F1 Academy Accelerates As Brands, Fans, and Momentum Drive Women’s Return to Formula 1

Only a few sports exist where men and women can compete together. For the ones that exist, skill shall matter more than physical strength in them to maintain equality. One such sport promoting equality is motorsport racing. The F1 academy was built with the sole motive of reintroducing females into the F1 series because not more than 5 female drivers have participated in the Grand Prix in F1, with the last one decades ago.

The F1 Academy is gaining momentum with partnerships from known brands like Gatorade, Sephora and Lego. While the central vision of the 2023 inaugurated pipeline academy is still in progress, its rapid growth has surely caught the eye.

“The momentum around F1 Academy is only growing as we head into our fourth season,” F1 Chief Commercial Officer Emily Prazer said. “The audience continues to expand year on year, and the series has become one of the most-watched series in motorsport, which naturally keeps brands really engaged. Women now make up over 40% of our audience and are one of the fastest-growing fan groups, with around three in four women accounting for new fans coming into motorsport, which shows just how relevant F1 Academy is as a platform.”

“For Formula 1, you can imagine it’s the ultimate endurance sport. You get temperatures of 130 degrees in a car — the drivers lose between 2 and 4 kilograms a race, so you can imagine hydration plays a particularly important role in Formula 1,” said Jane Wakely, international CMO at Gatorade parent PepsiCo. Gatorade plans to thus “partner with F1 Academy and really invest in the science of sports hydration in Formula 1, but also particularly for women", Wakely said.