Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Only two circuits from F1 Academy’s inaugural season will be raced on by the all-female Formula 4 series again in 2024.
Formula 1 announced the seven-round calendar for its new support series’ second season on Tuesday, and it features races on three different continents after a 2023 schedule that was primarily based in Europe.
Six of this year’s seven rounds are on F1 tracks, but only this weekend’s races at Circuit of the Americas – the first to take place outside of Europe – are actually supporting the world championship. Previous rounds have been on the support bill of the DTM, the NASCAR Euro Series and the World Endurance Championship.
The decision to make it a full-time F1 support series for 2024 was made this March, before an F1 Academy race had even taken place, and F1 announced its own calendar for next year in July.
No pre-season test dates have been announced, but F1 Academy claims that “the race calendar will be supplemented by an extensive official testing calendar that will be announced in due course”.
The 2024 season starts on March 7-9 in Jeddah, joining Formula 2 on the support bill of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Womens’ rights in Saudi Arabia is a topic that is often under international scrutiny, and the country has invested in womens’ sports in recent years.
Round two is at Miami International Autodrome on May 3-5, then the two returning venues Barcelona and Zandvoort are visited on June 21-23 and August 23-25 respectively.
Support races at the Singapore Grand Prix on September 20-22 mean three of the seven rounds take place on temporary circuits, and the last two rounds are at Losail (November 29-December 1) and Yas Marina Circuit (December 6-8). The F1 and F2 seasons also wrap up there.
“I am delighted to announce our seven-round season for 2024. This calendar cements our ambition to become a truly global series, expanding our reach and improving visibility for our mission,” said F1 Academy’s managing director Susie Wolff.
“We want to inspire young girls and women across the globe and show them that there’s a place for them in our sport, and racing alongside F1 will help us achieve this.”
Heading into the 2023 F1 Academy finale, Prema’s Marta Garcia holds a lead of 48 points over ART Grand Prix’s Sauber junior Lena Buhler. MP Motorsport’s Hamda Al Qubaisi is also in title contention with three races to go.