Red Bull's F1 Academy car takes on a bold look ahead of 2025 Canadian Grand Prix

New York Times

a day ago

Red Bull Racing's F1 Academy car demands attention.
Driven by Alisha Palmowski, it's normally uniform with Red Bull's Formula One RB21 – navy blue, red and yellows etched across the chassis that's similar to a Formula Four challenger. It's simple and static. However, during the upcoming 2025 Canadian Grand Prix weekend, when F1 Academy will serve as F1's support series, movement and vibrancy have been breathed into a bespoke livery for Palmowski's car. It's a design that nods to Canada's history, Palmowski's story and F1 Academy's purpose.
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The red bull on the yellow background is still visible on the air box and nose of the car, but the remainder, designed by Canadian muralist Kirsten McCrea, is in bolder colors — blue for Quebec and red for Canada. A royal blue coats the car's body, while a lighter blue streak stretches across the middle of the car, connecting the bulls.
The first sign of movement comes from this section, as yellow dandelion seeds float in the dynamic turquoise. The shapes are inspired by the logo of Expo 67 – the world's fair that celebrated Canada's centennial, and why Île Notre-Dame (now the home of Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve) was built. They symbolize new ideas and dreams taking shape and spreading. At the rear of the car, etched on the wing and around the tires, multiple red rings are spaced out to form a ripple.
'The red ripple at the back, that represents what Alisha is doing,' McCrea explained, 'Like, the ripple effect of women entering fields that they haven't been in before and how that makes it possible for others to even have the imagination and the idea that that's something that they could want for themselves. And the ripple effect that results from a woman succeeding in what has traditionally been a male-dominated field.'
Palmowski, who is in her first full-time season in F1 Academy in 2025, echoed a similar sentiment, though putting the spotlight on the championship's impact rather than herself. The inaugural season of the all-women racing series took place in 2023 without F1 team involvement or even live broadcasting. Now, all 10 F1 teams support drivers, broadcasts are aired in more than 160 territories and there's a Netflix docuseries similar to 'Drive to Survive.' There are similarities with the other junior categories, such as Formula Two and Formula Three, in terms of how races are arranged as support on F1 weekends.
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During the Miami Grand Prix weekend last month, at an autograph session, numerous young female fans told Palmowski how she inspired them. To Palmowski, the ripples represent just that — 'the movement that F1 Academy is doing within motorsport in terms of us being role models and increasing female participation within the sport.'
Knowing that the F1 Academy car would be a canvas in motion did impact how McCrea created the design. Not only did it need to work while the car was navigating the track at speed, but it also had to be readable at a distance, whether in person or on TV. McCrea's eyes lit up as the rendering of her design popped up on the screen during the exclusive interview with The Athletic. It was the first time she'd seen the drawing mocked up since submitting the final design.
McCrea initially began with around 80 different ideas. She looked at past motorsport liveries, drew inspiration from Palmowski's story, and considered whether Palmowski would want to stand out even more in this male-dominated space. But password management company 1Password, a partner of the F1 team and the Red Bull Racing Pepe Jeans Academy Programme, helped McCrea narrow down the concepts as a cohesive story took shape. As Palmowski put it, this design 'represents just a celebration as well of female excellence and talent within sport, design and technology.'
'Without partners like 1Password, I wouldn't even have the opportunity to be on the F1 Academy grid this year,' Palmowski later added. 'They create real chances for young talent, emerging talent, and the next generation of racers, leaders, engineers.'
STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) remains one of the fields where women are underrepresented. Data from the World Bank shows that 35 percent of STEM employees in the U.S. identify as women, per the Women Tech Network. But according to a 2024 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission report, the number of women working in the high-tech industry hasn't budged much since 2005. Jeannie De Guzman, 1Password's COO, acknowledged progress being made, though she said 'we're not where we want to be,' and that what is being done in motorsports and tech might help increase the number of women in the STEM workforce.
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'Seeing that representation, I think, really matters,' she said, touching on watching the Netflix docuseries on F1 Academy with her daughter. 'And so F1 Academy exudes that. So that's really great. The partnership that we have with Alisha's team directly supports that mission of recognition, of letting people know that it exists, that we're investing and that it's going to bring together that next generation of really powerful women, and they need to be there and stay there.
'We're meant to be there.'
But barriers to entry remain considerable. Motorsports is one of the most expensive sports in the world, creating an obstacle for many competitors and team employees. But F1 Academy has helped save some drivers' careers. Abbi Pulling mentioned in the docuseries, 'F1: The Academy,' how she might not have been able to compete again without winning the championship in 2024, and she sold merchandise to help pay for her further career (Pulling now competes in the 2025 GB3 championship).
In Palmowski's case, Red Bull is providing 'a huge financial backing,' along with the team sponsors such as 1Password.
'We put a lot in as well, by personal sponsorship, by support, travel, hotels,' she said. 'I think I've done 36 flights this year, which is a lot more than I have ever done in my whole life. I know it's not on a par with F1 drivers, but it's still a lot more than I've ever done before. So, it's extremely expensive.'
F1 Academy is still only in its third season, but has resulted in tangible progress, as seen by the subsequent driver career progression of Pulling, Bianca Bustamante and Marta García (2023 champion) progressing in their careers. But the series still faces criticism, such as the car's speed perhaps not being the best preparation for the drivers to step up the ladder, or accusations that the series is just a PR push that won't help their development.
'We can see progress being made, and it's because of people that think to invest, to put money where their mouth is, to actually put together programming, having an actual program that has coaches and support system, a series on TV,' De Guzman said. 'This is not just somebody spending a little money to check the box. This is real infrastructure around this. And so I think that today, for example, I am optimistic that, despite the critiques, everything that we do at 1Password, that Alisha's team is doing, is going to continue to bring up that percentage of female individuals in the workforce – whether it's motorsport or tech, to grow.'
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It all starts as a thought, an idea, a dream taking flight — a dandelion seed carried by the wind.
For Palmowski, the seeds represent her growth journey in the all-women series over the last few months and the learning curve she navigates lap after lap. And the thing about art is that it carries depth and symbolism, yet people can interpret it in many different ways, finding parts that call to them or tug at their heartstrings. As personal as it is, the livery on her car in Montreal this weekend carries the weight of a movement, not a moment, as F1 Academy managing director Susie Wolff always says about the series.
'I want people to look at this car,' McCrea said, 'and look at Alisha and say, 'This is smashing the stereotype of what F1 racing can be.''
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