Being the daughter of a former motorbike endurance racer, reigning F1 Academy Champion Abbi Pulling seems to have great genes to make it big in motorsport. Parents — who have been racers themselves — are usually hesitant to see their children take up motorsport as well, knowing the dangers of it, but Pulling believes her father, Andy, is crazier than her in this aspect.
“My dad raced on motorbikes, two wheels. He’s a bit more crazier than me,” replied the 21-year-old when asked on the talkSPORT Driving podcast if she got into racing because of her family’s influence.
Racing drivers are often fearless when they are racing themselves but their anxiety levels reach a whole new level if any of their family members are doing the same thing. Ask Charles Leclerc, for example.
“It’s just super scary and I get super, super stressed,” the Monegasque said about watching his brother Arthur Leclerc race, on the Jay Shetty podcast, last year. Nico Rosberg, the son of 1982 F1 champion Keke Rosberg, also shared similar thoughts to Charles when asked if he would want his children to follow in his footsteps.
“My oldest is not interested and my youngest is a nutcase”, the German replied in a video uploaded on the Business of Sports YouTube channel last year. “She doesn’t care, no fear. She was airborne two days ago when we were skiing; she was flying, she didn’t care. So, no racing. I would be terrified.”
Considering the responses of both Charles and Nico — who have experienced the dangers of motorsports themselves — not wanting to see their loved ones race, it would have been understandable if Andy too would have discouraged his daughter. But that wasn’t the case, thankfully for Abbi.
Andy is “fairly calm” when he sees Abbi race
Contrary to most, Andy once revealed that he feels relaxed when his daughter races, having been a competitor himself. “Because we’ve done it for so long, one way or the other, I’m fairly calm, usually,” he said when his daughter asked him how are his emotions usually when he watches her race.
In Barcelona, @abbipulling put her dad in the spotlight during filming.
Many of our drivers credit their fathers with introducing them to the world of motorsport. This #FathersDay, here’s to all the supporting dads, in the #F1Academy paddock, and around the world. pic.twitter.com/sihbwQaAUO
— F1 Academy (@f1academy) June 18, 2023
Instead of fearing that his daughter may crash or get hurt, Andy added that he often feels frustrated when Abbi has a bad day. Knowing how good of a driver she is, he wants to see her win and build a successful racing career.
And Abbi seems to be on the right path. After dominating F1 Academy in 2024, she will compete in the GB3 Championship, a series between F4 and F3, this season, having already received a fully-funded seat with Rodin Motorsport.
