Arab News

All you need to know about the all-female 2024 F1 Academy race

- Kadija Osman Dubai

Here is everything you need to know about the Kingdom’s inaugural F1 Academy race — opening the second season of the all-female racing series — taking place in Jeddah from March 6 to 8 ahead of the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Created by Formula 1 in 2022, the F1 Academy is an all-female racing category featuring some of the world’s best drivers. It is designed to develop women racers aged 25 and under.

Susie Wolff, wife of Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff, holds the position of managing director at the F1 Academy.

This season, all 10 Formula 1 teams will support one driver who will have the team’s livery on their car. Brands including Tommy Hilfiger, Puma and Charlotte

Tilbury have stepped in to sponsor the remaining drivers.

Teams and drivers

The five teams on the F1 Academy grid are Rodin Motorsport, Prema Racing, Campos Racing, ART Grand Prix and MP Motorsport. Each team will have three drivers, compared to two in Formula One.

Nine of the 15 drivers from the inaugural season are set to return including Emirati sisters Hamda and Amna Al-Qubaisi, both backed by Red Bull.

Full 2024 F1 Academy Schedule

The 2024 season will see seven rounds across three continents over the course of 10 months.

The opener will be held at Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Corniche Circuit

before it hits the US at the Miami Internatio­nal Autodrome in May and the iconic Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the third round. Round 1: March 06-08 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Round 2: May 02-04

United States

Round 3: June 20-22 Barcelona, Spain

Round 4: Aug. 22-24 Zandvoort, Netherland­s (Circuit Zandvoort)

Miami,

Round 5: Sept. 19-21 Marina Bay, Singapore (Marina Bay Street Circuit)

Round 6: Nov. 28-30 Lusail, Qatar (Lusail Internatio­nal Circuit) Round 7: Dec. 05-07 Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina Circuit)

The Points System

Each weekend there will be a qualifying round and two races. During qualifying, each driver’s fastest lap will set the order for Race One. The drivers’ second fastest laps will set the grid for Race Two.

In both races, points will be awarded to the top 10 classified drivers as follows: 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 1 — as they are in Formula 1. Each weekend, a driver is able to accumulate a total of 56 points; the teams are competing for 122 points.

For more informatio­n go https://www.f1academy.com/

 ?? File/AFP ?? This season, all 10 Formula 1 teams will support one driver who will have the team’s livery on their car.
File/AFP This season, all 10 Formula 1 teams will support one driver who will have the team’s livery on their car.

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