New all-female F1 Academy series to support US Grand Prix

LONDON : Formula One's new all-female F1 Academy series will be on the support programme for the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin next October according to a seven round, 21-race calendar published on Thursday.

The six other tracks used will be Austria's Spielberg in April, Spain's Valencia and Barcelona in May, Zandvoort in the Netherlands in June, and Italy's Monza and France's Le Castellet in July.

There will then be a long gap to the finale in Texas to allow cars and equipment to be transported by ship to save on logistical costs.

The five three-driver teams will be run by outfits currently competing in Formula Two and Formula Three.

Drivers must be at least 16 years old and each has to bring 150,000 euros ($159,225) in funding, with Formula One matching that amount and teams raising the rest of the budget.

The first and third races of each weekend will last half an hour and race two will be 20 minutes long.

"Our goal was to be able to race on as many Formula One grand prix tracks as possible, with circuits that could be a great challenge for the drivers," said F1 Academy general manager Bruno Michel.

"The teams know these layouts very well so they will be able to help their young talents get to grips quickly."

The series aims to help young women up the motorsport ladder. No female driver has started a grand prix since the late Italian Lella Lombardi in 1976.