Female drivers from F1 Academy hoping to reach a new audience with Netflix series
This photo, made available by Netflix on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, shows the actor of the tv series 'F1: The Academy', Abbi Pulling, sitting on a front wheel of a race car. (Netflix via AP)
This photo, made available by Netflix on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, shows cars on a race track as part of the tv series 'F1: The Academy'. (Netflix via AP)
This photo, made available by Netflix on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, shows the actor of the tv series 'F1: The Academy' Abbi Pulling in a race car. (Netflix via AP)
This photo, made available by Netflix on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, shows the actors of the tv series 'F1: The Academy' Abbi Pulling, left, and Maya Weug, right. (Netflix via AP)
This photo, made available by Netflix on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, shows the actors of the tv series 'F1: The Academy' Abbi Pulling, left, and Maya Weug, right. (Netflix via AP)
This photo, made available by Netflix on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, shows the actor of the tv series 'F1: The Academy', Abbi Pulling, sitting on a front wheel of a race car. (Netflix via AP)
This photo, made available by Netflix on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, shows cars on a race track as part of the tv series 'F1: The Academy'. (Netflix via AP)
This photo, made available by Netflix on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, shows the actor of the tv series 'F1: The Academy' Abbi Pulling in a race car. (Netflix via AP)
This photo, made available by Netflix on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, shows the actors of the tv series 'F1: The Academy' Abbi Pulling, left, and Maya Weug, right. (Netflix via AP)
LONDON (AP) — Abbi Pulling never thought so many people would want to watch her chase her Formula 1 dream.
Following on from 'Drive To Survive," which sparked a boom in F1's audience through its mix of on-track action and behind-the-scenes insight, 'F1: The Academy' debuts on Netflix on Wednesday. It's set to bring unprecedented attention to a women's-only racing series.
Advertisement
The documentary is 'a huge opportunity,' said Pulling, a 22-year-old British driver whose run to the 2024 title forms the backbone of the series. The series follows F1 Academy, a competition which can make or break careers and runs as a support series to F1 Grand Prix races.
'It's definitely changed my life and helped my career progress,' Pulling told The Associated Press. 'Little 8-year-old me that started karting definitely would never have imagined how it's all exploded and become so big."
A culture shift in auto racing
Operating a women-only racing series has been controversial among some F1 fans. Mocking, even abusive, social media comments are part of the scenery for the series and its drivers.
Advertisement
For the drivers, it offers funding and an opportunity to build a brand. Pulling, who's shown sharing a house with her manager, says she couldn't have afforded to keep racing if not for F1 Academy, or to continue for 2025 if not for winning the title.
There are also subtle ways the atmosphere in F1 Academy is different. 'No friends on track' is the title of the opening episode of the docuseries, but the drivers are a close-knit group off the circuit. To an audience accustomed to the F1 feuds of 'Drive To Survive,' seeing drivers consoling each other after mistakes and organizing birthday parties is a little different.
'As a woman, it's like you go in there, you have your own safe space,' said Bianca Bustamante, a driver from the Philippines.
F1 Academy is part of a wider culture shift in auto racing. In 2018, F1 abolished the role of 'grid girls' — models paid to stand in front of drivers' cars — and while auto racing remains male-dominated, teams increasingly employ more women in engineering and strategy roles.
Advertisement
'Five, 10 years ago ... the motorsport world, community, was very, very different," Bustamante told AP. "The only time girls were ever on the grid was if they were grid girls, or umbrella girls, or podium girls. All these things that we don't see nowadays because of the representation.'
Aiming to make history
No female driver has started an F1 world championship race for 49 years, or even entered qualifying since 1992, and the last woman to take part in an official F1 session was Susie Wolff in British Grand Prix practice in 2015. Wolff is now the managing director of F1 Academy.
'I've lived it. I know how tough it is,' Wolff told the AP. 'It's my job to set something up which gives young female drivers opportunity for the future, and from start to end I think we've made a huge amount of progress so far in a very short space of time.'
Advertisement
F1 Academy uses modified Formula 4 cars, meaning that even the series' best drivers have multiple more steps to reach the F1 grid. While it may take years to develop a female driver through F1's ultra-competitive feeder series, Wolff says that's not the only goal.
Helping a driver launch a sustainable long-term racing career in any series is a win for F1 Academy, Wolff argues, and so is encouraging more girls to start out in go-kart events or join the increasing numbers of female engineers in F1.
'It's much more welcoming now, compared to how it was when I started back in 2001,' says Alice Powell, who mentors girls in karting series, alongside being Pulling's manager and a development driver in the Formula E all-electric series. She says she's seeing more girls starting out at the grassroots in Britain, and they're having more success too.
'Female drivers are much more accepted. There are a lot more female drivers in the karting paddock, which is really nice to see. A lot more female mechanics are getting involved and helping the younger drivers as well.'
Advertisement
The journey, not the destination
It's not always easy to follow what F1 Academy winners do next.
The unprecedented attention on F1 Academy compared to other development series means that moving up means leaving the spotlight — at least for now.
Pulling's reward for winning the title was a fully-funded seat in the British-based GB3 series this year. That costs far more than Pulling could have paid and gives her a much faster car, but has a fraction of F1 Academy's audience.
Bustamante, who uses her social media influencer skills to keep her career moving, has also raised the funds to join Pulling in GB3, while other ex-F1 Academy drivers like 2023 champion Marta Garcia have moved into sportscar racing.
Advertisement
Drivers get a maximum two years in F1 Academy, with their costs heavily subsidized by F1. The vast costs of auto racing — which only increase as the cars get more expensive and powerful — mean that failure in F1 Academy could easily end a career.
'I don't shy away from the harsh realities of sport,' Wolff said. 'So failure will become part of the journey for many drivers who are not racing at the front.'
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
'Karate Kid: Legends' took me back to the '80s. For the tweens I watched with, the film packed an emotional punch.
This post contains spoilers. Don't say we didn't warn ya. Hello, Yahoo Entertainment readers. My name is Suzy Byrne, and I've been covering entertainment in this space for over a decade — and longer elsewhere, but … details! I am not the cinephile who sees every big, splashy new release the moment it hits theaters. What brings me big-screen joy are kid-friendly flicks — like Lilo & Stitch, which had humor and heart, with my ohana. I'm a tenderhearted moviegoer who doesn't need two hours of explosions/violence/death. But also, as a busy working parent, getting two hours to turn off my phone, put up my feet and eat whatever I want while my child is fully entertained is the definition of movie magic. So that's what this is — one entertainment reporter + her 10-year-old + friends — seeing family-friendly fare, indulging in film-themed treats and replying all, to you, about the experience. Welcome to the kids movie club. 'Wax on, wax off' — those were the last words I heard, courtesy of the guy behind me, as Karate Kid: Legends started and our party of six (three moms, three kids, ages 8-10) settled in to watch. With a 41-year-old franchise — which has spawned six films and the Netflix show Cobra Kai — there's a lot of familiarity with the martial arts franchise from different eras. I remember seeing Karate Kid in the theater during the summer of 1984 — and doing crane kicks on the beach for the rest of my vacation when I wasn't trying to catch flies with chopsticks. When I went home, I cut out photos of Ralph Macchio from Teen Beat and taped them to my bedroom wall. I also vividly remember someone giving me what they claimed was 20-something-year-old Macchio's phone number and calling it — on a corded phone, youngsters — with my friends. I'm pretty sure we hung up on whoever answered. While to this day I could recite most of the film, with all the life lessons Mr. Miyagi taught Daniel-san, you don't have to have seen it or any of the others to enjoy Legends — and my daughter hadn't. Though it makes for a better watch. One mom-daughter pair in our crew saw the original the night before, and the tween yelled 'Johnny!' in delight during the mid-credits scene. My kid had no idea who Johnny (William Zabka) was. (He's come a long way, baby.) This installment of the martial arts franchise, which I enjoyed while sipping a Ruby Red Kicker (a mocktail with ruby red grapefruit, cream of coconut, agave and lime), sees Macchio (Daniel in the first three movies as well as in Cobra Kai) and Jackie Chan (Mr. Han in 2010's The Karate Kid with Jaden Smith) reprising their roles as they come together to help Li Fong (Ben Wang) best his bully rival in the 5 Boroughs Tournament. Li, who is Han's great-nephew, studied kung fu in Beijing before moving to New York City. However, his brother was fatally stabbed during a dispute they had with a kung fu opponent after a tournament. Li is haunted by that — and so is his mother, played by Ming-Na Wen, who doesn't want him to practice kung fu anymore. And what's a Karate Kid movie without a love story? Li meets Mia (Sadie Stanley) — daughter of Joshua Jackson's Victor, a former boxer turned pizza shop owner who owes money to the wrong guys — and their PG relationship sparks trouble with her ex, karate champ Conor (Aramis Knight). Legends takes place three years after Cobra Kai's series finale. It includes nods to its history, starting early on with a throwback scene of Daniel and Mr. Miyagi (the late Pat Morita) from Karate Kid II. It led to the explanation of the deep connection between Miyagi and Han. Han also visits Daniel at Miyagi-Do dojo in California, with the iconic yellow convertible parked outside, to convince him to come to New York to train Li. But there's lots of forward momentum to the story, down to the crane kick being replaced by the acrobatic, spinning dragon kick. While the film may be lagging in box office expectations, the room of moviegoers I was with clapped at the end — and I can't remember the last time that happened. Our young film enthusiasts again liked the funny parts: They laughed as masters Daniel and Han squabbled over which of their martial arts styles was better while training Li. ('What happened to two branches, one tree?' Li asked. 'One branch stronger than the other,' Han replied.) They cracked up when Johnny brainstormed Miyagi-Dough pizza ideas with an exasperated Daniel. ('Olives on, olives off' was the funniest thing to the kids, despite none of them ever even trying one.) They also liked Li's tutor turned friend Alan (Wyatt Oleff) with his comedic relief. While nobody needed comfort during the movie, the eldest girl in our group told me the PG-13 rated film was the 'most violent' and 'intense' movie she had ever seen. Moments included Jackson's character being knocked unconscious and hospitalized as well as a recurring flashback of Li's brother's death. 'I don't hate Karate Kid, but I don't love it because I'm afraid of violence,' she said. (The same kid also danced excitedly through the closing credits, so it was a range of feelings.) My own child felt 'on guard the whole time,' telling me, 'I liked it, but it was not a relaxing movie. Everyone was jumping around. Fighting. The drama. The violence. The emotions. And it was so sad that Li's brother died.' The adults lapped up all the nostalgic elements. Before we even got in the theater, we had gone from talking about Macchio in Karate Kid to 10 minutes on The Outsiders, which came in 1983, also featuring Macchio, and had the cast of the century. It was all: 'I loved Johnny.' 'I loved Ponyboy.' 'Oh, Matt Dillon.' 'Ah, Rob Lowe.' 'Tom Cruise got so much better looking after that movie.' 'Emilio Estevez was my favorite.' Speaking of teen heartthrobs, during Legends, I was amused when, after Jackson had already appeared onscreen several times, my friend leaned over and said, 'Ohhh my gosh, it's PACEY!' just realizing the Dawson's Creek alum was playing a middle-aged movie dad. Someone has clearly not been watching Doctor Odyssey. Jackson was a nice addition to the film, and his pizza shop training with Li was a fun callback to Daniel and Miyagi of old, but then his character practically disappeared toward the end, even after all the training he did for the role. The team behind Legends wasn't trying to reinvent the wheel here. While there were new faces and impressive martial arts moves, the story played out in a similar way to past films, with a big tournament finale as a defining moment. In this one, Li bested Conor to win, and while he celebrated his winning moment, Conor came at him. Li not only stopped him, again, but then showed him mercy by not punching him when he could have. Li actually extended a hand to his rival. It reminded me why I liked the franchise in the first place, and it was a good lesson for the kids. There are so many movies the kids want to see this summer (shortlist: Elio, How to Train Your Dragon, The Bad Guys 2, Smurfs), yet we were served a trailer for R-rated Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight followed by a Blair Underwood Lexus commercial. It was definitely not a preview to remember. 'We went home and googled the ages of Pat Morita when the first Karate Kid came out (52) and Ralph Macchio in the current one (63),' my friend wrote. For the last few days, I've been stuck on the fact that Daniel is now older than Mr. Miyagi. Rule No. 1: Karate is for defense only. Rule No. 2: Googling your teen crush's current age as an adult is instant regret.
Yahoo
13 minutes ago
- Yahoo
All the drama ahead on the 3rd and final season of 'Squid Game'
Are you ready to get back in the game? The third season of Squid Game is headed to Netflix on June 27 — the final installment of the South Korean television phenomenon. The series, which follows down-on-his-luck Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) as he seeks to win a brutal game with a major monetary prize, is a critique of capitalism and the ever-widening wealth gap — but it's also a thriller with endless jaw-dropping reveals and twists. (Spoilers ahead!) With the last piece of the puzzle soon to be unveiled, here's what you need to know about Squid Game. Netflix is dropping all episodes of Squid Game's third season on June 27 — a very fast turnaround from its last season, which hit the platform on Dec. 26, 2024. Meanwhile, the gap between the first and second season of Squid Game was more than three years, with the first season debuting on Sept. 17, 2021. The show's creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, previously told Entertainment Weekly that Seasons 2 and 3 are actually one continuous story but were split into two seasons because of the number of episodes — which is also why the third season is arriving sooner than expected. The first season of Squid Game saw Gi-hun entering the last-man-standing competition, in which the wealthy watch as poor players battle it out in a variety of deadly challenges for a shot at a life-changing cash prize — 456 billion won, which is around $33 million. Gi-hun wins but is forever changed by the cruelty and violence he experienced. He's hellbent on destroying the game — even if that means returning to the arena. In Season 2, Gi-hun reenters the Squid Game in order to take it down from the inside — which, of course, was always going to be easier said than done. Instead of convincing his fellow participants to walk away from the game, or successfully taking down the game makers with his rebellion, the second season ends with Gi-hun having lost nearly everything. His allies are dead, including his best friend, Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan), who was killed by the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun). According to Netflix, the cast of Squid Game Season 3 includes: Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun/Player 456 Lee Byung-hun as Front Man Wi Ha-jun as Hwang Jun-ho Yim Si-wan as Myung-gi/Player 333 Kang Ha-neul as Dae-ho/Player 388 Park Sung-hoon as Hyun-ju/Player 120 Yang Dong-geun as Yong-sik/Player 007 Kang Ae-sim as Geum-ja/Player 149 Jo Yuri as Jun-hee/Player 222 Lee David as Min-su/Player 125 Roh Jae-won as Nam-gyu/Player 124 Park Gyu-young as No-eul The third season of Squid Game brings us back to the same game played in Season 2 — but despite staging a failed rebellion, Gi-hun is not out of the woods yet. As the teaser shows, Gi-hun is brought back into the game in a coffin and forced to play a series of new childhood games with a violent twist. Those games include a very dangerous round of jump rope and a maze experience that quickly descends into violence. Naturally, the scenes have a disturbing playful aesthetic that hides their true nature. In a letter to fans, Dong-hyuk wrote, 'Seong Gi-hun who vowed revenge at the end of Season 1 returns and joins the game again. Will he succeed in getting his revenge? Front Man doesn't seem to be an easy opponent this time either. The fierce clash between their two worlds will continue into the series finale with Season 3.' The creator isn't totally ruling out more Squid Game. Dong-hyuk told IndieWire earlier this month that he already has a potential plan. "I have an idea," he said. "Our next spin-off will be a story happening between Season 1 and 2. There was like a three-year gap between Season 1 and 2, so I will show what they did for those times." If you're eagerly anticipating more Squid Game, you can check out Netflix's reality show Squid Game: The Challenge, a game show based on the TV series. The show has 456 contestants compete in challenges inspired by the South Korean drama for a cash prize of $4.56 million. (Obviously, no contestants are killed — just kicked off.) And if that's not enough, Netflix also has Squid Game: The Experience, a tourist attraction currently in New York City in which you can compete, too. Unfortunately, there's no cash prize in this one.
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Liverpool star's partner pens EMOTIONAL letter to fans after Fabrizio Romano confirms he can leave
Liverpool are planning attacking upgrades in the summer transfer window. Negotiations are underway for Florian Wirtz with the Bayer Leverkusen playmaker likely to command a British record transfer fee. We could see big changes up top - with Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez earmarked for the exit. And on the wings, Luis Diaz, Federico Chiesa and Ben Doak could all leave the club. Advertisement Diaz, 28, filled in at No9 for Arne Slot last season, scoring 13 goals and helping to clinch the Premier League title. Despite his best Liverpool campaign to date however the Colombia international is by no means assured of his future at the club. Al-Nassr are going to make a strong effort to sign the former Porto star, whose contract expires in 2027 and with no hint of a renewal on the horizon. Is Luis Diaz off? If Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes and head coach Arne Slot don't come to an agreement with Diaz soon then they could sacrifice the left winger instead of losing him for next to nothing in 2026. Advertisement Barcelona are also thought to be among the runners and riders for Diaz, although the Catalans will have trouble meeting Liverpool's reported €80m asking price and wages which could reach €150k per week. Whatever happens, there has been a big hint dropped in recent days that Diaz's Liverpool career has reached an end. His partner Gera Ponce posted an emotional letter to Liverpool supporters on social media - which could suggest that Diaz is off. 'Thank you for so much love' 'To the incredible Liverpool fans,' she wrote on Instagram. 'From the first day we arrived, we felt first hand what it means to be a part of this club. We knew the slogan was 'You'll Never Walk Alone', but to hear them sing it with so much passion, support us every moment and show such unconditional love... confirmed to us that here you never walk alone. This fan doesn't just support, it feels. Advertisement 'And what you have made my boyfriend and our entire family feel is something we carry in our souls. Thank you for so much love, for so much dedication and for making us feel at home. 'Being part of this fan is a privilege. There's no doubt: they're the best in the world. This is a real bond, deep and strong, that reaffirms that we'll never walk alone.' © IMAGO Romano: 'Diaz can leave' Fabrizio Romano confirmed Al-Nassr's interest earlier this week, stating that the Saudi giants 'love' the wide man. "Luis Diaz is a top target for Al-Nassr," Romano said on YouTube. "He's a player they love, a player they want, and they feel he can leave Liverpool. Advertisement "So Al-Nassr will be there for Luis Diaz. They really want the player." The writing would appear to be on the wall for Diaz, who joined the club for £37.5m back in January 2022.
