F1 Academy’s Susie Wolff: ‘This will not fail. He has too many people behind him who want him to succeed’

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Formula One’s new all-female single-seater racing series is not under immediate pressure to make money, according to its managing director, as it marks just the first phase of a comprehensive plan to foster gender equality in motorsport.

Susie Wolff, who runs the F1 Academy, says youth-oriented racing is not simply about developing talent in the driver’s seat, but will also extend to youth racing and karting to attract more women and girls. to all corners of the sport.

“This is not a women’s thing, we need to make it a journey for the sport because I think in the long run this can add value to the Formula One platform,” she says. “We have a big needle to turn but if you can change perceptions in the short term, then in the long term you can see results.”

The new series launched at the end of April at the Spielberg circuit in Austria, with the participation of 15 drivers from five teams. The F1 Academy comprises seven race weekends in total, with the finale coinciding with the F1 race in Austin, Texas in October.

The last time a female driver came close to taking part in a real F1 race was 31 years ago, when Giovanna Amati failed to qualify for the Brazilian Grand Prix. However, many in the sport believe that more can be done to make it a realistic possibility in the future.

“We’re not just providing a platform for 15 young women, the vision is something much, much bigger in the long term,” says Wolff. “We are really creating a nurturing environment for progression. But we are also going deeper at the grassroots level to grow the talent pool.”

Wolff began racing at the age of eight and was, herself, a development driver for Williams F1 from 2012 to 2015. She later became the principal of the Formula E team, Venturi Racing, and took over as director. of the new F1 Academy in March this year.

As Wolff discovered during his own time in the driver’s seat, cost has long been a major deterrent to those looking to compete professionally. With the Academy, F1 has tried to lower financial barriers, while giving young drivers as much time on the track as possible.

To do that, F1 is awarding per-car subsidies of €150,000, which individual drivers must then match with their own funding. The rest of the money comes from the teams. F1 says this represents a significant reduction in driver costs compared to other similar racing series.

The cars themselves are identical and use the same chassis as those on the F4 junior circuit, chosen due to their relatively low cost and ease of maintenance.

31 years

Time since a woman has come close to being on an F1 grid

The hope is that the best players from the Academy will move on to F3 or, more likely, F4, where they will compete against their male counterparts.

“We want to make sure that whoever wins this season moves on to the next step in their career,” Wolff says, though he admits that the prospect of seeing a female driver make it to the F1 grid is still eight to 10 years away.

But organizers have come under fire for deciding not to broadcast the opening races live, instead choosing to publish edited highlights of the Academy races on the main F1 YouTube channel after the event. The inaugural contest package has so far garnered approximately 278,000 views.

However, once the series aligns with the F1 calendar from 2024, the ambition is for the competition to be shown live.

For now, making money is not a major concern. Last year, W Series, another women’s-only racing circuit, was forced to curtail its season after running into financial difficulties. Some of its drivers now compete in the F1 Academy, while Jamie Chadwick, the three-time W Series champion, has moved to the US to drive in Indy NXT competition for Andretti Autosport.

278,000

Number of views of the Academy races on the F1 YouTube channel

Lessons have been learned from the W Series’ woes, Wolff says, and there is realism about the uphill challenge for a new all-female racing circuit looking to generate enough revenue to finance itself.

Wolff believes that in the long term, the Academy can attract business partners to help make it a sustainable business. But, with the backing of F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and parent company of F1 media freedomthe immediate focus is on developing the concept and making it work.

“We have the luxury of having the full commitment of F1, Stefano and Liberty, which means we are under no [commercial] pressure,” explains Wolff. “This will not fail. It has too solid a foundation and too many people behind it who want it to succeed.”

She adds: “The message has been: let’s get it right. If that means it requires more investment initially, then that will be the case.”

In terms of targets, Wolff wants to see the best drivers in the Academy continue to progress through the system, but he also wants to see signs that off-track opportunities have opened up.

“We are not here to open the door for every young woman trying to get into the sport. We need to get the most talented, and we need to help them move up the ranks.”

Whether the plan is working should be clear within two or three years, Wolff reckons. “Obviously, we’ve seen what came along and didn’t work, so I think it will be pretty obvious if what we’re doing is creating the impact that we’re all hoping for. [for],” she says.