As Formula One announces a brand new team, will we see a female driver on the grid? Meet the contenders who could make history – including McLaren’s TikTok starlet and the British champion-in-waiting

Formula One is poised to expand from 2026 following confirmation Cadillac are poised to join the grid as the sport’s 11th team.

Cadillac – a division of American motoring giant General Motors – had its proposed entry to the sport rubbed stamped by bosses last week.

The arrival of a new team to the line-up has led to some posing the question as to whether a female driver could soon be on the grid.

To date, five women have driven in F1 Grand Prix races. Maria Teresa de Filippis was the first back in 1958, with fellow Italian Lella Lombardi becoming the first woman to score a point having made 12 starts during her time in F1 from 1974-76.

Britain’s Divina Galica and South Africa’s Desire Wilson also competed in Grand Prix races, with Italy’s Giovanna Amati the last to do so back in 1992.

Susie Wolff was the closest to featuring since having been a development and test driver at Williams. Wolff – who is married to Mercedes team principal Toto – participated in the first practice session in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone back in 2014.

Colombia’s Tatiana Calderon and Britain’s Jamie Chadwick have also been development drivers for F1 teams in recent years.

The potential of a first female driver featuring on the grid since 1992 was boosted by the creation of the F1 Academy in 2023.

The female-only single seater racing championship was founded by Formula One bosses with the aim of helping women progress to higher levels of competition.

‘F1 took the leadership on that to try to do something, investing, believing that by creating attention to that project we can have hopefully as soon as we can, a girl, a woman, in F1,’ Stefano Domenicali, F1 chief executive said of his ambition for the season.

‘That’s our hope and that’s why we are really investing a lot.’

The F1 Academy is being overseen by Wolff, who serves as managing director. The series was boosted for the second season this year by being aligned with the F1 calendar. F1 teams also selected one driver to feature in the series, racing in their colours.

Wolff, speaking to the Financial Times last year, predicted a female driver will feature on the F1 grid within the next decade.  

‘In the next 10 years.. I’m going to be punchy and say yes,’ Wolff said. ‘But I think with F1 Academy we are creating such a strong pathway that, when the first one comes, more will follow. That’s the plan.’

Mail Sport takes a look at the likely contenders, who potentially could take the step up from the academy to F1.

Abbi Pulling

The British driver is currently top of the F1 academy standings as the series heads into his penultimate round of racing in Qatar this weekend.

Pulling had earned seven podium finishes to end in the top five during the inaugural season, but has proved a dominant force when driving for Rodin Motorsport this campaign.

The 21-year-old has won seven of the 10 races so far this season to move to brink of claiming the title – a feat she will likely achieve this weekend.

Pulling has accrued 245 points to date and has a significant 95 point cushion over second placed Doriane Pin.

Alpine driver Esteban Ocon said last week that he had been ‘super impressed’ by Pulling’s season, while team principal Oliver Oakes said she was on the ‘right track’ to keep moving up the ladder.

‘Obviously, even before I took this role, I’d seen her in the British racing scene,’ said Oakes. ‘And then with F1 Academy supporting a few weekends this far in F1, it’s been great to see her success.

‘I think she’s definitely on the right path to keep progressing through the ladder. I think obviously it was one of the first questions in an Enstone debrief, actually, “What are the plans for her for the future?”

‘She’s pretty close to wrapping up [the title]. So I think in due course, you’ll see what she’s going to be racing in.’

Pulling admits she is targeting an eventual spot in F1, but has stressed she could still pursue other options in motorsport.

The 21-year-old earlier this year became the first woman to win a British F4 race and earlier this month topped the first all-female Formula E testing session in Spain.

Should she wrap up the F1 Academy title, Pulling would secure a fully funded seat in British racing series GB3 with Rodin Motorsport for the 2025 season.

Doriane Pin

The 20-year-old French driver joined Mercedes as part of their junior programme at the start of the season.

Pin currently races as part of the F1 Academy with Prema Racing and in the Formula Regional European Championship with the Iron Dames.

‘Doriane is an exciting talent and we’re pleased to begin our participation in F1 Academy with her as our chosen driver,’ Toto Wolff said at the start of the season.

‘We have kept a close eye on her development in recent years as she has consistently impressed. We now look forward to working in conjunction with Iron Dames, Prema Racing, and F1 Academy, to support Doriane as she takes the next step in her career.’

The 20-year-old had been snapped up after showing promise throughout her racing career.

Pin, who began karting at the age of nine, claimed the French Championship title in 2019. She earned five podiums in the 2021 Le Mans Cup and and became the Ferrari Challenge Europe champion the following year after winning nine out of 14 races.

She has also earned victories at the 24 Hours of Spa and in the European Le Mans Series season-finale in the GTE-AM class. Pin then competed alongside former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat and Mirko Bortolotti in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2023 in the LMP2 category.

Pin revealed as the start of this year that Lewis Hamilton was her idol and part of her decision to join Mercedes.

Hamilton had taken the time to watch Pin race in the opening F1 Academy event of the season in Jeddah. Pin emerged as the winner of the race after over four hours of racing. She then spent the evening in the Mercedes garage watching the Grand Prix.

Pin suffered a setback when she was controversially penalised in the second race in Jeddah after failing to realise the race was over.

She was deducted 20 seconds, losing the race win in the process, after completing another lap once the chequered flag had been raised.

Despite the blow, Pin remains second in the overall F1 Academy standings and has been open about her hopes of competing in F1 in the future. 

‘The category that getting me into motorsport was Formula One when I was young. So of course, I wanted to go in that direction one day when I get a chance,’ Pin told Mercedes website at the start of the season. 

‘Obviously I have high expectations. I want to win the F1 Academy championship. I think if we prepare well in the beginning of the season, we can be strong. And I think being with Mercedes will help me to make this step in the single-seater as good as possible.’

The French driver reiterated the ambition while appearing on the American talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live last weekend.

Pin impressed the audience after revealing she the top speed she had driven at was 201mph. Her appearance also highlighted both her potential and the reach of the F1 Academy series.

Maya Weug 

Weug made history in 2021 when she became the first female driver to become part of Ferrari’s academy.

She secured the place after winning the Girls on Track Rising Stars programme, which was organised by Ferrari and the FIA. 

The Dutch racer had seen off competition from Pin and Brazilian drivers Antonella Bassani and Julia Ayoub to secure the position.

Ferrari said Weug was chosen based on her outright performance in the car, her hard work and ability to take on instructions she was given. 

She made her single seater debut in the Italian Formula 4 Championships in 2021 and became a regular points scorer the following year, before stepping up to Formula Regional level. 

Weug secured one rookie victory alongside several top 10 finishes.

Her title hopes in the F1 Academy this season, where she has been driving for Prema Racing, suffered a major blow when she was unable to score in consecutive races in Barcelona in June.

A run of four successive podium finishes has seen Weug climb to third in the overall standings on 120 points, but is 30 behind second placed Pin.

Bianca Bustamante – McLaren 

Bustamante claimed two impressive victories in the inaugural season of the sport’s development series last term. 

The Filipino driver was quickly snapped up by McLaren to become their development driver, with the 19-year-old revealing she had been inspired to pursue a career in the sport after watching old footage of Niki Lauda driving for the team in the 1980s.

Busatmante had taken her first steps into motorsport by racing at a young age, with her father Raymund buying her first racing suit at the age of one and a first kart at three.

‘I think everyone from Asia will resonate with me when I say how difficult it is to break through into this scene because of the lack of opportunities and because we didn’t have the facilities to even cater for formula racing cars in the Philippines,’ Busatmante said in an interview with McLaren earlier this year.

‘We didn’t have the tracks and we didn’t have the cars, so it was virtually impossible to even think about making it. The fact that I’m here breaks all of those barriers.

Bustamante had won multiple karting titles as a youngster, before stepping up to single seater racing in the W Series. She then competed for PREMA Racing in the 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship.

She has raced for ART Grand Prix during this season’s F1 Academy, while being supported by McLaren, and is currently seventh in the standings.

Bustamante has also been backed by legions of social media followers – their number exceed two million on Instagram and TikTok alone – with the rising star considered a fashion icon and influencer. 

Last year, she was named TikTok Philippines Sports Creator of the Year and, according to The Game, she was also recognised as the third-most influential female racing driver based on her social media following and online search demand.

She has been featured in major fashion magazines, such as Vogue Philippines and Lifestyle Asia.

‘I love talking about this because I love speaking about the community that I have,’ Bustamante said of her social media following. 

‘Without the people supporting me, I wouldn’t be here now, and that’s why I always do my best to give back: to share what it’s like to be an athlete, to be this kid in this crazy world. 

‘I’ve used social media to share those journeys, to share the mistakes. I’ve loved the journey and people have supported me way beyond what I could ever have imagined.

‘As a driver, you have this amazing platform that you can use to showcase your values, to show who you are, and to preach for things you believe in. 

‘I believe in a lot of causes, and I believe that it takes a village to build a champion.’ 

Chloe Chambers

The 20-year-old American driver is currently in fourth place in the F1 Academy standings heading into the closing stages of the series.

Chambers has been driving for Haas and Campos Racing this season, but last month was snapped up by Red Bull Ford to represent them next year when the majority of the other drivers move on.

The move followed her impressive performances this season, which included third and fourth place finishes in Miami, before a victory and third place in Barcelona.

Chambers was born in China but adopted at 11 months old, along with her younger siblings, with her sister also born in China and brother from Ethiopia.

She has lived in the United States since and puts her love of motorsport down to her dad, who took her to a track when she was seven.

Her father Matthew, who was born in Essex, was described by Chambers as a ‘mess’ after his emotional reaction to her win in Barcelona was captured by cameras.

Like Pin, Chambers has also had experience of meeting a famous US talk show host. Back in 2019, she raced karts with David Letterman as part of his series ‘My Next Guest Needs No Introduction’.

Chambers featured on the same episode as seven-time F1 world champion Hamilton.

In 2023, she made history as the first woman to start on pole and win a race in the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship. Chambers has also competed in the Formula 4 United States Championship and W Series. 

‘Everyone at the Team is looking forward to welcoming Chloe to the Red Bull family where she is a key part of our line-up for the 2025 F1 Academy season,’ Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said when welcoming Chambers to the team for next season.

‘Welcoming an American driver that has previously been linked to Ford marks an exciting progression in our partnership with Ford Performance. 

‘Red Bull and Ford share common values and are united in providing more opportunities for young and emerging talent in motorsports, and we can’t wait to see Chloe hit the track in Red Bull Ford colours in 2025.’