At the end of last week, Red Bull announced their three nominated F1 Academy drivers; one for Red Bull Racing, one for Visa Cash App RB and one for the Red Bull brand. These three drivers are already well-established F1 Academy stars, and will all also be driving for MP Motorsport, their team from the 2023 season. Those drivers are sisters Hamda and Amna Al Qubaisi, and their teammate Emely de Heus.
Hailing from the United Arab Emirates, Hamda, the younger of the Al Qubaisi sisters, had a hugely impressive first season of F1 Academy. The 21-year-old achieved 7 podiums, 4 wins, 2 poles and 5 fastest laps across the season and finished P3 overall in the Championship. This season she will be competing as the nominated driver for Red Bull Racing.
Prior to competing in F1 Academy, she has experience in various Formula 4 championships including the UAE Championship, with a highest Championship finish of P4 in both 2020 and 2021, and achieving 3 wins in each of those seasons. H. Al Qubaisi was also the first ever female driver to stand on the podium in Italian F4, a highly competitive series.
However in February 2023, in the final round of F4 UAE at her home circuit, YAS Marina. In the final lap, running in the top 10, a car in front spun at Turn 13, and unfortunately there was nothing H. Al Qubaisi could do to avoid colliding with it. She hit the wall hard, shattering her arm, which seemingly put her prospects of competing in the upcoming inaugural F1 Academy season at risk.
Despite this, she was able to work incredibly hard throughout her recovery process, was able to compete throughout the entire F1 Academy season, and as we know, the rest is history! Achieving P3 and winning races with the serious injury she had proves she is well on her way to becoming a Champion.
H. al Qubaisi will once again be competing alongside her older sister Amna. Aged 23, she is driving for Visa Cash App RB for the 2024 season. Starting her karting career when she was 14 years old, has raced in multiple Championships since.
Appearing at the Rotax Max Challenge World Finals, X30 Euro Series and Italian X30 Championships and achieving strong results, she then progressed to Italian F4 for 2018. This was a historic moment as A Al. Qubaisi made history by becoming the first woman ever to compete in any Formula 4 series and also the first female Arab to win a race, paving the way for many others since. She has also now competed in Formula 4 UAE, F3 Asian and, most recently, Formula Regional European Championships.
Not only was she the first woman in F4, but A. Al Qubaisi has also been a key figure in paving the way for women in many other motorsports series.
In 2018, she became the first Emirati woman to participate in a test programme for Formula E. She was also the first Emirati to compete at the in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, claiming two class podiums, the first Emirati woman to compete in F3 and is the first Emirati woman to participate in motorsports with Daman Speed Academy, who are striving to create the first F1 Champion from the UAE.
In addition to all this, her dream is to open a racing academy to train more female drivers in the Emirates. She cites her Aunt, Amal AL Qubaisi, as a key inspiration for her, as she was the first woman to be elected as President of UAE's Federal National Council back in 2015.
In the 2023 F1 Academy season, A Al. Qubaisi finished P6 overall, achieving 4 podiums, 2 wins and 2 fastest laps.
Completing the lineup is Dutch driver Emely de Heus who will be driving for Red Bull for the 2024 season. The now 20-year-old only started racing in karts in 2019, at age 16, which is typically considered quite late for a racing driver. However since then, she has claimed the Dutch Wintercup Senior series title, finishing fourth in the National Championship in 2020 before moving up to single seaters.
In 2021 she competed in Spanish F4 with MP Motorsport before switching to W-Series in 2022 with Sirin Racing, scoring point at her debut in Miami.
Last year she reunited with MP Motorsports for F4 UAE and F1 Academy. Despite being one of the least experienced drivers on the F1 Academy grid last season, she still achieved P7 overall, with 2 poles and 2 podiums including a win in Barcelona.
This season, all three teammates will get the opportunity to compete in their home races as 2024 F1 calendar includes Zandvoort and YAS Marina, and will be featured during the F1 Grand Prix weekend. Zandvoort is also the home circuit of MP Motorsport and will be a particularly important weekend for the team, especially during their 30th anniversary year this year.
Speaking on the season ahead, Sander Dorsman, MP Motorsport’s Team Principal said: “I’m happy to confirm Hamda, Amna and Emely as our F1 Academy line-up for 2024 and as members of the Red Bull Academy programme. This means we will stick with the drivers whose talent we are familiar with – all three have already become true members of the MP Motorsport family in recent years. Together, we look forward to a challenging new F1 Academy season in which we hope to repeat and further improve on our strong 2023 results. Hamda proved to be one of the title favourites while Amna and Emely each took their wins. And since we narrowly missed out on the teams’ title last year, we hope to go one better this year! Also, I’m grateful for Red Bull’s unwavering support of our efforts and we aim for a successful partnership together."
As a part of the Red Bull family all 3 drivers will benefit from their sponsorship and from the support of the Red Bull Academy Programme, Red Bull's new initiative. In a recent press release Red Bull stated, "The Red Bull Academy Programme recognises that historically there have been barriers for women in motorsport and, with its sponsorship of three drivers and cars competing in the series, strives to be at the heart of diversity and equality within our sport. It aims to encourage more women to not just be fans of motorsport but get behind the wheel from a young age and provide role models and a pathway to get to the next level. The Red Bull Academy Programme further extends Red Bull’s long legacy of developing talent, giving wings to young athletes in motorsport and beyond."
"The Programme has already had an unparalleled level of interest from existing partners, all of whom are committed to providing opportunities for women in traditionally male dominated industries, whether as drivers, engineers or in other sectors. There is worldwide appetite commercially to invest in women’s sport, one of the biggest growing sectors, marking an important moment for the growth of women’s motorsport."
In simpler terms, this means more sponsorship, more training and more support to help the drivers to reach their full potential. Red Bull and Visa Cash App RB are also said to be unveiling the liveries of the cars alongside their own car launches this month, bringing further exposure to the Al Quibasi's and de Heus.
This incredibly strong lineup once again for MP, with the backing of Red Bull, will likely be the main challenger to Prema in both the Drivers and Teams Championships this season, following a close battle in 2023. The 2024 F1 Academy series is set to compete across seven locations. The season commences in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on March 7-9.
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