If you’ve ever wondered about the lacuna of women in F1 in 2026, perhaps you should check out the F1 Academy series. Started as an alternative to the W Series single-seater championship, the Academy attempts to bridge the horrific gender gap in motorsports. In this article, we take you through the history of women in motorsports, why the specialised series works, and what we can expect from the future. Without further ado, dive into how F1 Academy is empowering women in motorsports!
Before The Academy Series: Barriers To Entry Meant Few Women Qualified!
Apart from the obvious financial constraints, women who wish to become professional drivers must overcome gender and cultural biases before they take the first step into racing. As a result, only five women have ever raced in a Grand Prix in the history of Formula 1. From Maria Teresa de Filippis, who was the first female driver to qualify for F1, to Lella Lombardi, the first woman to score a point, and then Susie Wolff, the first woman to participate in an F1 weekend this century, women have slowly and steadily made headway in motorsport.
Still, there is a long way to go, and that’s where F1 Academy comes in.
What F1 Academy Gets Right, And Why We Must Keep Watching
The precursor to the F1 Academy, W Series, lasted for three seasons between 2019 and 2022, dominated by Jamie Chadwick, who won all the iterations. However, sponsor and debtor issues crept in, leading to its natural extinction. Announced as the Managing Director, Susie Wolff, rightly pointed out the drastic gender gap and sought to resolve it. The F4-level championship would lead to more participation of women in motorsport, from karting all the way to Formula 1, by reducing financial barriers and getting F1 teams as sponsors.
From 2023 to 2025, the world watched as the women raced, crashed, and even got their own Netflix series similar to Drive to Survive, which was called F1: The Academy. There was immense criticism surrounding the cars, which were not on par with the Formula series; the drivers were deemed not good enough, and creating a women-only racing championship was considered redundant. But they’re missing the point!
Doriane Pin, the 2025 F1 Academy Champion, is likely not going into an F1 Grand Prix soon. She is, however, already a Development Driver for F1. A young girl seeing her on social media or in the news might gain interest in racing, engineering, media, or other aspects of the sport. Men have years of role models in racing, and now young women will have them too.
Pin, along with former winner Abbi Pulling and vice-champion Maya Weug, is spearheading a new kind of motorsport. We’re already seeing more diverse supporting Formula teams. Women are Chief Engineers, Team Principals, and journalists. The number of female entries in karting has increased, resulting in more championship-calibre women racers.
A world where women can dream of entering and standing toe-to-toe against men in F1 isn’t far.