The 2025 F1 Academy season so far: Everything you need to know ahead of Las Vegas

F1 Academy has been nothing short of excitingly competitive this year, and as we head to the entertainment capital of the world for the final showdown, here’s a quick recap of the season and everything you need to know ahead of the last two races in Las Vegas.

Doriane Pin and Maya Weug are separated by nine points in the Drivers' Championship | Credit: F1 Academy

The 2025 F1 Academy season so far

The third season of F1 Academy kicked off in China, supporting the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix weekend, with plenty of fresh faces as well as a familiar crop of drivers in their second and final year of F1 Academy.

Rookie hotshot Alisha Palmowski clinched the first reverse-grid race win of the year, followed by Doriane Pin securing the Race 2 win. The French driver left the first round with the maximum points and early championship lead.

Maya Weug, after taking two podiums in China, continued her consistent form at the next round in Jeddah, taking P2 for Race 1 and winning her first race of the season on Sunday. 

Weug’s efforts lifted her to the lead of the championship ahead of Pin, while Chloe Chambers trailed not far behind in third. Meanwhile, Ella Lloyd, representing McLaren, became the second rookie to bag a race win this season that Saturday.

The following round in Miami saw Pin bounce back, yet not enough to reclaim the championship lead. Pin left Miami just one point behind Weug, after victory on Saturday, but the Mercedes driver's charge was cut short on Sunday as the main race was postponed to Montreal after heavy downpours affected the session's start.

This set us up for a weekend of non-stop racing action in Montreal, where Pin retook the championship lead after a dream weekend, while Weug was hindered by a recurring mechanical issue throughout the round. 

Pin retook the championship lead in Montreal and has held it since | Credit: F1 Academy

Following Pin’s Race 1 victory, Emma Felbermayr stood on the top step for the reverse-grid Race 2, leading the season’s first all-rookie podium. The third and final race in Montreal was won by Chambers, clinching her first victory of the season and taking her to second in the Drivers’ standings ahead of Weug.

After a devastating weekend in Montreal, Weug was quick to bounce back for her home round in Zandvoort with a podium in Race 1 and victory on Sunday. 

It was an extra special weekend for the Dutch crowd, as Nina Gademan took a home victory in Race 1 to celebrate her birthday. Her maiden series win was a particularly emotional moment in a season of near misses, as well as after bouncing back from being declared unfit to drive in that weekend’s FP2.

The penultimate round in Singapore saw another memorable win, this one for American driver Lia Block taking her maiden F1 Academy victory in her final season. Race 2 was then won by Weug, who made a strong statement of intent by closing down the gap to Pin in the Drivers’ Championship.

Just nine points now separate Pin and Weug, while Chambers is mathematically out of the title fight following an off-colour Singapore weekend. This sets us up nicely for the final weekend in Las Vegas, with two races remaining and everything still to play for.

Key stories ahead of Las Vegas

The title battle between Pin and Weug

Arguably the most important story of the weekend will be the Drivers’ Championship battle between Pin and Weug. All eyes will be on the two drivers in their final year of F1 Academy separated by just nine points.

Pin has the championship lead advantage, but Weug has the momentum. 

The Ferrari driver is currently on a hot streak, with back-to-back Race 2 poles both converted to wins. Weug also took a clean-sweep at the Bahrain in-season testing ahead of Las Vegas, topping every single session as the fastest driver across all three days of testing.

With such strong momentum heading into her final F1 Academy race weekend and a championship on the line, Weug will no doubt be a major threat for standings leader Pin.

Weug carries the momentum with back-to-back Race 2 wins | Credit: F1 Academy

Pin and Weug’s title fight also marks one of the most tightly contested F1 Academy seasons, after Marta García sealed the inaugural 2023 title with two rounds to spare and Abbi Pulling completely dominated last year, taking a record nine wins in a season of 14 races.

A large part of the reason for this year’s close competition is due to the return of the reverse-grid format, which inevitably mixes up the action and gives more drivers opportunities to win races, taking points out of championship contenders.

With 39 points on the table this weekend and two drivers each with advantages of their own, Las Vegas is set to become the scene of a historic title battle in F1 Academy.

PREMA's fight to defend back-to-back championships

The Drivers’ Championship is not the only title undecided heading into the final round. 

The Teams’ standings is currently led by defending champions PREMA Racing on 257 points, but MP Motorsport is just 49 points behind.

MP Motorsport teammates Weug and Alba Larsen have been some of the quickest drivers this season, while PREMA’s points have been largely bagged by Pin and Gademan, with Tina Hausmann also occasionally boosting their tally.

PREMA has secured both the Teams’ titles so far, and will be eager to seal a hat-trick of titles to defend their championship.

Top Rookie of the year contention 

This year’s rookie crop boasts several impressive talents, with Lloyd and Palmowski leading the cohort as the stand-out drivers.

Lloyd is currently third in the standings on 101 points, with Montreal being her strongest weekend till date where she took podiums in all three races. 

Palmowski is not far behind in fifth with 73 points, her teammate Chambers ahead by 26 points and Lloyd a further two points away.

The significant merit of being 2025’s Top Rookie is now firmly a contest between Lloyd and Palmowski, the only rookies to have broken into the top five in the Drivers’ standings.

With both drivers having had stellar performances throughout the season, including a Race 1 victory apiece, Las Vegas will be the final test of their maiden F1 Academy seasons to finish the year on a high.

Ella Lloyd and Alisha Palmowski both have a win under their belts in their rookie seasons | Credit: F1 Academy

Apart from Lloyd and Palmowski, honourable mentions include Gademan, Larsen and Felbermayr who have all shown incredible potential on track and impressive results in their first full seasons of F1 Academy.

The last hurrah for final year drivers

Las Vegas will mark the final F1 Academy outing for a number of drivers on the grid, including championship contenders Pin and Weug.

Chambers, Hausmann, Block, Chloe Chong and Aurelia Nobels will all take part in their final F1 Academy round this weekend and will be eager for a positive result to see out their time in the series.

F1 Academy continuing to expand horizons

One of the key initiatives the series launched this year was its first ever Rookie Test held at the Circuito de Navarra.

The Rookie Test gave 18 young drivers the chance to explore their skills across six hours of track time, in an effort to prove their potential and place a strong bid for a possible F1 Academy full-time seat or Wild Card entry in future.

Apart from the racing action and providing opportunities to future talent, F1 Academy has also been expanding its global reach throughout the year with media collaborations, new partnerships and an all-new Netflix docu-series covering the 2024 season.

Released worldwide in May, F1: The Academy cast a wide net over global audiences across different age groups to bring more attention to the all-female motorsport series.

Taking viewers behind the helmet and serving as the perfect introduction of F1 Academy to completely new audiences, the Netflix docu-series has successfully bolstered F1 Academy’s digital presence with its release.

In a similar vein, F1 Academy has recently collaborated with popular media franchise Hello Kitty for a bespoke merchandise collection ahead of Las Vegas, supporting the series’ appeal to young, aspiring girls interested in motorsport.

With plenty of on-track and off-track storylines and initiatives, 2025 has been a monumental year for F1 Academy. We might be heading into the final round of this season, but undoubtedly there’s so much more in store for the series’ future.

Tune into the season finale from 20th to 22nd November, as F1 Academy sets to crown its 2025 champions in style around the iconic streets of Las Vegas.