The F1 Academy champion is set to receive a fully funded seat in the GB3 Championship for 2025 and this week in the Driver Development Roundup you will get all the details. You will also find out more about the Prodigy Three (P3) Championship, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver development program and the importance of controlling your emotions.
Becoming a Professional Race Driver
In the video above, Enzo Mucci explains the importance of controlling your emotions.
Driver Development Program News & Resources
The Manual gives a great introduction to the new Prodigy Three (P3) Championship, a real world championship that pits sim racers against each other in real-world racing.
“F1 drivers typically start kart racing at the same time they begin elementary school and spend their childhood, teenage, and young adult years competing at gradually higher levels, hoping someday to get a contract from a Formula 1 team. Racing Prodigy, a U.S.-based sports, entertainment, and media company, has formed the Prodigy Racing League to give talented gamers a way to earn a contract to race real cars.”
You can read more here.
F1 Academy has announced that the 2024 F1 Academy Champion will receive a fully funded seat in GB3 with Rodin Motorsport for the 2025 season. In addition to the full-time race seat, the Champion will receive 20 days of testing in the GB3 car to support her campaign, also funded by F1 Academy. As part of the newly created Pirelli Prize, Pirelli will provide a financial contribution towards the seat.
More information on the program can be found on the GB3 Championship website here.
Reigning NTT IndyCar Series champions Chip Ganassi Racing has launched a new driver development program. Its first two clients are Kiwi Motorsport, which competes in the Formula Regional Americas series, and Palou Motorsport, the Eurocup-3 team started by CGR’s Alex Palou and his father Ramon, who runs the program.
More information can be found on the Chip Ganassi website here and at Formula Scout here.
Stellantis Motorsport recently unveiled the Peugeot 208 Racing, designed to meet the newly introduced FR6 regulations from the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile (FFSA). As the first manufacturer to enter this category, Stellantis hopes to cement its credentials for making motorsport accessible to all.
Drawing on experience gained across projects such as the 208 Rally4 and C3 Rally2, the aim was to create a car capable of propelling up-and-coming young talent as well as more experienced drivers.
More details can be found on the PMW website here.
Neil Braun, founder of Road To Racing Canada (R2R) has clarified misconceptions on how R2R distributes funds to drivers.
“As the founder of Road To Racing Canada (R2R), I want to address some misconceptions about how we allocate the funds raised for our talented young drivers. With over $1 million raised since our inception, it’s crucial for our supporters to understand our funding process, and bring transparency.”
You can read Neil’s full post here.
Paddock Sorority has a great interview with race driver and Shift Up Now! chief executive who discusses her motorsport journey and how and why Shift Up Now! promotes women in motorsport.
“Motorsport has always been a sport where money can build or break a career. For women in motorsport, it’s especially the case. With the limited opportunities they are given and the limited resources that come with the opportunities, a lot of times women are measured rather unfairly. “We are here to win races. But for us to accomplish that, you have to give us the tools to do the job – and that means enough funding to do the job. If you just fund us as a side project, or to make yourself feel good, you’re helping us maybe make one more race, but you’re doing it in a manner where we’re going to show up at that race without the resources to succeed. Then you’re going to ask us why we didn’t succeed.”
Read the full feature here.
In Women in Motorsports: Breaking Barriers. Pitlane Developments looks at the progress of women in motorsports.
“The growth of female participation across all levels of racing has increased to 10% in recent years, with an average of 13% in karting and 7% in Formula and GT Racing. Despite the slow progress, change is happening, and with initiatives like F1 Academy and Formula E’s all-woman test day, more eyes are recognizing the talent shaping a more inclusive future in racing for women.”
You can read the full feature here.
There will be two more additions to the Red Bull Junior Team in 2025, with Niklas Schaufler and Nikola Tsolov joining its ranks. Formula Scout has all the details.
Grassroots Motorsports looks at Out Motorsports, a group dedicated to creating a place to enjoy motorsports of all kinds. “There are other gay and queer car clubs out there,” says Jake Thiewes, founder of Out Motorsports. “Out Motorsports’ focus is on the LGBTQ driving enthusiast who wants to grow both their skills and their community.”
Read more about the group at Grassroots Motorsports.
Formula E played host to the first-ever all-women test session for an FIA World Championship today at Circuito del Jarama in Madrid, with Abbi Pulling (Nissan) fastest in the afternoon. The Formula E website has all the details.
Mission 44 held its first-ever fundraiser last week, bringing together celebrities, partners and young people for a night of purpose-driven celebration. The night, hosted by presenter Ariana Bravo, was filled with unique performances, discussions and immersive experiences, showcasing the charity’s commitment to empowering the next generation of diverse leaders from underserved communities.
Read more about the evening on the Mission 44 website here.
Driver Development Pathways
The Ginetta Junior Championship’s status as one of the leading junior race series in the world has been recognised by the Red Bull Junior Team, who have placed two of their international rising stars into the championship for the 2025 season.
Rocco Coronel and Scott Lindblom were selected to join the coveted programme following impressive performances in the renowned Red Bull Driver Search earlier this year. They will now be kick-starting their car-racing careers behind the wheel of Ginetta G40 Junior Evos carrying the iconic Red Bull livery.
More details can be found on the Ginetta website here.
Sportscar365 looks at the career of Andre Lotterer and his path to sports car racing stardom and how it may not yet be over despite his departure from Porsche.
There was a point when it looked like Lotterer was on the fast-track to F1. Signed by Jaguar to race in British Formula 3 in 2001, he became the team’s full-time test driver the following year. But he fell out of favour amid constant management changes at the Ford-owned squad, and was passed over by new team boss Niki Lauda when it came to deciding upon the team’s 2003 race drivers.
You can read the full article here.
A recent episode of the Inside the SCCA presented by RaceSchool.com, podcast host Brian Bielanski reconnects with SCCA’s youngest ever Runoffs National Champion, 15-year-old Ethan Goulart. Ethan won his Runoffs gold medal in 2024 in Spec Miata, which is undeniably one of the most competitive classes in all of motorsports. A second-generation racer that’s continuing his father’s winning legacy, this young driver is a future star. You can watch the episode above.
Is It Fast? profiles Dakar Rally racer Rebecca Busi. “The Dakar was her goal and if her ambitions of making it in motorsport were not to come true, then at least she would have competed in the one race that she’d always been obsessed with (a race that some drivers only ever dream of and never actually make it to) and that she would have done it her way. Rebecca wanted to jump headfirst into the deep end instead, announce herself to the world and go after her dreams.”
You can read the full interview here.
Author: Mark Boudreau
Mark is the publisher of Motorsport Prospects. As a former 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.
