UAE’s Hamda Al-Qubaisi claims win at F1 Academy race in US

US, Austin: F1 Academy racer Emirati Hamda Al-Qubaisi has won Race 2 of the F1 Academy Round 7 event held in Austin, Texas, in the US.

The rising F1 Academy driver was racing with MP Motorsport.

A former UAE rally driver and racing champion himself, FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem congratulated Al-Qubaisi on her win, highlighting the importance of the F1 Academy in training and developing the skills of young racers and preparing them to become the champions of the future.

The F1 Academy is a female-only, single-seater racing championship founded by Formula One in 2022 with its inaugural season this year. The racing series aims to focus on developing young drivers to progress to higher levels of competition.

Born in 2002, Al-Qubaisi started her racing career in karting. In 2017, she finished third in the IAME X30 Championships before moving to Italian F4 in 2019. A year later, she won three races in UAE F4 before making a return to Italian F4. Another Formula 4 UAE campaign brought three wins and six podiums, amounting to a P4 finish in the standings.

Al-Qubaisi was the first Emirati to be invited to the FIA-sponsored CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy in 2016. She also became the first woman in the history of Italian F4 to score a podium, achieving third place in the first race of the season at the Italian Formula 4 Championship in June 2021.

Her father, Khaled, is one of the UAE’s most prominent racing figures while her sister Amna is also a driver for MP Motorsport.