F1 Academy will hold two races per weekend in 2024, down from three in 2023, as the all-female F4 series takes up a place on the F1 support bill for its second season. Here’s what you need to know about the change.

By Calla Kra-Caskey

Joining the Formula 1 support bill for 2024 means F1 Academy will be sharing track time with several other development series, chiefly F2. As a result, the weekend schedule has been compressed.

This year, each F1 Academy weekend will consist of one or two 40-minute practice sessions, one 30-minute qualifying session and two 30-minute races. Each driver’s fastest time in qualifying will determine their starting position for race one, while their second fastest qualifying lap will determine their grid position for race two. This will reduce F1 Academy’s track time from seven sessions per weekend to four or five.

The first indications of the format change came with F1’s release of the full timetable for the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, the venue for F1 Academy’s season opener from 7 to 9 March. The F1 Academy sessions were later removed from the timetable but were added to F1 Academy’s website as of Saturday, 17 February. There has been no formal announcement about the change.

Last year, F1 Academy supported Formula 1 at the final round in Austin. Earlier in the season, it supported various series across Europe, including the Formula Regional European Championship, DTM and the World Endurance Championship.

Each round included two qualifying sessions and three races, with the starting grids for races one and three determined by the first and second qualifying session respectively. The grid for the now-obsolete middle race was set by reversing the top eight finishers of the first qualifying session.

F1 Academy effectively takes up the vacancy on the F1 support bill left by W Series, an all-female Formula Regional–level series that held three seasons before entering administration last year. Several F1 Academy drivers previously competed in W Series, including Bianca Bustamante, Chloe Chambers and Emely de Heus.

A major criticism of W Series, which was not overseen by the F1 organisation, was its limited track time. Each round had only one practice session, one qualifying session and one 30-minute race. F1 Academy aimed to address that by adding multiple races per weekend and offering more extensive pre-season and in-season testing.

F1 Academy had a three-day test behind closed doors at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from 5 to 7 February and will hold another this coming week at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in preparation for the opening round, Feeder Series understands.

Most Formula 4 series worldwide include three or four races per round. By shifting to two races each weekend, the F1 Academy schedule has become more similar to that of the Formula Regional European Championship, which uses two qualifying sessions to determine the grid for two races. Reigning F1 Academy champion Marta García and runner-up Léna Bühler were both promoted to the series for 2024.

F2 and F3, also supporting the F1 calendar, each have one feature race and one reverse-grid sprint race determined by one qualifying session. Porsche Supercup, which races alongside F1 for eight rounds, runs one race per weekend.

The adjustment in the format comes alongside two other rule changes to the series announced earlier in February. Starting with the 2024 season, the top five finishers in F1 Academy will earn FIA Super Licence points, with 10 going to the winner. The series will also permit one wild card entry per round by a local driver. Wild card entries will be run by reigning teams’ champions Prema Racing.

Header photo credit: Prema Racing