Diverse experience makes for great drivers according to Patrick Long and you will hear why in this week’s Driver Development Roundup. I also have advice on balancing business with racing, the latest driver development program news and why you need to act like a CEO.
Becoming a Professional Race Driver
As Enzo Mucci explains in the video above, you are the CEO of your career so act like one.
In Vroom Kart‘s second special column with Giovanni Minardi, they tackle the topic of costs head-on, delving into the details of what it takes financially to become a Pro and how to carefully evaluate investments in the medium and long term. You can read the article here.
Zoe Woods shares the unique story of her journey into motorsport on the Motorsport Coaching Podcast, starting from a family not traditionally associated with the sport and transitioning from go-kart racing to competing in the Monochrome GT4 Australia Championship. Listeners will hear about Zoe’s experiences navigating a male-dominated field and how her passion and determination propelled her forward.
She also shares valuable advice for female drivers breaking into the industry, emphasizing the importance of having a strong personal brand and the role social media plays in her sponsorship endeavors. Zoe’s entrepreneurial spirit extends beyond the track as she talks about her business, Lulu Lashes and Beauty, and how it complements her career in motorsport. You can listen to the episode here.
Former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard has firmly pushed back against critics who claim that women will not be able to compete against men in F1 in the future.
“It’s utter bulls*** that women don’t have the strength to do it. Anyone who doesn’t train doesn’t have what it takes to perform in motor racing — whether you’re a man or a woman. An untrained person doesn’t have the strength to do anything. I’m 53 and I wouldn’t be able to drive an F1 car quickly for more than 10 laps in my physical condition, now that I’m on the other side of my peak fitness. I had to train like an athlete twice a day, with a trainer, for years to be able to do my job.”
So how are women to best prepare themselves for motorsport when it comes from the differences in their physiology? Maja Czarzasty-Zybert looks at this very issue in Hormones and Speed – does female physiology affect their chances in Motorsport?
“While skills and passion are undoubtedly crucial, it’s important to consider how women’s physiology may impact their performance in this high-stakes sport. With International Women’s Day upon us, it’s worth reflecting on whether hormones—particularly the menstrual cycle—truly influence women’s results in motorsport and how physical preparation can be adjusted to equalize these chances.”
In the video above, Patrick Long explains how diverse driving experience makes for great drivers.
Following the success of the first ever all women test held at the Circuito Jarama, Madrid in 2024, and to celebrate this year’s IWD theme to ‘Accelerate Action’, the event on the 30th October 2025 will see all 11 world-class race teams involved in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship field at least one women driver for two test sessions encompassing an entire day of on track action.
For the second year in a row, Formula E will offer a dedicated platform for up to 22 talented women to push the state-of-the-art GEN3 Evo race car to the limit, which delivers 0-60 mph in just 1.82 seconds. The test will take place at the renowned Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, Spain, and is an integral part of the pre-season Official Collective tests schedule for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship’s Season 12.
More details can be found here.
Feeder Series takes a look at what happened to the Formula Inter series by talking to International Motorsport team owner Carlos Martinez. “We created [Formula Inter] because, in my opinion, when you try to jump from the go-kart to the open wheel, the jump is too high. There is nothing in the middle,” International Motorsport team owner Carlos Martinez told Feeder Series. “If you do that jump, you have to spend a lot of money. That’s the [reason] we created Formula Inter. It was something in the middle so the people that came from the go-kart could do one year of experience in the Formula Inter with a very, very small budget and then go to the national-level championships.”
You can read the complete article here.
With both Formula 2 and Formula 3 set to kick off soon, here are a few articles that look at how the top rookie prospects are preparing for the season, how experience and responsibility shape the dynamics of an F2 team and how series CEO Bruno Michel feels that F2 and F3 have prepared the current crop of rookies in F1.
- How F2 and F3’s top rookie prospects are preparing for their debut seasons (Feeder Series)
- How experience and responsibility shape F2 team dynamics (Feeder Series)
- F2 and F3 CEO Bruno Michel on F1’s ‘exceptional’ rookie intake and why Bearman’s super-sub showing was so vital (Formula 1)
An examination of Motorsport UK’s licensing records over the past two decades reveals a consistent decline in paid licenses, even as recent shifts in reporting practices blur direct comparisons. The recent decline in like-for-like registration numbers for the Motorsport UK British Kart Championship correlates with a wider trend that is happening with British Motorsport, and it’s not exactly good reading. Alan Dove investigates.
Driver Development Program News & Resources
The field has been narrowed to 12 finalists for the 2026-27 IMSA Diverse Driver Development (3D) Scholarship. The recipient, to be named in the fall, will receive benefits worth up to $300,000 to compete in one of four IMSA-sanctioned championships in 2026.
The IMSA 3D Scholarship promotes and empowers drivers from a variety of backgrounds and experiences to participate in an IMSA series. The finalists chosen possess a strong desire to compete in IMSA, have outstanding previous race results and/or proven on-track potential in junior racing categories, plus the ability to create a compelling strategy to compete in a full season in one of four IMSA-sanctioned series: the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge or – new for 2026 – Mustang Challenge.
The scholarship includes benefits from IMSA and a growing number of corporate partners: Michelin, VP Racing Fuels, OMP, Bell, Recaro, Skip Barber Racing School, RAFA Racing Club and LAT Images. More details can be found at the IMSA website here.
Changing perceptions of a woman’s place in motorsport and funneling the next generation of female talent towards Formula 1 was never going to be an overnight fix. But, for F1 ACADEMY Managing Director Susie Wolff, change is already afoot. As the all-female series prepares to enter its third season, and in honor of International Women’s Day, she discusses how F1 ACADEMY is accelerating action and fostering a pathway for female talent both on and off the track. Read more about the future of the program here.
With the goal of encouraging women everywhere to become more successful drivers and contributing members of the SCCA, the Wendi Allen Scholarship Fund offers financial assistance to women who have the drive to improve on the Regional, Divisional, and National level. Honoring multi-time SCCA Solo National Champion Wendi Allen, the scholarship fund has a deep history of offering financial opportunities to women that enables them to reach higher than they might have previously thought possible. Funded courtesy of the SCCA Foundation and Mazda Motorsports and managed by SCCA Women on Track, this annual scholarship presents three women with $1,500 scholarships each in support of their travel to Tire Rack National Solo events and the Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships. This year’s recipients are Juliana Brava, Meredith Bunsawat, and Em Huneycutt.
In addition to the funding, SCCA will waive entry fees for scholarship recipients to all Tire Rack National Solo events attended during the year and work with the Solo community and commercial partners to seek out other forms of support for the recipients, such as driver training, mentoring, products, and logistical assistance. Get more details on the scholarship at the SCCA website here.
Charlotte Tilbury will remain an F1 Academy partner for 2025 and the beauty brand has also committed to supporting free karting sessions as well as launching a scholarship, both with the aim of driving up female participation in motorsport.
To mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, all sales of the brand’s Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray 100ml bottles sold on its official website will go directly towards funding sessions with the Girls Karting Academy at 10 venues across the United Kingdom.
The Girls Karting Academy is part of Motorsport UK and through it, Charlotte Tilbury is also funding an eponymous scholarship that will support the participation of one female racer in a full Club 100 Karting Championship season next year.
While applauded by many, some have questioned whether it is appropriate to associate cosmetics with girls as young as 8 years old. “The decision to fund the scheme through sales of a beauty product that boasts of “AIRBRUSH EFFECTS” may prompt concerns about associating these types of cosmetics with young children, an issue that has been carefully navigated by other major brands.”
To kick off Women’s History Month, the Shift Up Now Foundation is proud to announce that it will award just over $250,000 in grants this season to talented female drivers across 12 different racing series.
The grants will be allocated to fifteen different drivers and development athletes, including one of the newest Athletes to join the Shift Up Now roster, Tatiana Calderon, driving in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship for Gradient Racing. Get all the details here.
Mercedes has unveiled its junior driver line-up for the upcoming season, listing 12 names as part of its squad. The year is a historic one for Mercedes as it fields two junior team graduates in its F1 driver line-up for the first time in George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
“We have allowed ourselves to explore new championships and challenges this year, welcoming six new members from go-karting all the way up to FIA Formula 3,” said Mercedes driver development advisor Gwen Lagrue. “Some of our junior drivers are ready to fight for their respective championships, some are just starting their journey in single-seaters, some are at the end of their karting careers and others are at the beginning.”
After 14 years supporting and developing Canadian motorsport talent, the Team Canada Scholarship program has been shut down according to team principal Brian Graham. “We sadly have to step back from our TCS. After 14 years we can proudly look back at some wonderful experiences at Brands Hatch and Silverstone with our two host teams Cliff Dempsey Racing and Graham Brunton Racing – GBR. During the years of our racing abroad we have had the great fortune to work with some outstanding young talents, some whom have gone on to race at the highest levels of racing in the world.”
On International Woman’s Day, the Formelaustria Young Driver Program has proudly pointed out that from day one they have offered female talents exactly the same opportunities as their male counterparts. “What matters to us are qualities like know-how, passion, will or a good sense of humour, not which gender somebody is,” programme director Harry Miltner explained. You can find more information on the program here and here.
DirtFish has launched its Women in Motorsport Driver Program, an initiative focused on furthering the transformation of women’s participation in motorsport.
Revealed a day out from International Women’s Day, the DirtFish Women in Motorsport Driver Program is a landmark moment in the 15-year history of one of the world’s leading driver training schools – it’s also a pioneering milestone in the careers of the three women at the forefront of the DirtFish Women in Motorsport Driver Program.
DirtFish WiM coordinator Josie Rimmer and drivers Michele Abbate and Aoife Raftery are at the heart of a program designed to provide role models as well as encouraging and engendering wider representation from women across all aspects of motorsport.
DirtFish has all the details.
From the Sim Racing Roundup
The impact of esports on motorsport sponsorship is one of the topics covered in last week’s Sim Racing Roundup. Read on for some concrete examples that you can take inspiration from. You will also find details on a driver development program that welcomes sim racers, how the Prodigy Racing League is breaking barriers in motorsport and why Penske Autosport updated their sim rigs.
Driver Development Pathways
The Alpine Formula 1 team has announced the addition of Sukhmani Khera to its academy after a breakthrough weekend in karting. The 12-year-old British-Indian is already known to the Alpine brand, as one of the drivers who was signed to the young driver karting program in its female-focused Alpine Rac(H)er programme two years ago. She has effectively graduated from being an affiliate of the Alpine Academy to now being one of its drivers.
Corey Heim has signed a multiyear deal with 23XI Racing to be the organization’s first development driver. Heim will remain 23XI Racing’s reserve driver but will make multiple starts in the NASCAR Cup Series this season. The first will be at Kansas Speedway in May in the No. 67 Toyota. Bootie Barker will be the crew chief.
The deal also includes Heim making multiple starts in the Xfinity Series for Sam Hunt Racing. Circuit of The Americas will be Heim’s first start. Heim will drive a Sam Hunt Racing Toyota supported by 23XI.
“It’s a dream come true to be a part of 23XI, and I’m excited for the opportunity to race more Cup and Xfinity races this year,” Heim said. “I’m blessed to have the chance to compete in all three series as I continue to set my sights on full-time Cup racing when that time comes. The success that 23XI has shown in only a few short years has been impressive and I’m excited to learn from the organization. I’m also grateful to everyone at Toyota for their ongoing support in my development both on and off the track, and I look forward to strengthening that relationship for years to come.”
Talented teen Ana Palestro enjoyed a successful debut race weekend at Buttonwillow Raceway recently in challenging conditions scoring her first podium result with a 3rd place finish in the Sunday feature race.
Raised in suburban Seattle, Washington: Ana has been training with the JENSEN team since summer 2024 with a view to racing full-time for the 2025 season. Formula Pro USA Western Championship is comprised of six race weekends all at circuits located in California; including Sonoma Raceway and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a lawyer, he applies his legal background and research skills to assist race drivers by showcasing the resources they need to make their motorsport careers happen.
