Growing up in Indiana surrounded me with two things: racing and basketball. Originally, neither mattered to me. At the end of my sophomore year of college, I saw a clip of former Formula 1 (F1) World Drivers Champion Sebastian Vettel bowing to his winning Red Bull race car in 2013 on my Instagram feed, following a slew of videos infiltrating my Tik Tok for you page. From there, I was hooked.
From a young age, I could not like things a “normal” amount. When I like something, I dive in head first, drowning myself in the history and current news.
F1 was no different.
I didn’t stop with F1. I discovered all the feeder series; legends like Aryton Senna and Michael Schumacher, as well as current drivers like Max Verstappen and Lando Norris; MotoGP; NASCAR; and most importantly, my home state’s beloved Indycar.
I loved the sights and sounds, the speed, the history and the stories. I learned as much as I could about as many series as I could. It came to a point where I had nowhere to share my knowledge and feelings. That’s when I created my TikTok account.
I began my account in July 2024 after following a slew of other F1 content creators and watching them get invited to the Grand Prix and meet their favorite drivers. I wanted to join these conversations, but upon doing so, I quickly realized I had to earn my place.
The more I talked about motorsports on and off social media, the more comments I got about women in motorsports. I was being tested by other racing fans — who were usually men — asking me to explain racing terms they assumed I did not know. I remember when I was first asked what a drag reduction system (DRS) is. I was even asked if I actually watched the races or if I just was a fan of the sport’s “hot drivers.”
As I started to build my community and talk to more women through my account, I discovered what I had already assumed was true: This is a universal experience.
Comment after comment under videos of men tearing down women for enjoying a sport these men claimed as their own. One of the most angering posts I saw was a photo thread containing “all the ways women will ruin the sport,” with the final slide reading “#banfangirls.”
I remember my heart sinking. This community that I was so excited to be a part of clearly did not welcome me or other women. The comments were full of men agreeing and adding to all the ways women ruin “their” sport.
According to RTR Sports marketing, 70 percent of the followers on the official F1 account were female. The CEO of Formula One Group, Stefano Domenicali said that in 2022, 40 percent of F1 fans were female. Motorsports travel company Grand Prix Grand Tours reports that 50 percent of their client base are women.
The fanbase is seeing growth in all areas, not just off the track and on social media. In 2019, women made up 20 percent of Grand Prix attendees. And in the past four years, that number has grown to almost a third, according to the F1 Academy.
The emergence of things like the F1 Academy, a single-seater spec series featuring young female racers aged 16-25, has brought more attention to women in the sport from both a fan and athlete standpoint.
While the women of the F1 Academy are incredibly inspiring young women — and the director of the academy, Susie Wolff, has driven in F1 — the academy poses a few problems.
It supports limited race weekends, unlike F2 and F3 — all of which are feeder series of young drivers trying to make their way to the top. F2 and F3 consist of only young men. Combined, the two series support 15 race weekends, with F3 competing in a few less than F2.
The academy only supports six.
Car specs and requirements are vastly different from their F2 and F3 counterparts, comparable due to the similar age and level of driving. The F1 Academy drives a Tatuus F4-T421 chassis, the same spec as the Formula 4 Junior series car. It is slower and an overall inequivalent car to its male counterparts in F2 and F3.
While this may seem a nitpick of the series, the reality is that F2 and F3 drivers, due to their car's ability, are more prepared to test and drive in F1. The same cannot be said for F1 Academy drivers, many of which end up testing in Formula E, Hypercar, or other single- and double-seater series.
Female drivers like Chloe Chambers and Bianca Bustamante both participated in the 2024 F1 Academy season. Both are set to return but are working on their careers in the off-season. Both Bustamante and Chambers will test in Formula E — Bustamante testing with NEOM McLaren and Chambers testing with Andretti Formula E.
Chambers has also participated in the IMSA series and recently signed with the Red Bull Ford Academy for the 2025 season. This is an important step as Red Bull has been the dominant team in F1 for years, especially with the addition of Max Verstappen. Their programs are most likely to push drivers to F1, featuring drivers like Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson.
However, this possibility for success should be extended to each of the drivers in the academy, just as much as the drivers in F2 and F3. These differences can discourage young fans and cause frustration in the community due to inequalities.
There have also been problems with female influencers being invited to races and giving female fans a bad name. Under the Liberty Media Group, there has been an influx of influencers invited to Grand Prix races to advertise the sport, but many fans view it in a negative light.
These influencers have often posted about just being there for “hot drivers,” which has heightened the stereotype of a female fan. Many female content creators stepped out, fighting the stereotype and urging F1 and Liberty Media to invite people who truly care about the sport to races.
As a female who creates motorsport content, this was something I felt strongly about. I felt like I had to watch what I posted to make sure I didn’t get comments about only watching based on the attractiveness of drivers or not understanding the sport.
But monitoring my content did nothing to stop the stereotype.
That’s when I decided I needed to stop caring. I love this sport, all of its series, the highest highs and lowest lows. So, why let someone take that from me?
This sport is as much mine as any other person. The opinion of these people can no longer hold me back. In moments of doubt, I remember the words of one of my biggest inspirations in the world of motorsport, sports journalist and F1 commentator Laura Winter.
“To the women and girls in motorsport, to the huge and growing number of female fans, it seems to be a good time to remind you, that we are here to stay and we are right where we belong,” Winter said.
I am right where I belong.
Contact Madelyn Bracken via email at madelyn.bracken@bsu.edu or on X @madelyn_bracken
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