Marta García, a 22-year-old Valencian from Gandía, has made history in motorsports and women’s sports by becoming the first women’s F1 champion, the new F1 Academy, sponsored by the FIA. A pioneer like Fernando Alonso (2005) was in his day.
The Prama Racing team driver won the first race of the United States GP in Austin (in the run-up to the F1 Sprint race) and mathematically wins the first edition of the championship.
The driver from Gandía, leader of the championship since the first race and a big favorite, started the first test of the last round of the F1 Academy from pole position.
She led every lap from the start, in which she withstood harassment from Abbi Pulling. But in the second lap, an accident between Maite Cáceres, Emely de Heus and Chloe Grant forced the race to be neutralized with the safety car.
At the start, Marta García knew when to accelerate and pull and gave Pulling no option. The title was his.
Marta García has won this first edition of the F1 Academy in six races, in the inaugural Spielberg (in two), in València, in Monza, in Le Castellet and now at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
Marta García started in motorsports at the age of 10 in karting. Since she was a child, she had been one of the best talents in the meager Spanish pilot pool.
She competed in the Spanish F4, her first year of single-seater racing, in 2018. She was 9th overall. But she had to return to karting due to lack of support, so as not to lose her hands behind the wheel. “I didn’t have any more budget to do another year in F4, in F-Renault or in European F3,” the Valencian told La Vanguardia. The young woman was also left without the support of the Renault Sport Academy Driver, the diamond team’s program for young talents.
Casting here and there, testing in various championships, the sky opened up for Marta García when in October 2018 the creation of the W Series was announced, the first single-seater competition exclusively for women: the initial women’s F1, which promoted the German company ITR. She was selected among the 18 chosen after passing three days of tests at the Almería circuit.
In the first year of the W Series (2019 edition), Marta García was fourth, with a victory at Norisring (Germany) and a podium in the first race, in Hockenheim.
In the second edition (2021, since 2020 was canceled due to covid), García was 12th overall (a podium), and in the third and last (2022) she was 6th (a podium).
This season, Marta García was also selected to be part of the first F1 Academy, under the umbrella of the FIA, with the Prama Racing team.
