Formula 1 teams must take their newly formed partnerships with the all-female F1 Academy beyond just branding to ensure the continued progress of the series’ drivers, according to Sky Sports F1’s Naomi Schiff.
The second season of F1 Academy gets under way this week in Saudi Arabia, with several key changes having been made after the series’ inaugural campaign in 2023.
Crucially, Formula 1 is on board, with each of its 10 teams running an F1 Academy driver and car in their colours. Additionally, all seven rounds of the series will take place as part of the undercard on F1 grand prix weekends and be televised, live on Sky Sports.
“The fact they are holding all of their races on F1 weekends is hugely important because the eyeballs that you have at the track will automatically be transferred to F1 Academy, not 100 per cent, but a huge number of them,” Schiff said.
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Highlights of race one from the seventh round of the F1 Academy series in Austin where Marta Garcia was crowned champion after holding off Abbi Pulling for the win
“The fact that the teams have decided to back these F1 Academy teams by having a driver and car in their colours is hugely important from a financial perspective, because it will attract the sponsors more so than it necessarily would have before.
“And there can be a lot of crossover between F1 team partners to F1 Academy teams, so I think from that perspective it’s a huge allyship that is great for F1 Academy.”
How can teams help develop F1 Academy drivers?
While the commercial benefits of F1’s involvement are clear, Schiff believes that for F1 Academy to deliver on its ultimate goal of getting females onto the F1 grid, the drivers are going to need the same treatment that motorsport’s male prospects are given.
“Hopefully the links stretch further than just from an optical perspective,” Schiff said. “Having them involved in their socials, in their videos helps the drivers grow their profiles, which will hopefully help them get the sponsorship they need as well to do more testing to advance their skills and make them better drivers.
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Lewis Hamilton was down at the track to congratulate newly crowned F1 Academy champion Marta Garcia on her 2023 title
“And also from that perspective, if they bring them into the team, I hope they’ll be doing a lot of development with the drivers, whether that’s on the simulator, working with the engineers that they have access to, maybe even with some of the F1 team’s drivers. Hopefully these teams are passing on skills to the drivers as well as branding.
“Part of the issue is that these drivers are being picked up at essentially what is between the ages of 16 and 24, whereas some of the male junior drivers have been in these F1 team programmes from a very young age. It’s not enough to just throw the girls in and say, ‘you’ve got eight races, however many free practices, and that should be enough’.
“No, there needs to be proper testing programmes, proper development programmes, proper funding behind these drivers because the opportunity is great, and I hope that they take the most out of it. But there needs to be more from partners, teams and other backers.”
Also new to F1 Academy is the top five finishers at the end of the season being awarded points towards an FIA super licence, which is required for drivers to enter F1.
“It’s huge,” Schiff says. “Being in a championship that provides super licence points is a privilege.
“In order to earn super licence points, you have to be driving at a certain level and achieving pretty great things, so it’s great that the FIA have recognised that it’s important for F1 Academy to have something like this to give the drivers the opportunity that they need.”
All-female series ‘hugely inspirational’ for young girls
Before F1 Academy was launched in 2023, the all-female W Series had set out with similar aims before going into administration last year.
The competition ran for three seasons, the first of which Schiff competed in, with Britain’s Jamie Chadwick taking all three titles before landing a seat in the North American Indy NXT series and being made a Williams academy driver.
Schiff believes that, while some patience may be required, the impact of W Series and F1 Academy is going to inspire a next generation of female drivers, who can get involved with the sport at a younger age.
Naomi Schiff drove in the inaugural W Series season in 2019
“F1 Academy isn’t only a great thing for the drivers who are on the grid, but initiatives like this are really important to inspire young girls, and not only young girls but also their parents,” Schiff said.
“I think one of the major barriers is that a lot of people still see motorsport as a sport for men and so many of them are still unaware that women and men can race equally in motorsport. So it’s also about raising awareness for parents, for young girls – spread the message that actually there is a platform for women out there that will help you progress in the sport.
“Since the days of Jamie Chadwick in W Series and the success that she’s had, that’s already been hugely inspirational for young girls, there’s been direct correlation between programmes like these and the increase in female licence holders. There’s the highest number of female licence holders in motorsport to date since these projects began.
“So you can tell that it’s working, but it’s definitely not something that’s going to change overnight, it’s going to be a generational change.”
Sky Sports F1’s Saudi Arabian GP schedule
Wednesday March 6
- 2.30pm: Drivers’ Press Conference
Thursday March 7
- 9.50am: F2 Practice
- 10.50am: F1 Academy Practice
- 1pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice One (session starts at 1.30pm)
- 2.55pm: F2 Qualifying
- 4.45pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Two (session starts at 5pm)
- 6.15pm: F1 Academy Qualifying
- 7.15pm: The F1 Show
Friday March 8
- 11.55am: F1 Academy Race 1
- 1.10pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Three (session starts at 1.30pm)
- 3.05pm: F2 Sprint Race
- 4.10pm: Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying build-up
- 5pm: SAUDI ARABIAN GP QUALIFYING
Saturday March 9
- 12pm: F1 Academy Race 2
- 1.20pm: F2 Feature Race
- 3.30pm: Saudi Arabian GP build-up: Grand Prix Saturday
- 5pm: THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX
- 7pm: Saudi Arabian GP reaction: Chequered flag
- 9.30pm: Saudi Arabian GP highlights
Watch the second round of the new F1 season – the Saudi Arabian GP – live on Sky Sports F1 this coming week, with practice on Thursday, qualifying on Friday and the race at 5pm on Saturday. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership for just £21 a month for 12 months
