women in motorsports

follows from @highdownforce

[lost-gp]

F1 Academy Graduates: Where Are They Now?

Forgive Me My Salt // Nothing New // If— // The Summer Day // Class of 2013 // I Know the End // The Second Coming // I Dreamed A Dream // The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

a small rant below :)

i think the topic of whether f1a is successful or not is such a nuanced topic because you can argue that it isn't doing enough to actually help women progress through the single-seater ladder and towards f1 (abbi is the only one in this list that is still racing single seater and shes in gb3)

it realistically only gives them a platform and visibility they didnt have before and that's not inherently a bad thing, the visibility, the exposure, the opportunities and the fact that young girls can actually look at a female driver and see themselves in motorsport are all incredibly important. but visibility only gets you so far.

it also makes you question if the teams genuinely care about their f1a driver cause most of them are dropped as soon as they graduate/leave especially now with maya's situation; did ferrari ever care? did they ever see her a driver they wanted to develop long term or did they just sign her so they dont get a bad rep? and mind you maya finished 2025 in 2nd and she cant get funding, imagine the situation for rest of them

right now f1a isnt functioning as a ladder but just a platform. and it risks becoming the highest level women are expected to reach rather than the place that helps them reach higher levels in single seaters.

a lot of them came into f1a and left unchanged, a lot of them went back to where they were before. and thats not necessarily a bad thing because there is absolutely nothing wrong with going into rallying or endurance racing or any other discipline. f1 isnt the pinnacle of racing and these women can have incredibly successful careers outside of single seaters.

but it becomes a problem a lot them came into f1a with the dream of making it into f1 (or just to move up single seater in general). f1a can be a good thing and still not be enough.

[reids-gf]

everyone please go and leave maya supportive comments :( you don't know what she might be going through, mentally, and sometimes even a single nice thing you say at least makes it one bit better :(

i know we can't do much, but i think it's important we support her any way we can. maybe we even give her a push to the spotlight so sponsors or teams can find her

[reids-gf]

here's her twitter post

and

here's her instagram post

[golvmoppenao3]

Another Alisha and Chiara hug [X]

[1644505183]

[ihaveitprinteddout]

HUNGARIAN GP 2026 🇭🇺 - DAY TWO: HERRRRRR ❤️ (©️James Moy)

[maggieithink-06]

alba.racing: Back to full strength and P3 to show for it 🏆. Days like this belong to lots of people! @.mayaweug in my corner all weekend, someone I genuinely learn from every time we work together. The whole @.chrisdittmannracing crew, who worked nonstop to get everything right and seeing their reaction to the result meant as much as the result itself (tears were reported). @.ferraridriveracademy for the constant work of getting better, piece by piece. @.officialmpmotorsport, Silverstone didn’t go our way, but everything we built together showed up today. Thanks to the photographers around the track who’ve been so generous with their shots from the weekend. All tagged here @.lucasenna_photography, @.mc.mediaproductions, @.romyjpeg. Jumping back in @.scuderiaferrari for @.f1academy testing this week ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[moon-brain-90]

Alba larsen got her first British f4 podium today!!

[estebanmasson]

And [youre] the fourth female driver to get an overall podium. It's great to see this momentum, more and more girls, more and more females coming into the sport and getting success. Yeah, for sure. Um, I just, you know, I'm a driver like everyone else and I'm happy to prove I that can get a podium.

[moon-brain-90]

Alba larsen got her first British f4 podium today!!

[ilistentogirlinred]

alba larsen qualifies p9 in british f4 for zandvoort

[laura-mueller]

Alisha Palmowski, Red Bull and F1 Academy Championship Leader on The Podium with 2nd Place Chiara Bättig, and 3rd Place Emma Felbermayr - Silverstone Feature Race, 2026

[maggieithink-06]

f1academy: A Silverstone souvenir 🏆. Chiara Bättig receives the Pirelli Pole Position Award from Dario Marrafuschi, Head of Motorsport at Pirelli.

[laura-mueller]

Chiara Bättig, Red Bull Junior Driver, Wella, makes history the youngest ever polesitter, and as the first wildcard driver to take pole position in F1 Academy at Silverstone, 2026

[mechanicalgrip]

chiara bättig on her way to pole

[1644505183]

“That’s P13 for Alba in Quali, with full focus on the rest of the weekend coming up 👊”

[mechanicalgrip]

now I wont pretend ive followed much from chiara besides following her on insta for a while but i did know her talent

shame she didnt get to properly close out her OK season last year, she should have even more highlights to her name.

[mechanicalgrip]

CHIARA BÄTTIG FIRST WILD CARD AND YOUNGEST DRIVER EVER TO GET POLE IN F1 ACADEMY 🎉🎉🎉🎉🥳