After years of underfunding for the W Series making it less interesting to the average motorsport viewer, the F1 Academy was an excellent addition to the Formula series' as it was linked to a more recognisable name and fully supported by an incredible group of people. Most notably including Susie Wolff, wife of Toto Wolff who is the current team principal for Formula One's Mercedes AMG Petronas team.
After originally having Bruno Michel as the Managing Director of F1 Academy, it was quickly revealed at the start of their season that it would be overtaken by Ms. Wolff to "develop and prepare young female drivers to progress to higher levels." (Formula1.com) however he will still report to Stefan Domenicali. She provides the perfect amount of motorsport experience as a driver and her role in Williams F1 Racing. This would be the first step to getting F1 Academy a seat at the table.
It's worth mentioning that this isn't the first time Susie Wolff has been trying to get women a space in the motorsport world. In 2016, she created her own campaign called 'Dare To Be Different' to empower young girls to consider pursuing careers in a mostly male dominated industry, soon being recognised by the FIA and creating the first stepping stone in her big plan. Since then, Formula One has promoted inclusivity and gone to appoint more women in key positions in the team like Maria Mendoza as the first female chief aerodynamicist in Ferrari, a first for this historic team. Slowly over the years, this has branched off and an extension called 'Discover Your Drive' has been most recently made, aiming to open in 38 UK venues and extend globally in 2024, with 45,000 young girls already attending on a regular basis (Nouse.co.uk).
For F1 Academy, it would get to the first race in Spielberg which would cause confusion to the fans: there was no way to watch the races. What would have been the point in creating a series when we can't even visually interact with what's happening? Our choices were to watch live timings and focus on social media updates, or wait until highlights were posted to the official Formula One YouTube channel. A different way of interacting for sure, but people still felt it wasn't being given the attention that it should.
This was until this past weekend when Susie Wolff revealed on her Instagram that it would be the last weekend for F1 Academy to drive solo. As of their last race of the season in Austin planned for October, it will join Formula One on their race weekends just like Formula 2 and 3 series and better yet, it will be broadcasted just like these groups too. It is worth mentioning however that it's unclear whether this will be on Sky Sports or F1TV.
However this wasn't the only piece of information to hit the news outlets this week. All 10 Formula One teams will have F1 Academy drivers and liveries as early as next season in 2024 with one driver out of 15 representing each team. So 10 drivers with a Formula One team livery on 1 car, with the other 5 drivers being supported by other partners which is yet to be announced but hinted at being made public soon. This has got to be none other than the work of Susie Wolff and Stefano Domenicali, who praises the Managing Director's work by stating "Susie, the teams, and everyone involved are working tirelessly to ensure (we) go from strength to strength and deliver on the important objective." (Formula1.com) Also even agreeing that it will "raise awareness and profile of the series globally" (Formula1.com)
This is exactly what the series needs: a recognisable brand for committed fans of Formula One to engage their attention to the female series and provide the space for their competition to be made more accessible to the wider fan base. After some failed attempts to gain excitement about an all-female racing squads, I truly believe that this is a turning point in getting their voices heard, all because of Susie Wolff. She is an inspiration to the next generation of women trying to get into motorsport and I couldn't be more proud to see her influence at the forefront of the movement. Maybe this has partly been an encouragement for me to start this site?
What are everyone else's views? Do you think that Ms. Wolff is the best woman for this job? Who else would you like to see get involved with these sorts of campaigns?
End Note: This article is not written to demoralise any of the other women working to make F1 Academy a possibility. I'm simply highlighting the successes of Susie Wolff who has become the face of the new series. F1 Academy itself wouldn't be possible without the help from the creative minds of other women and personnel.
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