And now, we're all caught up. With F1 Academy holding similar goals to it's predecessor W Series, and little-to-no change in its methods, will it fall victim to the same fate?

When the new series was announced fans were informed that there would be no live television coverage of the races. Instead, they could tune into post-race highlights on YouTube to learn about the race.

Shannon Tobin, a female driver herself, commented, "One of the key things I had hoped was that it would be showing the races on Sky Sports F1 because you would just have so much more people be able to watch and interact with it,"

Shanon explains that without live tv coverage, brands are less likely to sponsor drivers and teams, "Irrelevant of gender in motorsport, you have to be able to offer a business a return on investment. If you are able to turn around and tell a business they're going to be shown on Sky Sports it's a massive push,"

"It's a difficult one because why pour all that money into F1 Academy when you can put it into F2 and promote women into there because F2 is already shown on Sky Sports."

In order for female drivers to hone their craft and develop their racing skills in order to progress, they need seat time out on track. To get said seat time you need the money to do so, to get the money you need sponsors, and to get the sponsors you need... TV coverage.

It appears to be a vicious cycle that female drivers are stuck in that the series is only encouraging by not promoting themselves through live coverage.

Kimberley Wyllie, Scottish female kart driver and sport psychologist, explains, "The series is all about getting the social media driven content and sponsors and getting yourself out there. It's an extra stress that probably other drivers don't have to contend with,"

"I think it's one of the few sports in the world where you don't need segregation."

Kimberley explains further, emphasising that getting camera crew's available to cover the race isn't exactly an issue either, she says, "A few races ago they were there while other series' were being televised but not F1 Academy,"

"You're all there with the equipment anyway - just help them out!"

It is clear that many fans are feeling the frustration of not being able to watch their favourite sport live, having to resort to post-race highlights. However, while F1 Academy has its faults, it cannot be denied that the recent talks surrounding it - good or bad - are getting the gears turning for these needed conversations about female racing.

Only time will tell if F1 Academy will defy all odds.