Female drivers from F1 Academy hoping to reach a new audience with Netflix series

LONDON (AP) — Abbi Pulling never thought so many people would want to watch her chase her Formula 1 dream.

Following on from “Drive To Survive,” which sparked a boom in F1’s audience through its mix of on-track action and behind-the-scenes insight, “F1: The Academy” debuts on Netflix on Wednesday. It’s set to bring unprecedented attention to a women’s-only racing series.

The documentary is “a huge opportunity,” said Pulling, a 22-year-old British driver whose run to the 2024 title forms the backbone of the series. The series follows F1 Academy, a competition which can make or break careers and runs as a support series to F1 Grand Prix races.

“It’s definitely changed my life and helped my career progress,” Pulling told The Associated Press. “Little 8-year-old me that started karting definitely would never have imagined how it’s all exploded and become so big.”

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A culture shift in auto racing

Operating a women-only racing series has been controversial among some F1 fans. Mocking, even abusive, social media comments are part of the scenery for the series and its drivers.

For the drivers, it offers funding and an opportunity to build a brand. Pulling, who’s shown sharing a house with her manager, says she couldn’t have afforded to keep racing if not for F1 Academy, or to continue for 2025 if not for winning the title.

There are also subtle ways the atmosphere in F1 Academy is different. “No friends on track” is the title of the opening episode of the docuseries, but the drivers are a close-knit group off the circuit. To an audience accustomed to the F1 feuds of “Drive To Survive,” seeing drivers consoling each other after mistakes and organizing birthday parties is a little different.

“As a woman, it’s like you go in there, you have your own safe space,” said Bianca Bustamante, a driver from the Philippines.

F1 Academy is part of a wider culture shift in auto racing. In 2018, F1 abolished the role of “grid girls” — models paid to stand in front of drivers’ cars — and while auto racing remains male-dominated, teams increasingly employ more women in engineering and strategy roles.

“Five, 10 years ago ... the motorsport world, community, was very, very different,” Bustamante told AP. “The only time girls were ever on the grid was if they were grid girls, or umbrella girls, or podium girls. All these things that we don’t see nowadays because of the representation.”

Aiming to make history

No female driver has started an F1 world championship race for 49 years, or even entered qualifying since 1992, and the last woman to take part in an official F1 session was Susie Wolff in British Grand Prix practice in 2015. Wolff is now the managing director of F1 Academy.

“I’ve lived it. I know how tough it is,” Wolff told the AP. “It’s my job to set something up which gives young female drivers opportunity for the future, and from start to end I think we’ve made a huge amount of progress so far in a very short space of time.”

F1 Academy uses modified Formula 4 cars, meaning that even the series’ best drivers have multiple more steps to reach the F1 grid. While it may take years to develop a female driver through F1’s ultra-competitive feeder series, Wolff says that’s not the only goal.

Helping a driver launch a sustainable long-term racing career in any series is a win for F1 Academy, Wolff argues, and so is encouraging more girls to start out in go-kart events or join the increasing numbers of female engineers in F1.

“It’s much more welcoming now, compared to how it was when I started back in 2001,” says Alice Powell, who mentors girls in karting series, alongside being Pulling’s manager and a development driver in the Formula E all-electric series. She says she’s seeing more girls starting out at the grassroots in Britain, and they’re having more success too.

“Female drivers are much more accepted. There are a lot more female drivers in the karting paddock, which is really nice to see. A lot more female mechanics are getting involved and helping the younger drivers as well.”

The journey, not the destination

It’s not always easy to follow what F1 Academy winners do next.

The unprecedented attention on F1 Academy compared to other development series means that moving up means leaving the spotlight — at least for now.

Pulling’s reward for winning the title was a fully-funded seat in the British-based GB3 series this year. That costs far more than Pulling could have paid and gives her a much faster car, but has a fraction of F1 Academy’s audience.

Bustamante, who uses her social media influencer skills to keep her career moving, has also raised the funds to join Pulling in GB3, while other ex-F1 Academy drivers like 2023 champion Marta Garcia have moved into sportscar racing.

Drivers get a maximum two years in F1 Academy, with their costs heavily subsidized by F1. The vast costs of auto racing — which only increase as the cars get more expensive and powerful — mean that failure in F1 Academy could easily end a career.

“I don’t shy away from the harsh realities of sport,” Wolff said. “So failure will become part of the journey for many drivers who are not racing at the front.”

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing