Maya Weug, a 16-year-old budding racer from Spain, is now Ferrari's first woman academy driver. Weug will compete in Formula Four (F4) this year, after she topped the FIA Girls on Track - Rising Stars programme.
Weug earned a one-year contract at the Formula Academy and a full season in a Formula 4 championship after she won five-day scouting camp at the Italian team's Maranello headquarters and Fiorano test track, Formula1 reported. She also came out on top in the first Girls on Track – Rising Stars initiative, run by Ferrari and the Sports association FIA.
Hailing the decision, Formula One team boss Mattia Binotto, in a statement, noted that Weug's addition to the team is a "key moment in the history" of the academy. He further added that the teenager's "arrival is a clear indication of the Scuderia's (Ferrari) commitment to making motorsport increasingly inclusive" in a male-dominated field.
Formula One has not had a woman driver compete in a grand prix since the late Italian Lella Lombardi's last appearance in 1976.
Who is Maya Weug?
Weug hails from Spain and was born to a Belgian mother and a Dutch father. She defeated four other finalists – including Doriane Pin (17) of France, Antonella Bassani (14) and Julia Ayoub (15) from Brazil – to earn the coveted spot in the academy.
"I will give my all to show the people who believed in me that I deserve to wear the Ferrari Driver Academy uniform and I can’t wait to come to Maranello to start preparing for my first season of single-seater racing,” the teenage racer said.
She started karting for the first time when she was just seven, racing in a secondhand kart shared with her brother in 2011. She lists former FDA graduate Charles Leclerc as her favourite driver.
Feature Image Credit: F1i
/shethepeople/media/agency_attachments/2024/11/11/2024-11-11t082606806z-shethepeople-black-logo-2000-x-2000-px-1.png){kind=logo}
Follow Us/shethepeople/media/post_banners/gHfy9d2K89bat0GdSTeP.jpg)