Written by Juan Arroyo
The female-only championship unveiled the new initiative on Tuesday evening, which aims to provide additional entry-level opportunities for women in motorsport.
Additionally, a talent identification program, operated by Motorsport UK and TeamSport, an indoor go-karting company based in the United Kingdom, was announced on the same day.
The launch took place at their Docklands facility in East London, with Hugh Chambers, CEO of Motorsport UK, Dominic Gaynor, CEO of TeamSport, and Greg Smith, Co-Chair of APPG for Motorsport, observing as a group of nine girls aged 8-12, who were selected to participate in the pilot programme, drove F1 Academy-branded go-karts for the first time
Upon completing their planned training, the participants of the pilot programme will receive support at six venues during the qualifying stages of the British Indoor Karting Championships. There are plans to expand the programme to 35 venues in the future.
Managing director Susie Wolff expressed after the event: “It’s great to see F1 Discover Your Drive come to life for the very first time. This is the start of our journey to increase female participation in motorsport. Seeing the young girls out on track, and the potential this programme can have makes me really positive about what we can achieve with this initiative.”
F1 Academy drivers Chloe Grant, Jessica Edgar, Abbi Pulling, and Chloe Chong were all in attendance as the girls took to track for the first time.
Rodin Carlin's Pulling commented: “It’s been a really great event. F1 Academy Discover Your Drive is an amazing initiative, and it’s great to see so many smiles on young female faces while behind the wheel of a go-kart. I think it will inspire more girls to enter the sport and have fun while doing so.”
Chong, currently driving for PREMA, added: “As F1 Academy drivers we are very passionate about this, so to see F1 Academy launch the Discover Your Drive Karting UK programme for girls in their first years of karting at an accessible venue like TeamSport is great. Walking through the doors and seeing all the young girls with smiling faces, you can tell they are all super excited to be here and to show off their skills.”