As a long-time Formula One fan, I’m ashamed to admit that I had been blissfully ignorant of the gender disparity within motorsports. Like many followers of the sport, it’s the pull of the top-tier drivers and teams that keeps me watching every race weekend – and women simply don’t feature (on track, at least). F1 is so male-dominated that I hadn’t even given the prospect of a female driver much thought.
Yes, we’ve seen changes in recent years, particularly in the diversity of presenters in TV coverage of the sport, and behind the scenes within the teams themselves. There was even the short-lived but all-female W Series, which left a legacy of representation but ultimately closed in 2023 due to a lack of funding (go figure). However, this ultimately sparked my curiosity in the future of women’s racing.
Now, we have F1 Academy, the all-female racing category that’s the subject of a much-needed new Netflix series, F1: The Academy. The show, shot in a similar way to the ever-popular Drive To Survive, already feels like a step forward – as one of the platform’s only women-focused sports docuseries, it’s not gone unnoticed that this is a big move for Netflix, too.
Girl power, indeed.
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But it’s Susie Wolff, former professional racing driver and managing director of F1 Academy, who is making the really big statements. “The ultimate aim of F1 Academy is to get a female driver back on the grid in Formula One,” she says within two minutes of the first episode. “And we will,” she adds. Consider my interest piqued.
Over the course of seven episodes, we’re introduced to the impressive young women competing in the F1 Academy 2024 series, documenting their inevitable highs and lows, both on the track and off it. That includes Filipina talent Bianca Bustamante and determined British talent Abbi Pulling.
“A show like this would have been an amazing thing for me to see when I was younger,” says 22-year-old Abbi, who grew up watching Moto GP with her dad before discovering car racing. “Valentino Rossi was always my role model – there were no women competing back then.”
For Bianca, 20, she also struggled to find representation to look up to growing up in the Philippines. “I've always had to look elsewhere – abroad, in Europe. It can be quite a struggle to find a place where you belong in motorsport, especially as a standout – being a woman,” she says.
It’s certainly proof as to why programmes like F1 Academy are so needed, since both women have gone on to progress in the sport – with Bianca and Abbi notably competing against male drivers in the GB3 Championship as the first female drivers to do so – and are keen to credit the women-only category for their success.
“F1 Academy was my safest place,” says Bianca. “I could learn and make mistakes around a group of people who supported me. I had the luxury of seeing a female mechanic who would give me a hug if I ever had a bad moment or a crash – or just being able to relate to the other female drivers. I hope a lot of people can relate to that when they watch the show.”
For Abbi, she was close to giving up her racing career due to a lack of funding – before the opportunity to join F1 Academy came along. “I’ve been able to carry on racing because of this female-only series; I really appreciate the position I’m in because of that,” she says.
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Ultimately, funding isn’t only an issue for young female drivers trying to make their way in racing – it’s widely considered an elitist sport that favours the rich and privileged, thanks to the extensive costs involved. But there are challenges that only female drivers have to contend with.
“Well, obviously we have periods,” says Abbi, who adds that she was inspired by athlete Dina Asher-Smith and her openness about how her cycle affects performance.
“It can really affect me in the heat,” she says. “Miami was a really hot race last year. It was made so much harder for me because I was really ill on the day because of my period – obviously, on an all-female grid we’re all in the same boat, but because we’re in a male-dominated sport, it’s not spoken about enough.”
I ask if periods are taken into account within their training plans – a concept many other female athletes are now advocating for. “It’s more something we deal with ourselves,” says Abbi. “I have my own emergency kit!”
“I think that’s why building a team you trust is so important,” adds Bianca. “We all have different bodies, it’s about understanding what you react well to and what you don’t. For me, I’m quite small and prone to injury – just trying to build enough mass to be able to race in a car at speeds of 240 kilometres per hour is tough.”
Abbi agrees. “If anything, we have to train way harder than the guys,” she says. “I get frustrated sometimes. You have to really put in the work. It’s hard, but it's not impossible. We can go up the ranks. We're not going to sit here and cry about it, we’ll just get on with it.”
And so, the ultimate question. With that in mind, do they see women making it in Formula One, like Susie Wolff predicts? “Maybe wait for season five,” laughs Bianca. But progress is progress.
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“It won’t take a miracle, but it will take a lot of hard work. I mean, Abbi and I have graduated to GB3 – this is my first year competing in a mixed grid with all male drivers and just the two of us being the only females. It’s tough, and that’s only a glimpse of what it’s like in Formula One.
“But Formula One wants and needs a female driver. That’s why I think it’s not too far from happening. But it takes more than the driver – it’s about initiatives that support women, as well as support from brands and the teams themselves.
“Unfortunately, we’re always rooting back to where we were a decade ago, when the only way a woman was ever on the grid was to hold an umbrella, or as a grid girl. Motorsport is often viewed with a male gaze, so that’s something we have to fight to change.”"
For Abbi, F1 Academy is the only proof the sceptics need. “I’m living proof – so is Bianca, and all the other girls – that these all-female series are producing success. It has kept my racing going. I’m back in mixed competition, I competed in British F4, and now GB3… how much more do you need to see? There’s some people that we can never win over. But it’s working. It’s just a matter of time.”
Some critics of F1: The Academy have suggested that the women’s category will never make for as exciting storylines as Drive To Survive, since the likelihood is that female drivers won’t progress to top-tier racing like Formula One. But perhaps that is precisely the point. I’ve certainly had my own much-needed education in women’s motorsport – and it’s an education all racing fans need to join if anything’s ever going to change.
We need young girls to know that there is a place for them in racing, so that talented women can rise through the ranks and prove those sceptics wrong. Like Abbi says, it’s only a matter of time.
F1: The Academy drops on Netflix 28 May.
