New F1 Academy Schedule Announced After Saudi Arabia Race Cancellation

By Luke Barras

F1 Academy is made up of 15 drivers in Formula 4 level cars with each driver being female.

The aim of the level has been to improve participation amongst females in the sport and to help them push towards higher levels such as Formula 3 and Formula 2.

Drivers such as Jade Jacquet and Rachel Robertson are driving in this year’s season, with a range of teams also featuring such as Campos Racing and Robin Motorsport.

These teams, and their drivers, were set to have seven rounds this season with these starting in China and ending in Las Vegas at the end of the year.

However, due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the round in Saudi Arabia (which was supposed to take place between April 17th and 19th) was cancelled.

Now, changes has taken place to the schedule following the cancellation of the races in the Middle Eastern nation.

As announced by Formula One Academy, the sport’s governing body has added races called “opening races” to the schedule in Montreal and Austin to make up for the round cancelled in the Middle East.

Expanding on the change on their official website, the Academy have explained that races in Canada and Austin will have an opening race, reverse grid race, and feature race, with drivers able to achieve up to a maximum of 65 points across these races.

They also went onto expand that a point for the fastest lap will be available in all three races, as long as the driver with the fastest lap finished inside the top eight in the reverse grid race or in the top ten in the opening race and feature race.

Qualifying for races also becomes more difficult, with consistency valued. A driver’s second fastest lap time will set the grid for the opening race whilst their fastest lap time sets the grid for the feature race.

The introduction of extra races in both of these rounds brings the total number of races back up to 14, which would have been the total if the round in Saudi Arabia had gone ahead.

It is not the first time that three races have taken place in Formula One Academy, however, with each of the rounds in the 2023 season featuring three races whilst it has been used when previous races have been cancelled in the last two seasons.