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Marta Garcia shares her thoughts on F1 Academy, FRECA, Formula E, and future generations of female drivers.
Marta Garcia Lopez is a 23-year-old Spanish racing driver and inaugural champion of the F1 Academy series. She dominated the 2023 F1 Academy season, winning the title with two races to spare.
In F1 Academy, Garcia drove for the Prema Racing team. She ended her season with seven wins, five poles, and a 56-point advantage.
Before that, Garcia competed in the W Series and achieved one win, four podiums, and two poles before the series announced it was no longer running in early 2023.
Garcia’s next steps
After her F1 Academy victory, Garcia was required to move on. To focus on progression, the winner of the F1 Academy Championship cannot stay in the series.
Due to her success, the young Spaniard received a fully-funded Prema Racing seat for 2024 in the Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA). FRECA is used as an in-between for F4 and F3.
In April of this year, it was announced that Garcia was switching to the Iron Dames, partnering Doriane Pin, current F1 Academy and Mercedes junior driver.
Yesterday, the @IronDames_ project announced that our inaugural F1 Academy Champion @martaracing has joined the ranks as their 20th athlete signing.
Today, the iconic magenta livery has a new single-seater look as Marta, alongside current F1 Academy racer @DorianePin are set to… pic.twitter.com/DcgMIEEXFJ
— F1 Academy (@f1academy) April 18, 2024
Garcia is also breaking into a more advanced racing series. Recently, it was announced that she is joining the ERT Formula E Team for the Berlin rookie test.
? Rookie Test Driver Announcement from @ERTFormulaETeam ?
The team have confirmed @f1academy Champion @martaracing will be driving for them in the Berlin Rookie Test ?
— Formula E (@FIAFormulaE) April 24, 2024
Garcia sees her progression as proof F1 Academy is effective
F1 Academy was formed as a progression ladder for women in motorsport. It also aims to encourage future generations of women to start their motorsport careers and join karting championships from a young age.
For F1 Academy’s 2024 season, all races are being televised. With more visibility of female motorsport drivers, younger generations will have a goal to aspire to. Susie Wolff, Managing Director of F1 Academy, always repeats her belief that if you can see it, you can believe it.
In an exclusive interview with RacingNews365, Garcia praised F1 Academy: “Now, with the Formula E test, which is really good, then being part of the Iron Dames is another opportunity for my future. So obviously, I think the platform of F1 Academy is working well.”
Visibility for future generations of women
The 23-year-old shares Wolff’s belief that more visibility creates more opportunities. Only one race was televised for the inaugural 2023 season of F1 Academy. Garcia told RacingNews365: “Even last year, there was not that much visibility until the last race, but this year there’s more visibility since the first race in Jeddah. So, obviously, it’s going to be more helpful than it was last year.”
She continued:
“So I think it’s going to bring also more opportunities for the girls that are racing now in F1 Academy.”
The Iron Dames driver explained that seeing inspirational women in motorsport is important. She shared that she was proud to be considered an inspiration herself, and wants to continue to be a reference for future generations of women.
She said: “When I started racing in karting, I didn’t have a reference, let’s say, because there was not many girls. After some years, we had Susie Wolff as well. But I think it’s good that these girls have some references, as a woman in motorsport, that they can actually see that those girls are doing something like me being here.”
Garcia added:
“I think it is really important, because you need that, because if they watch, for example, Formula 1, there’s no woman. So I think the fact that there is a woman testing in Formula E is really good.”
Hello @ERTFormulaETeam pic.twitter.com/bMZGNepJ6J
— Marta García (@martaracing) April 26, 2024
The F1 Academy reigning champion explained that the motorsport industry is hard for a woman to break into. So, it is important to maintain and develop initiatives and programmes like F1 Academy. She commented: “I know how hard it is to start work, to start in motorsport as to how it was 10-15 years ago. So I love to share my story and try to be as inspirational as I can.”
Max Verstappen thinks more needs to be done
Max Verstappen, current F1 reigning champion, recently shared his doubts about the all-female F1 feeder series. The Red Bull Racing F1 driver questioned how much F1 Academy will help female drivers.
For example, Verstappen explained that the cars are too slow to provide valuable experience for the F1 Academy drivers. The Dutchman believes F1 Academy needs to be at a higher level to prepare the drivers for F1 progression.
Overall, Verstappen approves of the F1 teams sponsoring F1 Academy drivers to provide direct connections. However, the three-time world champion does not think enough is being done to support the women. He said:
“There is no next step for them now. For example, the gap to a Formula 4 car is already too big.”
However, Garcia has proven that post-F1 Academy progression is possible. Her advancement into FRECA and involvement in Formula E testing demonstrates that. With further visibility and increasing opportunities as F1 Academy develops and grows, these progression structures must become more defined and accessible.
Featured Image Credit: @f1academy on Twitter