F1 Academy is back for a new season and you can watch every race in 2025 live on Sky Sports F1.

After Britain’s Abbi Pulling dominated last year and elected to not defend her titles, all eyes will be on who can become champion in 2025.

F1 Academy creates a smooth transition from karting up the F1 feeder series ladder, with the possibility of a woman racing in F1 in the future.

The last female driver to take part in an F1 weekend was F1 Academy managing director Susie Wolff for Williams at the 2014 British GP, when she took part in Practice One.

Lella Lombardi is the last driver to race in the Grand Prix itself, in 1976, and she’s the only woman to score points when she finished sixth at the 1975 Spanish GP.

What is F1 Academy?

F1 Academy was launched in November 2022 by Formula 1 with the aim of preparing and developing female drivers to enable them to progress to higher levels of competition.

The category is designed to “give more access to track time, racing and testing, as well as support with technical, physical, and mental preparations”.

It is hoped the F1 Academy will provide the experience to progress to Formula 3, and help provide Formula 2 and Formula 1 opportunities in the future.

Susie Wolff, the former Williams F1 development driver and last woman to drive in an F1 practice session 11 years ago, heads up the series as managing director.

What car is used in F1 Academy?

F1 Academy will see all drivers race in identical cars – a Tatuus T421 chassis that is also used in Formula 4.

The cars are powered by turbo-charged engines supplied by Autotecnica and capable of 174 horsepower, while Pirelli supply the tyres.

The cars will have a top speed of 240kph (149mph).

What happened in 2024?

Abbi Pulling won nine of the 14 races as she romped her way to the title, remarkably finishing every race on the podium.

Pulling won by 121 points over Mercedes junior Doriane Pin, who won the season-opener but an injury to her ribs appeared to knock her confidence and form.

Maya Weug was third in the standings and won a thrilling season finale in Abu Dhabi, which will hopefully continue into this year.

Who are the 2025 drivers and teams?

F1 Academy features six teams – ART, Campos, Rodin Carlin, MP Motorsport, Prema and new entry Hitech- each entering three cars to make up a 18-strong grid.

All six teams also race in Formula 3 and Formula 2 and have pedigree for bringing through young talent: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are ART alumni, Lando Norris was given his F2 debut by Campos before racing for Carlin, Charles Leclerc and Mick Schumacher both won the F2 title with Prema while MP Motorsport had 2022 F2 champion Felipe Drugovich.

There will be a new F1 Academy champion as 2024 winner Pulling has moved to the GB3 Championship. Inaugural champion from 2023 Marta Garcia is racing in sportscars.

Last year’s runner-up Doriane Pin will start the season as favourite and her closest title rival is expected to be Maya Weug.

Chloe Chambers, Aurelia Nobels, Aurelia Nobels, Lia Block and Tina Hausmann return from last season, while Britain’s Ella Lloyd has got a full-time seat.

F1 Academy 2025 calendar

For the second season, F1 Academy is exclusively taking place on Formula 1 weekends this season with seven rounds, starting in Shanghai at the Chinese Grand Prix Arabian Grand Prix from March 21-23.

Jeddah follows on April 18-20, before two trips to North America with Miami on May 1-3 and a first visit to Montreal on June 13-15.

Just one European event is on the calendar this year, Zandvoort on August 29-31.

F1 Academy returns to the tricky streets of Singapore on October 3-5, before the final race weekend in Las Vegas on November 20-22.

F1 Academy weekend format

Each F1 Academy race weekend will feature at least five sessions of track action.

First practice will take place on the Friday morning of a race weekend, before Qualifying or an additional practice session later in the day.

New for 2025 is a reverse grid race for Race 1, as the top eight in Qualifying are flipped to determine the starting grid. Those who qualify ninth to 18th will start in those positions for both races.

Race 2 will take place on Sunday morning with the starting grid set by the results of Qualifying.

F1 Academy points system

Two points are awarded for pole position and one point is given for the fastest lap in each race, if you finish in the top eight for Race 1, or top 10 for Race 2.

The reverse grid race will have less points on offer, so only the top eight will score points: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.

Race 2 uses the same points system as F1, so the top 10 will score points: 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1.

Sky Sports F1’s live Chinese GP schedule

Thursday March 20

• 5am: Drivers’ Press Conference

Friday March 21

• 1am: F1 Academy Practice
• 3am: Chinese GP Practice (session starts at 3.30am)*
• 5.30am: Team Principals’ Press Conference
• 6am: F1 Academy Qualifying*
• 6.45am: Chinese GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 7.30am)*

Saturday March 22

• 2.25am: Chinese GP Sprint build-up*
• 3am: Chinese GP Sprint*
• 5.45am: F1 Academy Race 1*
• 6.35am: Chinese GP Qualifying build-up*
• 7am: CHINESE GP QUALIFYING*
• 9am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*

Sunday March 23

• 2.40am: F1 Academy Race 2*
• 5.30am: Chinese GP build-up: Grand Prix Saturday*
• 7am: THE CHINESE GRAND PRIX*
• 9am: Chinese GP reaction: Chequered flag*
• 10am: Ted’s Notebook*

*Also live on Sky Sports Main Event

The F1 circus heads straight to Shanghai this week for the first Sprint weekend of the season at the Chinese GP, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime