As has often been the case in the Formula 1 paddock throughout 2024, Abbi Pulling is in an optimistic mood. Reflecting on a historic season of success, the 21-year-old from Gosberton in Lincolnshire wonders where her expectations were at the start of the year, ahead of competing in the all-female F1 Academy series she considers now as a “must have”. earn”.
“I had to get this award,” she says The Independentduring an end-of-season event at F1 driving in Tottenham to celebrate his achievements this year. That prize is now a fully funded seat for 2025 in the British-based GB3 championship, one rung below Formula 3.
“There was a lot of pressure about it. I wanted to end the year feeling like I left no stone unturned, leaving the track every day having done everything I could. And I wasn’t far from it.
Nine race wins out of 14 and a championship victory margin of 121 points attest to this. The junior Alpine rider was so dominant, in fact, that there was little cause for outrage and disapproval when her title triumph at the penultimate round in Qatar was suddenly taken away from her, with organizers having added an extra race at the final round in Qatar. Abu Dhabi.
Pulling simply sealed his crown once again, with the extra point for pole position. She actually recorded the first, second and third fastest laps in qualifying at the Yas Marina circuit.
After finishing fifth in her first season at the F1 Academy, what does she attribute her change in form to?
“In 2023, I didn’t have the best reaction when things didn’t go the way I wanted them to,” she says.
“I felt like I was chasing my tail all last year, which was a really bad mentality. This year, every time I left the track, I reset. I had a lot of soul searching last winter, so this year I really put into practice everything I needed to. It all depends on the process. »
And it wasn’t just at the F1 Academy that Pulling made history. In May, Pulling became the first woman to win a race in British F4, taking victory in the reverse grid race at Brands Hatch by a margin of 6 seconds. But she has beaten boys before, in a career that began with karting at the age of 10.
“I was a big tomboy growing up, so I didn’t mind being the only girl,” says Pulling, reflecting on a childhood nurtured on the racetrack, with his father Andy competing in motorcycle endurance events.
“I was so naive that I was just having fun. I always say that I matured quite early. What struck me was actually the fathers: they would be annoyed if I beat their child. They told their son, “You can’t let a girl beat you.” It was really frustrating and upsetting. But I used that as fuel and motivation.
It’s been a tough nine years for Pulling, but all eyes are on the future. Time – and more importantly, funding – is in his back pocket. But at 21, she is still behind as she enters the highly competitive GB3 championship next year. The 2024 champion, New Zealander Louis Sharp, is 17 as he progresses to F3 in 2025. Despite this, Pulling acknowledges that a championship victory would be a “really difficult feat”.
Yet his aspirations go beyond GB3. In 2026, it will be 50 years since Lella Lombardi competed in an F1 race, the last woman to do so. F1 Academy chief executive Susie Wolff – wife of Mercedes boss Toto – was the last woman to drive on a race weekend, testing for Williams at the 2015 British Grand Prix. Wolff said before the F1 Academy’s inaugural season last year that it would take “eight to 10 years” for a woman to be on the grid in F1.
Does Pulling think she could be the driving force to break this five-decade barrier?
“I would be up for the challenge and I would love to be that woman,” she says. “Even if it takes longer, I don’t think it’s a negative point. When a woman succeeds, she must be able to rise to the challenge and deserve to be there. Not because they’re women…but because they’re fast racing drivers.
But his optimism comes with a dose of reality – and an indication of the biggest obstacle that awaits him in the coming years.
“If we see a woman in F1, it won’t be a 17-year-old Max Verstappen,” predicts Pulling. “An 18-year-old woman won’t be able to drive a Formula 1 car, that’s the reality. We’ll see a woman in F1 in her mid-20s, that’s when she’s at the peak of her fitness.
“F3 is realistic for a woman to be at the front. But I have never driven in F2 [which has no power steering] and I heard it was very difficult. The physical side will be a challenge, but the most important thing is also the time spent at headquarters. That’s what you’re dealing with: drivers who don’t have to worry about money and can take tests every week.
“You now have 14-year-olds testing and then when they are old enough they compete in Italian, German and Emirati F4. But if you can show that you’re on par with someone who spends that much time sitting, then that’s a pretty good performance.
Pulling’s triumph at the F1 Academy has given him that essential financial stability for the next 12 months. Now it’s about using those funds and resources – with a support team that includes former W Series winner Alice Powell as manager – to her advantage ahead of her first GB3 year.
“It’s the most comfortable I’ve ever felt in winter, but motorsport is really unpredictable,” she says. “Of course I want to win the championship; you’re not a racing driver if you don’t want to win.
“But I have to be realistic. I don’t put that pressure on myself.
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