2024 F1 Academy drivers: the 15 hopefuls racing in all-female series

All-female single-seater series F1 Academy returns for a second season in 2024, revamped with new rules, a new structure and free-to-view live coverage to take the F4-based series to the next level.

Last year’s debut championship coincided with the collapse of W Series and saw several drivers move to the F1-backed formula, which subsidises entry fees and offers further support to the series winners. The inaugural champion, Marta Garcia has duly moved to a fully-funded Prema Racing seat in the Formula Regional European Championship.

She leaves a series that is now more closely integrated with Formula 1: each grand prix team is backing a nominated driver, who runs a car in their livery, while a number of fashion brands have also partnered with drivers on the 15-strong grid.

See our F1 Academy guide for full details of the format and schedule of the championship that’s designed to showcase some of the most talented young female drivers from around the world, offering a springboard to existing feeder series, with the goal of ultimately supplying a female F1 driver,

Below, we profile each of the 15 young drivers racing in the 2024 series, split between five teams.

 

ART Grand Prix

Bianca Bustamente

Filipina racer Bianca Bustamante has been racing karts since the age of five and made history when she became the first female driver to be signed to the McLaren Driver Development Programme in October 2023. Joining a talent pipeline that brought Lewis Hamilton to the forefront of motor sport, she will benefit from the expertise of Emanuele Pirro, who directs the programme, and can expect to work alongside McLaren’s Formula 1, IndyCar and Formula E programmes, while also getting time in the team’s simulator.

Bustamante won the China Grand Prix Kart Scholarship four times, and the Macao International Kart Grand Prix three times — success that eventually led to a jump into single-seaters. With four top-ten finishes in the 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship, Bustamante continued to show her impressive pace and in her first season of F1 Academy, she scored two wins and four podiums. Returning for her second season in F1 Academy, she moves from Prema Racing to ART Grand Prix.

 

Lia Block

Daughter of the late rally icon Ken Block, Lia Block was nominated by Williams Racing to make her single-seater debut in F1 Academy racing for ART Grand Prix. Driven by her passion for racing instilled by her father, the young driver told Motor Sport last year: “The ‘Block legacy’ is not only my father’s. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t love it. I’m truly doing this mostly for myself. I’ll go wherever my career takes me.”

The 17-year-old made history when she became the youngest American Rally Association champion to win the Open Two-Wheel Drive class in 2023. She also competed in six of the ten Extreme E rounds in 2023.

 

Aurelia Nobels

Sponsored by Puma, Aurelia Nobels joins ART for F1 Academy 2024. The 17-year-old Brazilian is already a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, securing a place after winning the senior category of FIA Girls on Track’s Rising Stars programme.

Her first single-seater campaign saw Nobels finish 16th in the 2022 F4 Brazilian Championship. She was 18th in Danish F4 that same year before moving on to Italian F4 in 2023 and finishing 26th in the standings. Leaving a two-round stint in the Formula 4 UAE Championship to join F1 Academy, the young driver completes the ART line-up.

 

---

Campos Racing

Chloe Chambers

Set to make her F1 Academy debut, Chambers was nominated by Haas to drive for Campos Racing. Born in China and raised in America, the 19-year-old will be the only American driver on the 2024 grid sponsored by an American team.

At 16 years old, Chambers became the first female pole-sitter and winner in the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship. She finished 26th place in the 2021 Formula 4 United States Championship, and sixth in the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America. Chambers finished the 2022 season of W Series as the best-placed rookie.

Carrie Schreiner

Returning for her second season of F1 Academy, the 25-year-old German driver will represent the Sauber Academy. Moving from ART Grand Prix, she will drive for Campos Racing alongside Chloe Chambers. In the inaugural F1 Academy season, Schreiner finished 11th in the standings with 56 points and one victory to her name.

In 2018, the German won her class of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Middle East and the Gran Turismo Touring Car Cup. With four appearances at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, she has topped the podium three times and won her class in 2021. Schreiner has also scored several top-ten finishes in the German and British F4 Championships.

 

Nerea Marti

Fourth in the 2021 W Series championship, Nerea Marti raced in the first F1 Academy season, taking a race win and once again finishing fourth in the championship. This season, the 22-year-old Spaniard returns with Campos and a title challenge in her sights,

This year, she’s backed by Tommy Hilfiger and also oversees her own karting team.

 

---

MP Motorsport

Hamda Al Qubaisi

One of the most exciting drivers in the pack, Hamda Al Qubaisi is a 21-year-old Emirati driver returning for her second season in F1 Academy and backed by Red Bull Racing. Last season, she achieved four wins to finish third in the standings. Sticking with MP Motorsport for the 2024 campaign, Al Qubaisi is the highest-ranked returning driver in F1 Academy.

Starting in karting, Al Qubaisi finished third in the British IAME X30 cadet championship in 2017. After moving to Italian F4 in 2019, a short spell in Formula 4 UAE saw her win three races. Her second stint in Formula 4 UAE saw her collect three wins and six podiums, finishing P4 in the standings. Returning to challenge for the F1 Academy 2024 title, she’s definitely one to watch.

 

Amna Al Qubaisi

Sticking with MP Motorsport for her second season in F1 Academy, Amna Al Qubaisi returns as a member of the Red Bull Academy programme. Sponsored by Visa Cash App RB, the Emirati makes up a trio of Red Bull drivers in F1 Academy. In her first season of the series, she earned two wins and two podiums to finish sixth in the standings.

Al Qubaisi made history when she became the first Middle Eastern woman to win a Formula 4 race and complete a Formula E test in 2018. With experience in Italian F4,Asian F3, and FREC championships, the Emirati will be looking to build on her first season.

Emely De Heus

Completing the MP Motorsport trio, Emely De Heus was signed to the Red Bull Academy programme with the Al Qubaisi sisters to challenge for the 2024 F1 Academy title.

Before moving to single-seater racing, the 20-year-old clinched the Dutch Wintercup Senior series title and finished fourth in the National Championship. She has competed in the UAE Formula 4 Championship, and W Series where she scored points on her debut. In her first year of F1 Academy, she won from pole in Barcelona and finished ninth in the standings.

---

Prema Racing

Tina Hausmann

Driving for Prema Racing, 17-year-old Swiss driver Tina Hausmann joined Aston Martin under the mentorship of Jessica Hawkins, the former W Series driver who is the team’s head of racing for F1 Academy. The young driver will debut in the all-female series, filling the Prema seat with team-mates Maya Weug and Doriane Pin.

Having been karting from the age of seven, Hausmann has competed in Swiss Rotax Mini series, OK-Junior series, Germany’s DKM and ADAC Masters Championships. Her jump to single-seaters saw a debut podium finish at the Formula Winter Series, eventually finishing 10th in the standings. Hausmann also took the title in the female category of the Italian F4 Championship.

 

Doriane Pin

The Frenchwoman makes her F1 Academy debut with Prema Racing as a part of the Mercedes Junior Programme with support from the Iron Dames — a programme founded by former racing driver Deborah Mayer and dedicated to supporting women in motor sport. Making the jump from endurance racing, this will be her first full run at single-seaters.

Scoring five podiums at the Le Mans Cup in 2021, the 20-year-old comes with a track record of success. The Iron Dame took victory in her class at the 2022 European Le Mans Series season-finale, secured nine out of a possible 14 wins in the 2022 Ferrari Challenge Europe and won a ‘Revelation of the Year’ Award while competing on the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship grid.

 

Maya Weug

Maya Weug became the first female member of the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2021 following multiple championship victories in karting where she showed impressive skill and pace. At just 19 years old, her racing resume has continued to grow and she will hope to continue her climb up the motor sport ladder in a drive with Prema Racing in F1 Academy this season.

Weug was 17th in last year’s Formula Regional European Championship. She has previously raced for the Iron Lynx and Iron Dames teams in the Italian and ADAC Formula 4 championships in 2021 and 2022 and will be looking to return to the front of her pack during her first F1 Academy season.

 

---

Rodin Motorsport

Abbi Pulling

Staying with Rodin Motorsport for her second season in F1 Academy, Pulling was nominated as an Alpine junior for the 2024 season. The young Brit has three years of experience in the Alpine driver development programme, and is set for another title fight this year.

At only 20-years-old, she’s had four campaigns in the British F4 Championship, finishing sixth in her rookie season. Pulling also secured fourth place in the W Series standings, with two podium finishes to her name in her first full season. In the inaugural season of F1 Academy, she claimed seven podiums, two pole positions, and four fastest laps.

 

Lola Lovinfosse

Lola Lovinfosse returns for her second season of F1 Academy with Rodin Motorsport and a new sponsorship from Charlotte Tilbury.

Livinfosse started karting in 2018, going on to finish in eighth place in the Trofeo Andrea Margutti. After short spells in the World Karting and European Championships, the WSK Euro Series and the WSK Champions Cup she moved on to Formula racing. In the Female Trophy category of the Spanish F4 championship, she won 13 of the 21 races. Finishing 10th in her debut F1 Academy season, the 18-year-old is on the hunt for wins this year.

Jessica Edgar

Returning for her second campaign in F1 Academy, Edgar completes the Rodin Motorsport trio for the 2024 season. The 18-year-old British driver sticks with Rodin after securing a win, pole position, fastest lap, and several points finishes to earn an eighth-place finish in the standings last season.

Edgar began karting at just five years old, claiming wins in the Cumbria Kart Racing Club, Mini X30 category and in the British Kart Championship throughout her junior career. Making the jump to single-seaters in 2022, she achieved a podium finish in the GB4 Championship in her rookie season to finish seventh in the standings.