Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine is teaming up with Netflix to produce the docuseries F1 Academy, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The F1 Academy will follow the story of Formula One's women-only developmental division. The series is currently in production and is set to debut in 2025. F1 Academy will join Netflix's F1 series sports documentary programming. The streaming platform already has Formula 1: Drive to Survive, currently in its sixth season. It also has the Netflix Cup which is a crossover event with Full Swing, which teams up professional golfers and drivers.
F1 Academy races its way to Netflix
Witherspoon said in a statement, “We started Hello Sunshine to change the narrative for women, and [managing director] Susie Wolff and F1 Academy are doing just that by creating new opportunities in the thrilling world of motorsport.”
“As these dynamic and fearless drivers break barriers behind the wheel, we are excited to partner with Netflix to tell the stories of these powerhouse leaders. What we know is that when we put women at the center, people show up to watch,” she added.
The F1 Academy was founded in November 2022 and began its inaugural season in 2023. It was created to develop and prepare young drivers to progress into the higher levels of the racing series. The academy aims to help the transition between karting to single-seater racing.
Originally, Formula 1 had Formula Woman in 2004 to address the sport's lack of female drivers. In 2019, the W Series was established and ran for three seasons. However, the 2020 season was canceled due to the pandemic. It was eventually shuttered due to financial issues.
Susie Wolff and the FIA
In 2023, Susie Wolff was appointed as the managing director for F1 Academy. She is a former professional racing driver. Wolff began her racing career in karting before she moved to Formula Renault and Formula Three. She then moved to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) to race for Mercedes-Benz. In 2012, she became a development driver for Williams in Formula One.
Wolff became the first woman to participate in a Formula One race weekend in 22 years, by taking part in practice for the 2014 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. In 2015, her final competition was at the Race of Champions before she announced her retirement.
There are currently five teams in the F1 Academy: ART Grand Prix (current F1 academy drivers: Bianca Bustamante, Aurelia Nobels, Lia Block), Campos Racing (Chloe Chambers, Carrie Schreiner, Nerea Martí), Rodin Motorsport (Lola Lovinfosse, Abbi Pulling, Jessica Edgar), MP Motorsport (Emely de Heus, Hamda Al Qubaisi, Amna Al Qubaisi) and Prema Racing (Tina Hausman, Doriane Pin, Maya Weug).
F1 Academy's first seasons was controversial due to the FIA's failure to broadcast its events, except for its season finale at the Circuit of the Americas.
For last year's season, Formula One is responsible for subsidizing the cost of the cars, with the drivers contributing €150,000. For the current season, this was lowered to €100,000. This year, all of the 10 Formula One teams support one driver each who will then carry the team's livery on their car. The rest of the drivers are supported by the series partners.
Wolff said, “We want to be the rocket fuel that drives female participation in our sport, both on and off the track.”
She continued, “To have the F1 Academy docuseries launch globally with Netflix is not just a huge step forward in visibility for our mission, but also a resounding statement about the momentum and demand for women’s sport. We want to inspire and empower the next generation of young women, and Netflix will open up F1 Academy to a global audience of existing and future fans.”
The Wolffs under scrutiny
By highlighting F1 Academy, this could provide Wolff with the necessary support and protection. In 2023, she and husband Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team principal Toto Wolff were accused the the FIA of conflicts of interests due to reports that confidential information between the F1 Academy director and one of the F1 Team principals was being shared inappropriately, Sport Illustrated reported.
The Wolffs strongly denied the allegations. To complicate things further, the rest of the F1 teams posted on their respective social media sites that none of them lodged complaints against the couple.
This led the FIA to conclude that the issue did not merit any investigation, however the damage to Susie Wolff's reputation was already done. To this end, she is pursuing legal steps to hold the FIA accountable for their allegations.
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