Abbi Pulling has been crowned 2024 F1 Academy champion with three races to spare after an impressive season competing on the high-profile Formula 1 bill at selected Grands Prix.

The 21-year-old athlete from Lincolnshire is not only a Team UK beneficiary of Motorsport UK’s talent development Academy but also a wonderful role model for an exciting new generation of young girls all starting to make their mark in junior motorsport. Her proven success is both a huge motivator and a debunker of many myths about women in motorsport.

Earlier this season, Abbi became the first female race winner in the British F4 Championship and now she has further endorsed her potential by winning the coveted F1 Academy.

Seven wins, seven pole positions and a full-house of 11 podiums in her sophomore season has seen the Alpine-backed driver dominate the series, and she sealed the title with a battling second place in last weekend’s opening showdown on the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar.

“It’s just everything that I wanted,” enthused an emotional Abbi who had finished fifth in last year’s series. “It’s amazing being Champion – it’s a big relief off of my shoulders and I’ve worked so hard for this. To do it in the fashion we have, I’m speechless.

“It’s been incredible,” she confirmed. “Going into this year, I keep saying it but I’m going to say it again, I had no option, I had to win! I managed to do it in a way that I actually put less pressure on myself going into the end of the year. I’m so happy, I don’t know what to say.”

Pulling’s success is all the more valuable as it secures the next step on her all-important career pathway.

With the title she receives a fully-funded drive in next year’s GB3 series as a member of the 2024 title-winning Rodin Motorsport team – the same outfit with which she has raced this season in both British F4 and the F1 Academy. To support her campaign, the prize drive also comes with a 20-day testing programme in the same car.

“Honestly, it’s such a weight off my shoulders,” admitted Pulling. “Every year, I go into the winter thinking ‘what am I going to do next?’

“I’ve struggled financially in the past and to get the prize for next year – I know it’s so early to be talking about next year, but that makes me so happy, so incredibly proud. I’m going to go into 2025 as hungry as I was this year and really put the work in and make the most of the opportunity.”

Whatever happens in 2025, Pulling performances both at home and abroad have been pivotal in inspiring the record numbers of ambitious young girls who are now entering the sport at junior levels. Motorsport UK congratulates her game-changing achievements.