Just like the rest of the world, it seems like Netflix is equally as obsessed with Formula 1.
From the streamer’s incredibly successful seven season docuseries “Drive to Survive” to a documentary about rookie Kimi Antonelli, Netflix has been showcasing all the F1 action.
Now, a new docuseries called “F1: The Academy” from Hello Sunshine — Reese Witherspoon’s production company — is hitting the streaming giant, this time, highlighting women in motorsport.
What is ‘F1: The Academy’ about?
“F1: The Academy” follows the F1 Academy, an all-female racing league led by former racer Susie Wolff — who happens to be married to Mercedes Team Principal and “Drive to Survive” star Toto Wolff. The F1 Academy aims to highlight women in racing and give them the chance to advance to higher levels of motorsport with the ultimate goal of getting a woman on the F1 grid.
After all, women are allowed to compete in F1, yet it’s been nearly 50 years since a woman has officially held an F1 seat.
“It’s something that doesn’t happen overnight,” F1 Academy driver Abbi Pulling previously told TODAY.com. “But we’re seeing more young girls get into go-karting.”
The docuseries follows Wolff and the Academy drivers through their 2024 season as they battle for equality within the sport, fight one other for the championship and face the mounting pressure that comes with the spotlight.
“I want to continue to be bold, to disrupt and to show the next generation, and all those who are fans of the sport, that the sport you love is a place where women cannot just be involved but also thrive,” Susie Wolff previously told TODAY.com.
Ahead of the docuseries release, Pulling tells TODAY.com that the docuseries will be a little different from “Drive to Survive.”
“I think when you see ‘Driver to Survive,’ (the F1 drivers are) at their pinnacle of the sport,” she says. “They’re in Formula 1. They’re already established racing drivers. Whereas we’re on that journey, we’re on that progression path, and we’re fighting to prove why we deserve to move up the ladder, one step closer to Formula 1.”
But just like “Drive to Survive,” the drivers’ personal lives are explored throughout the docuseries. Bianca Bustamante, another Academy driver featured in the show, tells TODAY.com that this aspect was challenging at times.
“It’s a level of closeness that you don’t let other people get to, but the whole world will have access to that,” she says. “And somehow it’s so vulnerable and so raw and so real.”
She adds that the show captures “your highest of highs or lowest of lows” and hopes that people understand “the tears that were shed.”
“They were very real,” Bustamante says. “And the emotions and the pain — I hope that people feel those emotions as strongly as I did in the moment because I’ve always worn my heart on my sleeves.”
Ahead of the release date for “F1: The Academy,” TODAY.com had an exclusive look at the trailer.
Read on for more about “F1: The Academy.”
When does ‘F1: The Academy’ release on Netflix?
“F1: The Academy” will be released on Netflix on May 28.
“We really are following the drivers’ journey so what’s pivotal presents itself to us, and then we react to it and make sure we tell the story appropriately,” docuseries executive producer Sara Rea previously told TODAY.com. “Highs and lows and everything in between.”
What time will ‘F1: The Academy’ be streaming?
The docuseries will be available to stream all at once at 12 a.m. PT / 3 a.m. ET on May 28.
How many episodes will ‘F1: The Academy’ have?
The docuseries will have seven episodes.
What do the drivers hope people take away from the docuseries?
Pulling tells TODAY.com ahead of the docuseries’ premiere that she hopes it shows the truth behind the hard work the women and teams put in to get where they are today.
She says she knows there are some people who will “never change their viewpoint” on believing women are inferior in racing. But since the Academy’s inception, she thinks a lot of people are starting to see and believe in women’s potential in motorsport.
“I think people are believing in us a lot more. . . We’ve been welcomed with open arms and respected,” she says. “People realize … we can race hard and fast.”
While being in front of the camera can be “quite a scary place” for some of the drivers, Pulling says it shows the reality of what goes on and off the grid.
“We’re making mistakes. We’re still at parts of our career where the F1 drivers were making mistakes, but they didn’t have a show made about it and they weren’t as watched as closely,” she says.
“It’s quite intimidating in that aspect, as it’s a lot, but I think it will only help in showing breaking that stigma and seeing the work we’re putting in off the track,” she adds.
Bustamante hopes that the series “resonates” with fans.
“There’s a few of us featured in the storyline, all different drivers with all different histories and trajectories and all in different stages of our lives,” she says. “So I hope (viewers) find someone they resonate with — whether it be a hero story of them coming from this or that, experiencing the same issues in life — and they take away a lesson of some sort from our experiences. And not just that, but to also champion the next generation.”
“It’s always about passing the torch a little bit brighter, to give them a bit more insight,” she adds, noting that they are all still rookies trying to make a name for themselves.
