F1 Academy’s racing at Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix – Round 7 in 2025. The announcement hits the high note of F1 Academy’s 2025 calendar with 6 Rounds racing outside Europe at selected Formula One GP’s, capping off the Final showdown between 18 female driver’s under the lights, and action of America’s Sin City – Las Vegas.
And, what a spectacle it will be. Take this weekend’s F1 Las Vegas GP ticket sales of 300,00 along with festivities which will continue in ‘the city that never sleeps’ and F1 Academy’s 18 female driver’s will experience 2 days of racing like never before – in front of thousands of fans track-side and around the world.
For certain, the rise of F1 Academy’s stature and standing in just 2 full seasons has been nothing short of amazing. Founded on F1’s principle of thought ‘to provide women an opportunity to further develop their race-craft under the support of current Formula Racing Teams, crew, and personal’ the progression of the Series has achieved milestones under the awe inspiring leadership of Managing Director Susie Wolff.
As Susie states on the eve of F1 Las Vagas GP: ”When I took on the role and arrived at a couple of races last year, to which I drove into an empty racetrack, it made me realise that if we are going to disrupt and have an impact with F1 Academy, we need to be seen. It is about the exposure, about being on the same platform, not having to build a fanbase and not having to fill a stadium like women’s football does; tapping into that really wide Formula 1 fanbase of which 42% is now female and the fastest growing demographic is the 18-24-year-old female”. Ref: Autosport.
Definitely, Susie has capitalized on her experiences and connections within the industry to increase the profile of the Series and the women racing. However, the challenges to afford change have been hard won as critics questioning – will the Series achieve return of investment for sponsors and partnerships alike – have been outgunned by deliberate action to incorporate F1 Academy as a support category within selected F1 Rounds in 2024 and further.
And, gaining Live TV coverage of racing across all 7 Rounds – streamed on F1 Academy platforms and YouTube Channel with a whopping 81K subscribers has meant increased levels of exposure for driver’s, the Series, Teams, and Brands. This business model has not only provided women an avenue to compete at the highest pinnacle of racing, but has also opened pathways which align outside sources of finance to support women racing in Motorsport.
Current F1 Academy driver Chloe Chambers states: ”The media aspect of F1 Academy is a big differentiating factor compared to any other series – F4, even F3 and F2. That’s why I’ve said I’ll use both of these years that I have in the series, because of the gain that you get from all the media and all the attention, especially now this year, with the F1 teams coming in and the Netflix documentary”. Ref: Autosport.
F1 Academy current leader – Abbi Pulling – securing double pole position in Round 5 at Singapore, 2024 Credit: F1 Academy
Heading into F1 Academy’s final 2 Rounds – Qatar on Nov 29 – December 1 followed by Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit on December 6 – 8, all eyes will be on the Championship winner along with who will take the vacating seats for F1 Academy 2025? With the pre-requisite in place that the winner can only race one season, and the remaining driver’s only 2 seasons – 10 seats are up for grabs. All of which confirms, F1 Academy has no desire to wait on the side-lines for the industry to play catch-up – rather the Series has created their own momentum, which ain’t slowing down anytime soon.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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