The F1 Academy series has revealed its 2023 calendar and how the weekend will work along with the points tally.
F1 Academy is pleased to announce the calendar of the inaugural 2023 season which will comprise of seven rounds with a total of 21 races. The season finale will involve the F1 Academy being a support event at the FORMULA 1 LENOVO UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX 2023.
The calendar has been designed to feature as many Formula 1 Grand Prix tracks as possible, giving the 15 strong grid the opportunity to compete on a variety of challenging circuits which will help develop the drivers’ technical skills and prepare them to progress to higher levels of competition.
The 2023 F1 Academy calendar is:
28–29 April Spielberg, Austria
05–07 May Valencia, Spain
19–21 May Barcelona, Spain
23–25 June Zandvoort, Netherlands
07–09 July Monza, Italy
29–30 July Le Castellet, France
20–22 October Austin, USA
The fifteen cars will take to the track for the first time on 11-12 April at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for an official test session, with 13 more days of testing throughout the season to be revealed in the coming weeks.
Race Weekend Format –
Each race weekend will consist of two Free Practice sessions of 40 minutes each, followed by two Qualifying sessions of 15 minutes each. As previously announced, all events will have three races: Races 1 and 3 will be 30 minutes long, and Race 2 will be 20 minutes.
Qualifying 1 will set the Grid for Race 1 and Qualifying 2 will set the grid for Race 3. The first eight finishers in Qualifying 1 will start Race 2 in reverse order, cars finishing in 9th position and below will start in position they qualified in that session.
The drivers who take pole position for Races 1 and 3 following the final classification of the Qualifying sessions will be awarded with two points. In each race, one point will be awarded to the driver who achieves the fastest lap time, providing she was in the top 10 positions of the final race classification.
Bruno Michel, General Manager of the F1 Academy, said: “I’m very pleased to reveal the calendar of F1 Academy’s inaugural season. Our goal was to be able to race on as many Formula 1 Grand Prix tracks as possible, with circuits that could be a great challenge for the drivers. The teams know these layouts very well, so they will be able to help their young talents get to grips quickly.
“We had announced that F1 Academy would be racing alongside Formula 1 at one event, so it’s fantastic to be part of the F1 Grand Prix package in Austin, where we will also conclude the first season, in front of the F1 paddock and the American crowd. There is quite a gap in between Rounds 6 and 7, but that is mainly due to the fact that we will be sending the cars and equipment by ship, to save on logistical costs. Additionally, there will be fifteen days of testing to add to the track time in 2023, with the first two days in Barcelona on April 11th and 12th. We will reveal the rest of the dates in due time.”
Here’s the drivers racing: https://www.instagram.com/f1academy/?hl=en
Here’s news from F1 Academy on teams
[Note: The story is as per press release]