- Ten entries to be backed by a Formula One team
- Remaining five cars to be supported by other partners
Each Formula One team will nominate a driver and badge one car with their livery from the 2024 F1 Academy season.
The all-female series, which debuted in 2023, has a grid of 15 cars operated by five teams: ART Grand Prix, Campos Racing, MP Motorsport, Prema Racing and Rodin Carlin.
Under this proposal, ten of the 15 cars will be run under the livery of a Formula One team. This also means ten of the 15 drivers from next season will be nominated by a Formula One team.
The remaining five drivers will be supported by other partners, although it is not yet clear if this will be through commercial partnerships or other motorsport teams.
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It’s also not clear if the Formula One teams will cover the costs for each driver to compete in the series, as every entrant is required to bring €150,000 (US$155,718) in funding.
This news practically confirms that F1 Academy will be broadcast live from next season, as Formula One teams would not be signing up to this marketing opportunity without visibility.
There have been no live broadcasts available for the debut season of the all-female series as it hasn’t raced on the support grid of Formula One all year, something that made “the concept of streaming quite challenging”, according to Formula One's head of digital technology James Bradshaw.
'F1 Academy highlights and shoulder programming will be coming to an F1 TV near you' – James Bradshaw, F1's head of digital technology, details the coverage plans for the new all-female junior series #F1 #BBMF23 pic.twitter.com/2OlchkV6zx
— BlackBook Motorsport (@MotorsportBB) April 27, 2023
The expectation is that, with F1 Academy debuting on the Formula One support grid for its season finale at the Circuit of The Americas this year, there will be at least one race in 2023 broadcast to the public.
From 2024, F1 Academy will be shifting to the Formula One support grid full time, another reason it is expected to have live coverage. This will likely be tied to the calendar announcement.
“First and foremost, I want to thank the Formula One teams for their support and vision as we embark on this journey together,” said Susie Wolff, managing director of F1 Academy.
“This landmark moment not only demonstrates the depth of support for F1 Academy from across the F1 community but will inspire a whole generation of young girls to realise the opportunities both on and off track in motorsport.
“As we join the F1 calendar for next year and host F1 Academy 'Discover Your Drive' events in the lead up to our races, I am confident that we will have a positive impact across our sport in the long term.”
BlackBook says…
Whether this is performative marketing or meaningful action will hinge on the money behind this move: if there is no funding being provided to the drivers, this is nothing more than a badging exercise.
Even as a marketing exercise, is drawing comparisons between a top-level, male-dominated series and a Formula Four junior series sensible?
W Series proved that you don’t need Formula One involvement to attract fans, with one million viewers tuning in to watch its Silverstone race in 2022.
Formula One backing is great from the point of view of visibility, and joining the support grid from 2024 will bring F1 Academy to a wider portion of fans.
However, competing for track time with Formula One, Formula Two and Formula Three – and sometimes even the Porsche Supercup – will damage the original goal of this series.
In the initial statement unveiling this series, Formula One outlined how the target was ‘to fill [the experience] gap and offer [drivers] access to more track time, racing and testing’.
A comprehensive testing programme between races is a necessity, but more clarity is needed on how the likely decrease in track time next season will be addressed.