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One of the biggest critiques F1 Academy faces from new fans is that the cars are, to their eyes, fairly slow.

Some fans have likened it to a tractor. Even Max Verstappen has questioned the speed, saying in part to De Limburger, “The cars they drive are way too slow. If you ever want to get them into Formula One, it really has to go to a higher level.” But when you ask F1 Academy, it is the right car for the right level.

F1 Academy, the all-women racing series launched in 2023, is part of the F1 pyramid and aligns with the F1 calendar for seven race weekends a year — Saudi Arabia, Miami, Barcelona, Zandvoort, Singapore, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Some tracks, like Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia, are straighter than others – like the banked corners at Zandvoort. This can give the impression that F1 Academy is slow, F1 Academy competition manager Delphine Biscaye said, particularly compared to the high speeds of the F1 cars.

F1 Academy’s cars are similar to Formula Four, an equal competition level, but with a noticeable tweak that aligns F1 Academy more with F1. It’s the right choice for this series because it helps prepare the young drivers for higher competition and growth.

All about perspective

The car’s speed isn’t because of a lack of talent from the drivers. It’s the nature of an F4 car and the track configurations. More often than not, fans watch F1 Academy after tuning into one of the higher series driving on the same track now that the all-women category aligns with the F1 schedule.

“If you see us and then (F1) straight after, you think we’re really slow,” Biscaye said. She pointed out that at a track like Jeddah, these young drivers, some of which are in their teens, dart between walls at 200 kph. That kind of driving, she says, is “already a huge challenge for those young drivers. Men or a woman is the same. But with the age and the experience they have, it’s actually not that slow.

“If we were challenging someone to do the same, they would see what slow is.”

However, this needs to be weighed against the advantages that the F4 car provides. This level allows drivers to train, adapt and secure crucial track time, gaining experience at F1 circuits. Biscaye added, “The fact that we are on F1 tracks makes it look slow, but it’s got massive advantage for the drivers because it’s really prepared them for the next step.”

Tatuus CEO Giovanni Delfino echoed similar points. He describes the car as “easy to drive” and one that uses the safety specs of higher categories, giving a safe environment for drivers to learn how to navigate single-seaters.

“The power of the car is enough to have the performance we desire, but it’s not that much to make the car undriveable,” he said. “All the specs of the car are exactly what you find in (Formula) Regional and then in an F3 car. But what is changing from the higher category is the power weight ratio.”

F1 Academy may not be an FIA championship, but it does follow the regulations, like the power-weight ratio that the governing body dictates for each level. The most significant step is jumping from karting into a single seater, but from there, each step as a driver climbs the motorsport ladder is about the same difference. Delfino said drivers typically stay in F4 for one or two years, adding that “after two years of Formula Four, it’s easy to go (into) a regional car.”

“So in reality, this kind of car is helping you to get used to the dimension of a single-seater car, ​​to get used to the way to drive a single-seater car, to get used to the racing mode of a single-seater car.”

The nuts and bolts

The car is relatively similar to a Formula Four car, Biscaye said. For example, the chassis, designed by Tatuus Automobili, is the same as British, Italian and Spanish F4s. Biscaye said, “It’s only the aerodynamics that make a change.”

Delfino said the front and rear wings have been changed compared to an F4 car, which was a request from Liberty Media and F1 Academy managing director Susie Wolff. From start to finish, the process took around three months, from identifying the best shape and creating the first prototype to testing. The production, though, takes another month to six weeks, Delfino said.

“We found that as a good compromise between what we can do and what we cannot do on a Formula Four because the rear wing is not homologated,” Delfino said. “So you can do more or less what you want in terms of homologation, even if it’s not recognized as a Formula Four wing. In (the) case of the front wing, then we had to keep some of the design of the Formula Four because it’s linked to the noses.

“So there’s also a crash homologation test that we have to perform before the current homologation, but the shape of the lateral parts of the front wing were free to be moved as Liberty Media wanted.”

Homologation is the approval process where the car is checked against technical regulations and the specification is frozen for the cycle defined in the rules, according to the FIA. This change to the wings allows the F1 Academy car to resemble the F1 cars and optimizes the aerodynamics, according to Biscaye. “The better aerodynamics allow us to have more overtaking, which was also something we wanted to create a more active racing.”

F1 Academy technically is not a FIA championship. However, certain parts of the car (like the chassis, engine, and gearbox) are homologated by the FIA. Aside from the percentages, the homologation process is nearly the same for Tatuus as for F1. Delfino said, “We have to homologate the car with 100 percent of the test, 100 percent of the loads. In Formula One, you can stop 80 percent.”

According to Delfino, the changes to the wings had “zero” impact on car performance “because they are not affecting the downforce of the car or the aero kit and the aero balance of the car.”

Right car, right series

Biscaye said the car largely remained unchanged heading into the 2024 season, aside from adding an onboard camera. There aren’t big changes planned for next year, either. It’s not that they won’t ever change the car; rather, the car right now is serving its purpose.

“Our goal is really to prepare the drivers physically, mentally, and giving them all the skills and the track time they need to progress,” Biscaye said, pointing out that the cars are safe and reliable. The reliability factor is crucial because this impacts the amount of track time the drivers have. As a support series on an F1 weekend, the teams only have a practice session or two before jumping into qualifying and the two races.

Biscaye said, “If you’ve got reliability issues, that prevents the drivers from running during the free practice; they actually lose a very important track time, and very important time to get to know the track and check the conditions and some tracks we can’t test before.”

Miami and Singapore are two tracks where the drivers can’t test beforehand as both are temporary circuits. So far, from a reliability standpoint, F1 Academy has had very few issues — close to none in 2024, Biscaye said. And it’s reasonably easy to maintain, which helps keep down costs for the teams. There are also limited track operational personnel who can work on the cars. Biscaye said, “So if you go with a more complicated car, then you would need more people. So you will increase the cost not just of the car, but the overall cost of operations of the team.”

This series is more straightforward than F1, allowing teams to focus on suspension and wing set-up changes and only a single tire compound. The goal is to focus on driver preparation and training, such as learning how to manage their brakes, clutch and tires.

F1 Academy cars wait in the pit lane during F1 Academy Round 4, Race 2 at Circuit Zandvoort on August 25. (Joe Portlock/Getty Images)

“We don’t realize, but when you are in karting and go to (single seater) cars, you discover the clutch,” Biscaye said. “If you’re just 16 and you’ve never driven another car, like that your parents get, you have no driving lessons in real life. So that’s the first time you will have a clutch and have to make a real start, and that’s already a huge step.”

Mental and physical training are also major learning moments at this level. Biscaye recalled a conversation with Courtney Crone, the wild card entry in Miami, during testing at Zandvoort earlier this year. She has good experience in single-seaters, but it was her first time in a F4 car. Zandvoort is a trickier track because of the banking, which Biscaye described as “very stiff and requires a lot of strength.”

“Courtney came out of the car and told me, ‘I was not prepared for this. It’s actually very demanding compared to some of the tracks and cars I’ve driven,’” Biscaye recalled. “So if you put all of this together, or if you take Jeddah where it’s more the mental and the focus (is higher) because of the walls and it’s technical, after three days of testing, the drivers are actually tired.

“I think that also shows the F4 car is the good step. If you want to make it safe and at the same time interesting enough to really train them and to allow them to really step from go-karts to maybe Formula Regional or Euro Cup or F3, you need this in-between. F1 Academy is giving them a huge training on track but also off track with all the support they have from the F1 team or from their F1 Academy team as well.

“They’re getting this, and that’s really the package that they need to be able to progress after.”

 Top photo: Joe Portlock/Getty Images; Design: Eamonn Dalton/The Athletic