Written by Sophie Harvey, edited by Debargha Banerjee
With stints in Italian F4, FRECA and now F1 Academy, you’ve probably heard of Maya Weug — the first woman to join the Ferrari Driver Academy. This programme has seen the likes of Charles Leclerc, Sergio Pérez and Oliver Bearman pass through its doors. Ahead of the series’ Zandvoort round, DIVEBOMB and other selected media sat down with Weug to get to know her a little bit better.
Weug’s historical entry to the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) came after outshining her competitors in the FIA Girls on Track ‘Rising Stars’ programme. Designed to promote women into motorsport, the Dutch-Spanish-Belgian passed with flying colours.
“This is my fourth year already, so I joined quite a while ago,” Weug began.
When asked how the programme had shaped her career, she said: “Especially making the step from karting to single seaters, being a part of an academy has helped me massively. Having so many people that have so much experience and knowledge was something that I really needed in the first years coming from karting.”
“And, yeah, of course, having the full red car is something really special!” Weug remarked.
On a similar note, has the closer collaboration between F1 teams and F1 Academy really made a difference?
Whilst it’s hard to notice the scale of their input from a spectator's perspective, Weug believes that it has been an invaluable addition to the series:
“It’s changed, of course, a lot compared to last year.
First of all, we do all the races on F1 weekend,” she reasoned. “A lot more people are watching and also with F1 teams, it's the first time for me to be working with an F1 team, and it helps me a lot. I can do sim days there, and they help me prepare for a race.”
This time last year, Weug was amid a hectic FRECA season — visiting iconic locations such as Spa-Francorchamps, Mugello and the Hockenheimring, Weug didn’t do a bad job amongst the ultra-competitive field.
Out of 42 drivers, she came P17 in the final standings as the third-highest placed rookie driver. It was certainly a strong debut, considering she was fighting rivals with far more experience.
Though, the question arises that if she was excelling in FRECA, why ‘step back’ to an F4-level series?
“I don't think it was a step back,” she replied. “In the end, F1 academy is a series that I think the level is really high this season, and probably people underestimate it.”
Weug was quick to explain that there are far more reasons to race in F1 Academy, regardless of its level.
“It’s also a championship that gives you a lot of reach and sponsors, and it's always difficult to find a budget every season. So definitely having that reach and having that media attention helps us as drivers to be able to then proceed into other series and have that support.”
Whilst we hear of the support F1 Academy offers athletes through their social media platforms, hearing first hand from Weug herself has been reassuring — the series is living up to its promises, and doing its absolute best to support women into the upper echelons of the motorsport ladder.
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