2025 F1 Academy drivers and teams

This year marks the first time that F1 Academy drivers will be forced to graduate away from the series in search of new opportunities, with each driver permitted to compete in only two seasons. That means reigning champion Abbi Pulling, Nerea Martí, Hamda and Amna Al Qubaisi, Bianca Bustamante, Carrie Schreiner, Lola Lovinfosse, Emely de Heus and Jess Edgar will all vacate their seats for 2025, opening the door for new drivers to join the grid.

That also means that Red Bull, McLaren, Sauber, Racing Bulls and Alpine will be looking for new driver representatives, and some of those spaces have already been filled. The wildcard initiative introduced in 2024 has proven successful in that regard, with Ella Lloyd, Courtney Crone, Alisha Palmowski and Nina Gademan all earning F1 affiliated full-time drives with McLaren, Haas, Red Bull and Alpine respectively.

Mercedes is sticking with 2024 championship runner-up Doriane Pin, who retains her place with the Prema team, and goes in this season as the favourite to run away with the title. Lia Block also returns with Williams, while Chloe Chambers jumps from Haas to the Red Bull Ford programme for her second F1 Academy campaign.

Sauber has called up Emma Felbermayr, who graduates from karts in 2025 for her first season of single-seater competition. The 17-year-old Austrian will be one to watch as she joins the team that will become Audi in 2026.

The final confirmed driver so far is 16-year-old Alba Hurup Larsen, the winner of the FIA’s Girls on Track Rising Stars programme in 2023. She made her single seater debut in Indian F1 last season, and will be taking over the Tommy Hilfiger car from Martí for 2025.

That leaves nine full-time seats still available, with openings at Prema, Rodin, ART, MP and the new Hitech outfit, which will field two cars alongside the series’ wildcard which will feature at every single round of the 2025 season.

2025 F1 Academy drivers and teams

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.