Returning for her second season in F1 Academy, Alpine Junior driver Abbi Pulling opens up on her hopes for this season and her future ambitions with Motorsport Week.
F1 Academy has returned for a second season in style. A successful inaugural campaign saw its first-ever champion Marta Garcia earn a fully-funded seat in FRECA for 2024 while a heap of new sponsors and broadcast deals joined the roster for F1 Academy 2024.
For her second season, Pulling is on the hunt for wins and she’s already got one under her belt as she inherited the Race 2 win after Doriane Pin received a penalty for taking the chequered flag twice.
“It was an amazing way to start the season, you can’t ask for much more coming away from the first race of the season,” Pulling said. “Being P2 then promoted to P1 to lead the championship, it’s been amazing. I was going toe to toe with Doriane, putting a lot of pressure on in the final race but I used too much of my tyre to attack towards the end.
“I’m very happy that I inherited the win and got the points because, at the end of the day, it goes down to the points. I am disappointed in a way that it’s not truly my first race win. In my head, I’ve still got a race to win in the championship.”
Finishing fifth place in the 2023 standings, Pulling is one of the top-placed returning drivers in the all-female single-seater series looking to snag more than just a few podiums.
Pulling said: “I did all my learning last year and previous years of racing. I went into last year and all I wanted was to be consistent. Now it’s just sticking with doing the best that I can do.
“My goal for the season is to go through the whole year smiling and enjoying myself and to just try and be better. I think I put a lot of pressure on myself last year, and with that sometimes my expectations were too high.”
F1 Academy is back on a much bigger level than its first season, now being featured on the Formula 1 support bill with the eyes of millions.
“It’s definitely different from last season. There are a lot more eyes on you, lots of numbers and chat, but we came from races last year as a standalone event with not that many spectators. It’s nice to see the change in the paddock, and being right in front of the fan zone with everyone wanting photos,” she said.
Going on a second year in F1 Academy with Rodin Motorsport, Pulling explained that she has become part of their family.
“They’re a very smart bunch there and I’ve learned a lot from them. They’ve got a lot of experience that they’ve passed on to me and it’s made me such a better driver. I’ve been waiting to get back out racing and I’ve been anticipating it since COTA last year.”
Unlike Formula 1, F1 Academy has a two-year limit for its drivers as well as an age requirement between 16-25 years old.
Going into her second season in the series, Pulling has a lot to think about for her next steps.
She shared: “My plan was never to stay in this championship forever. I aim to get to Formula 1, but even just competing in Formula 3 would be an absolute dream. There are loads of different potential pathways to take, you never really know where you’ll be. Nothing is set in stone yet but hopefully, my results on track will solidify something good for next year.”
Picking up a race win is a feat alone, but on a track like Jeddah, it’s even more of an accomplishment on a track notoriously difficult to drive.
Pulling explained: “Going to a track like Jeddah, there’s no room for error. There are very fine margins and you learn a lot on this track, it’s like you’re driving down a tunnel.”
With half the F1 Academy grid either receiving penalties for track limit violations or spinning off the track during the Jeddah race weekend, the first race of the season was a shock to the system.
“Although Jeddah is a street circuit, cars don’t drive on it all year round,” Pulling said. “I’ve always said I would drive that track for the rest of my life. It is so much fun. That high-risk, high-reward factor is such a big thing.
“It’s the same for Singapore,” she said as she named the track she’s most looking forward to. “It’s a street circuit but it’s also not a street circuit. It’s so bumpy, it’s not been laid down for racing and the track is also really greasy.”
This season, each Formula 1 team is required to nominate an F1 Academy driver and display their livery on the car to help increase awareness about the all-female feeder series.
For Abbi Pulling, this is nothing new. The 20-year-old British driver was signed to the Alpine Academy in 2023 after a promising 2022 season in W Series.
Stepping onto the inaugural F1 Academy grid already being a Junior Driver had its perks, Pulling stood on the podium seven times in the 2023 season.
“It’s definitely helped being with the Alpine Academy for a couple of years, I’m used to the pressure now. They’ve helped me so much going up the ranks, and hopefully, I just get better and better. It’s a family really, they’re friendly and supportive and it helps now that we’re on track together.
“Potentially some of the newbies might be feeling a bit more pressure as they’re just being associated with the team. It’s a big role to have. We all want to win, everyone’s a bit more competitive now as there’s more eyes on us.”
F1 Academy was established to help bring more female drivers to the forefront of motorsport. Returning for a second season on a much larger scale sets it apart from other female racing series like W Series which fell defunct after a lack of backing.
Pulling has hope that F1 Academy will live a healthy life. “It’s got the right people behind it,” she said. “I think it’s got a long future ahead of it, hopefully in the years to come the series will produce a full-on F1 driver. If it’s not me, then I hope it’s one of the girls I’m on the grid with.
“There’s so many more opportunities, I often say I wish I was eight years old again. Before, I was winning championships but I didn’t know too much about the next step. Women are only 1% of license holders, and with only 20 F1 drivers, of course those spaces will be filled with men if they’re the 99%.”
The young British driver will have a lot of work to do to maintain her lead at the next race in Miami on the first weekend in May.
With talented drivers like Abbi Pulling filling the F1 Academy grid, there’s no doubt that some of them deserve their spaces as women in motorsport.
