F1 Academy, a series launched by the FIA to help promote women in motorsports,is currently in the midst of its first round of the 2024 season. It is being held concurrently with the Saudi Arabian GP in Jeddah, and the talented drivers of the F1 academy participated in qualifying on Thursday, the same day as the F1 drivers took part in FP1 and FP2.
In qualifying, Mercedes-backed driver Doriane Pin secured the fastest lap of the race. She will start on pole in both Race 1 and Race 2. F1 Academy’s ruling states that the fastest lap of a driver will determine the starting position for Race 1. For the latter, the second fastest lap counts. Pin made sure she is P1 in both aspects.
The best lap times are classified under Qualifying 1, whereas the second fastest times are put under Qualifying 2 as per F1 Academy’s official website. The results for the same are as follows:
Qualifying 1 Results for F1 Academy
| Position | Driver |
| 1 | Doriane Pin |
| 2 | Abi Pulling |
| 3 | Maya Weug |
| 4 | Nerea Marti |
| 5 | Bianca Bustamante |
| 6 | Lola Lovinfosse |
| 7 | Lia Block |
| 8 | Chloe Chambers |
| 9 | Aurelia Nobels |
| 10 | Jessica Edgar |
| 11 | Tina Hausmann |
| 12 | Carrie Schreiner |
| 13 | Hamda Al Qubasi |
| 14 | Reema Juffali |
| 15 | Amna Al Qubasi |
| 16 | Emely De Heus |
Qualifying 2 Results for F1 Academy
| Position | Driver |
| 1 | Doriane Pin |
| 2 | Abi Pulling |
| 3 | Maya Weug |
| 4 | Lola Lovinfosse |
| 5 | Nerea Marti |
| 6 | Chloe Chambers |
| 7 | Tina Hausmann |
| 8 | Aurelia Nobels |
| 9 | Jessica Edgar |
| 10 | Bianca Bustamante |
| 11 | Carrie Schreiner |
| 12 | Hamda Al Qubasi |
| 13 | Lia Block |
| 14 | Amna Al Qubasi |
| 15 | Reema Juffali |
| 16 | Emely De Heus |
Doriane Pin couldn’t believe her double pole position
As soon as qualifying was over, Pin’s team told her on the radio that she earned a double pole position for the weekend. However, it took her some time to believe it, and she asked her team to recheck. She finished more than six-tenths of a second ahead of Pulling and is now the favorite to win both races this weekend.
Just making sure #F1Academy pic.twitter.com/mVyNokuH3y
— PIN DORIANE (@DorianePin) March 7, 2024
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is a huge fan of the young French driver. He said, “Doriane is an exciting talent and we’re pleased to begin our participation in F1 Academy with her as our chosen driver,” as per Planet F1. “We have kept a close eye on her development in recent years.”
F1 Academy Race Schedule
The 2024 F1 Academy season got underway in Jeddah this weekend. This is just the beginning, as we are yet to see seven more rounds of racing action, on some pretty exciting circuits.
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
All these races will be held on the same weekend as an F1 Grand Prix weekend. This is done for the good of the sport, and the series. Consequently, more eyeballs will be on the event, and the drivers can show the world just how talented they are.
The complete race schedule for the 2024 F1 Academy is as follows:
| Round | Venue | Date |
| 1 | Jeddah | 7-9 March |
| 2 | Miami | 3-5 May |
| 3 | Barcelona | 21-23 June |
| 4 | Zandvoort | 23-25 August |
| 5 | Singapore | 20-22 September |
| 6 | Lusail | 29 November – 1 December |
| 7 | Abu Dhabi | 6-8 December |
F1 Academy Format
The format for F1 Academy is slightly different from what we see in F1 or the feeder series. It consists of 15 identical cars, all of which have the same engine and chassis. A driver has to be at least 16 years old to enter, but cannot be older than 25. At most, a driver can compete for two seasons in this particular venture, which is headed by Susie Wolff.
There are two races in a weekend, with two Free Practice Sessions of 40 minutes each. After that, drivers take part in a short qualifying session, which lasts for 30 minutes and acts as a shootout. The driver with the fastest lap time starts Race 1 on pole position. The second fastest lap time for each driver determines the starting grid for Race 2.
On a slightly different note, drivers don’t have to race for a fixed number of laps. Instead, the number of laps is decided by a time limit. Both Race 1 and Race 2 last for 30 minutes each. The driver who is leading at the end of the 30 minutes is declared the winner, followed by second place, third place, and so on.
Points distribution
The driver who gets the pole for each race earns two points. Since Doriane Pin got a double pole, she has earned 4 points already. Other than that, the points distribution is similar to that of an F1 Grand Prix Race.
Here’s how the grid will look tomorrow for the very first F1 Academy Race of the 2024 season #F1Academy #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/h8ildZZ26a
— F1 Academy (@f1academy) March 7, 2024
Drivers who finish from 1st to 10th, get 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 1 point(s) respectively. Drivers finishing below 10th will end the race without any points. This format is followed for both Race 1 and Race 2.
FIA Super-license points
Since this is a venture started to help women get into F1, winning the championship and securing higher standings ensures a handy haul of super-license points. The driver winning the title in 2024 will get 10 Super-license points. Meanwhile, the drivers finishing from second to fifth will get, 7, 5, 3, and 1 point(s) respectively.
