Despite the controversies that occasionally pop up, Susie Wolff has been hard at work to ensure the drivers in the F1 Academy have enough exposure and experience to one day make it onto the F1 grid.
An effort toward the same was earlier made in 2019 with the ‘W series,’ which was an all-female racing series. British driver Jamie Chadwick won all three editions. However, a lack of sponsorship for the 2023 season meant the W Series wouldn’t continue.
Given the same, the F1 academy now stands as the only beacon of hope for female drivers looking to make it big in the sport. So far, only six drivers make up the Academy, and here are all of them.
Bianca Bustamante
18-year-old Bianca Bustamante is the newest member of the McLaren Driver Development Program and will race on the 2024 F1 Academy Grid with ART Grand Prix. She is the first and only female driver to join McLaren’s driver program.
While driving for PREMA Racing, the Filipina racer achieved a podium finish in her debut race in Spielberg. Furthermore, she also achieved a second-place finish and two race wins in her debut season.
Lia Block
In November 2023, Williams announced that American racer Lia Block would be representing their team on the 2024 F1 Academy Grid. The 17-year-old is already a big name in the world of motorsports, having competed in Rally, Extreme E, and Rallycross. She is also the youngest American Rally Association champion in history.
Block will be transitioning to her first full season in open-wheel racing while driving for ART GP alongside Bustamante.
Tina Hausmann
The third driver on the 2024 Academy grid will be Aston Martin‘s Tina Hausmann. Driving for PREMA Racing, the 17-year-old Swiss racer began karting ten years ago.
Graduating to single-seaters, she earned her first podium in her debut in the Formula Winter Series. Hausmann also claimed the overall win in the Italian F4 Championship (all-female category).
Abbi Pulling
The first returning driver on the 2024 Academy grid will be Alpine‘s Abbi Pulling, who drives for Rodin Carlin. She returns after a successful first season in 2023, where she finished fifth in the standings. Pulling recorded seven podiums, two poles, and four fastest laps in her last tenure with the team.
Pulling debuted with Ginettas, where she finished 6th in the British F4 championship in 2020. The 20-year-old Briton became a full-time Alpine driver in 2023.
Carrie Schriener
Carry Schriener is another returning driver from the 2023 season. The 25-year-old will be a part of the Sauber Academy and will drive for Campos Racing in 2024.
Debuting in 2011, the German driver stands as the first and (so far) only female driver to win the X30 Junior Championship Title (2012). After Graduating to single-seaters in 2015, she switched to GT racing two years later. In 2018, Schriener secured the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Middle East Pro-Am class and the DMV Gran Turismo Touring Car Cup- Class 1 titles.
Doriane Pin
The sixth and final driver confirmed for the 2024 Academy Grid is Doriane Pin. The French driver is the latest addition to the Mercedes Junior Program and will receive support on the Academy grid from Iron Dames and PREMA Racing.
Pin began karting in 2016 and won the French Championship in the female category in 2019. Two years later, she graduated to the Le Mans Cup and scored five podiums. The following year, she won the Ferrari Challenge Europe and the 24 Hours of Spa.
In 2023, Pin became to first woman to ever win the ‘Revelation of the Year’ award and finished second in the Formula 4 South East Asia Championship.
One team yet to name a driver for the 2024 F1 Academy Grid
While four of the five teams have named at least one driver for the upcoming season, Dutch team MP Motorsport is yet to announce a driver for the 2024 Academy Grid.
Given one team can have as many as three drivers representing them, the other four teams will also be scouting talent to bolster their attack.
