MADRID, 23 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The organization of the F1 Academy, the new exclusively female Formula 1 championship, announced this Thursday that its first season will feature seven events, including in Valencia and Barcelona, and a total of 21 races, including a season finale with a Formula 1 World Cup weekend.
The series will start at the Red Bull Ring in the Austrian town of Spielberg on April 28 and 29 and from there it will move to Spain to run at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Cheste (Valencia), between May 5 and 7, and at Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló (Barcelona), between May 19 and 21, respectively.
The championship will have a one-month break and will resume from June 23 to 25 in Zandvoort (Netherlands), to later go through Monza (Italy), July 7-9, Le Castellet (France), July 29-30 , and will finally conclude, already in October (20-22), at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin (Texas), coinciding with the F-1 World Championship.
Designed to include as many F1 tracks as possible, the calendar offers an opportunity for the 15 drivers to compete on a variety of challenging circuits, helping to develop their technical skills and prepare them to progress to higher levels of competition. F1 Academy.
At the moment, the five teams that will participate in this inaugural season and six drivers have already been confirmed, including the Spanish Nerea Martí, who will run for Campos Racing. In addition, the Swiss Lena Buhler and the German Carrie Schreiner (ART Grand Prix), the British Jessica Edgar and Abbi Pulling (Rodin Carlin), and the Filipino Bianca Bustamante (PREMA) are registered. There are still another nine drivers to be announced ahead of the first pre-season tests in Montmeló on April 11 and 12.
In addition, the F1 Academy has also confirmed its race weekend format for the upcoming campaign, with three per event, with two 40-minute free practice sessions, followed by two 15-minute qualifying sessions, where the first will set the The grid for Race 1 and the second for Race 3. The grid for Race 2 will be formed by reversing the order of the top eight of Qualifying 1, with the ninth and below grid starting in the positions in which they qualified. The drivers who achieve the ‘pole’ in the first and second qualifying will receive two points.
Races 1 and 3 will last 30 minutes and will award 25 points to the winner and 18 and 15 to the rest of the podium, while Race 2 will be 20 and will award 10 points to the winner. One point will also be awarded for the fastest lap at each round, provided the driver finishes in the top ten.
“I am very pleased to reveal the calendar for the inaugural F1 Academy season. Our goal was to be able to race on as many F1 Grand Prix tracks as possible, with circuits that could be a great challenge for the drivers. Teams know these tracks very well, so they will be able to help their young talents get familiar with them quickly,” said Bruno Michel, Managing Director of F1 Academy.
He considered it “fantastic” to coincide with the “great circus” in the Americas and admitted that “there is enough space” between the penultimate and the last race to “save on logistics costs” by having to send “cars and equipment by boat” .