F1 Academy confirms final driver completing its 2023 line-up

The F1 Academy has announced it’s 15th and final driver in Marta Garcia, who will be racing for PREMA Racing. 

The F1 Academy was announced late last year as an all-new female feeder series. The hope of the championship will be to help female drivers progress through the junior series of Formula 3 and Formula 2. From there, the drivers would then progress into Formula 1.

The championship debuts this year with its first race in Spielberg, Austria, at the end of April. Since its announcement, F1 Academy has confirmed the teams participating in the championship, the race calendar and details of the championship.

Before today, F1 Academy still needed to finalise its line-up with driver left to be confirmed. However, it has now been announced that the 15th and final driver is Marta Garcia for PREMA Racing.

Garcia has previously raced in W Series in 2019. During her rookie season, she achieved a race win and also two podiums, putting her fourth in the championship. Having competed in the 2021 and 2022 W Series championships, Garcia added more experience to her single-seater career.

Garcia and Rosin’s comments

Now she’ll be racing for PREMA Racing in F1 Academy, which she is “super happy” about.

The final seat on the first-ever F1 Academy grid goes to… 🥁

Marta Garcia! ✨#F1Academy pic.twitter.com/1pgBuWq4T1

— F1 Academy (@f1academy) March 21, 2023

Speaking on her new venture, Garcia said:

“I think this is a great opportunity for me to show what I am capable of and it’s great to do it with PREMA, which is one of the best operations in motorsport. I’m looking forward to working with them and putting their colours at the front in this new series.”

Rene Rosin, PREMA Racing’s Team Principal, also expressed happiness at Garcia joining the team. Rosin said: “We are looking forward to racing together with Garcia as she had some impressive showings in the past.

“We think she can be a leading competitor in the F1 Academy field so to join forces was really natural. She also has a good amount of experience which is a bonus asset for the whole team.”

F1 Academy Grid

With Garcia confirmed as the third driver for PREMA Racing, the F1 Academy grid is complete. For 2023, its inaugural season, the five teams have three drivers each.

Some, like Garcia, are former W Series drivers whilst others have just begun their single-seater careers. The five teams currently compete in other junior series including F2 and F3. So the 15 drivers competing in the 2023 F1 Academy season are:

ART Grand Prix:

• Lena Buhler
• Carrie Shreiner
• Chloe Grant

Campos Racing:

• Nerea Martí
• Lola Lovinfosse
• Maite Cáceres

MP Motorsport:

• Amna Al Qubaisi
• Hamda Al Qubaisi
• Emely de Heus

PREMA Racing:

• Bianca Bustamente
• Chloe Chong
• Marta Garcia

Rodin Carlin:

• Jessica Edgar
• Abbi Pulling
• Megan Gilkes

With just over a month to go till the first race, the 15 drivers will be getting prepared for their first seasons in the F1 Academy.

Headline Image: Twitter @PREMA_Team