All 10 F1 teams go all‑in on F1 Academy in landmark multi‑year deal

On some announcements you can almost hear the engines turning over. This was one of them.

In a landmark move for the sport’s future, F1 Academy and Formula 1 have confirmed that all 10 current F1 teams have signed a new multi‑year agreement to continue backing a livery and a driver in the all‑female series, with incoming Cadillac joining the grid as a sponsor from 2027.^1–5 What began in 2023 as a bold experiment has now been written into the architecture of grand prix racing.

Since 2024, each F1 team has selected and supported one Academy driver, wrapping the car in its colours and integrating the programme into its junior structure.^3,5,7 Under the renewed deal, that model not only continues but hardens into something more permanent: a joint venture in talent development where the same organisations fighting over world titles are also nurturing 18 young women in Formula 4‑level machinery.

From Shanghai to Las Vegas, the paddock soundtrack has shifted. On F1 weekends, F1 Academy cars now roll out with familiar liveries – Mercedes silver, Ferrari red, papaya orange – to the smell of hot brakes and the echo of V6 hybrids pounding around in the background. The message is blunt: this is no longer a side show.

“The commitment of long-term support from all 10 current Formula 1 teams, and the addition of Cadillac to our grid from 2027, sends a powerful message about the future of F1 Academy,” said Managing Director Susie Wolff in the announcement.^1–5

“We’re not just providing a platform for the current generation of female drivers; together, we’re building a pathway to support generations of talent to come.”

— Susie Wolff, speaking to Formula 1 / F1 Academy

Cadillac’s arrival is telling. The American marque will join the F1 grid in 2026, yet has already committed to placing its name on an Academy entry a year later.^1–3 Before its first F1 lights‑out, it will be investing in the ladder beneath. In an era where every manufacturer talks about pipelines, this is a literal one.

The sporting structure is evolving too. From 2027, drivers who have already completed two F1 Academy seasons can be granted an exemption to stay for a third year – but only if their performance shows “strong potential for continued growth”.^1–3 It’s a small line in the regulations, but a big shift in philosophy: an acknowledgement that development isn’t linear, and that some talents need one more season in clean air before they slipstream into F3 or GB3.

Not everyone is convinced. Critics argue that allowing a third season could turn the series into a comfort zone rather than a launchpad, keeping drivers in F4‑spec machinery instead of forcing that leap up the ladder.⁸ The debate goes right to the heart of what F1 Academy is meant to be: finishing school or foundation course?

Look past the rulebook, though, and the direction of travel is clear. The series now races exclusively on F1 weekends, its broadcasts reach more than 170 territories, and its social audience has surged beyond 1.3 million across major platforms.^1–4,6 A Netflix docuseries produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine has dragged the paddock into living rooms that had never watched an F4 start before.^3,4

On track, the F1 influence is unmistakable. In 2025, 10 of the 18 cars carried full F1 team backing, with champions like Doriane Pin and Abbi Pulling using Academy titles as springboards into higher series.^4,6,7 The grid fights through DRS trains and dirty air just like their Formula 3 counterparts – only they’re doing it under the same floodlights, in front of the same crowds.

Behind the scenes, the project has become a laboratory as much as a championship. In partnership with organisations like More Than Equal, F1 Academy has run rookie tests and data‑heavy assessment camps, measuring everything from neck strength to cognitive processing speed to better understand what elite female drivers need to thrive.^4,6,9 It is, in Wolff’s words, “a movement rather than a moment”, built on telemetry, not tokenism.⁶

There are still questions the series can’t answer alone. The cars remain at F4 performance levels, and the cost of moving from Academy to F3 or F2 is a chasm that no single initiative can bridge.^6,8 But with every F1 team now contractually tied into supporting a livery and a driver for years to come, those questions land squarely on the desks of the same people who sign off wind‑tunnel runs and undercut strategies on Sunday afternoons.

For the drivers, that’s the real significance. When the lights go out for an F1 Academy race in front of a grand prix crowd, they’re not just fighting for points; they’re auditioning for programmes that finally see them as part of the long game. They sit in cars painted in the colours of champions, knowing the decision‑makers are no longer watching from a distance but from the same pit wall.

This multi‑year deal doesn’t guarantee that the next great F1 prospect will come from F1 Academy. But it does something subtler and perhaps more powerful: it makes it impossible for the sport to look away. The all‑female grid is now hard‑wired into the same ecosystem that has produced Hamilton, Verstappen and Norris.

In the long story of women in motorsport, this chapter won’t be remembered for a single overtake or title decider. It will be remembered as the moment when every F1 team signed its name under a simple, shared sentence: developing female talent is no longer optional. It’s part of the job.