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.
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.”
Netflix
