F1: The Academy, the Netflix series on the all-female F1 Academy championship, held its UK premiere in Leicester Square with its driver Bianca Bustamante on the carpet.
F1: The Academy, the Netflix documentary series on the all-female F1 Academy championship, held its UK premiere at Cineworld Leicester Square in the West End on Tuesday 27 May 2025. The driver Bianca Bustamante walked the carpet.
Bustamante, the only Filipina in the championship, raced in the W Series in 2022 and joined the first F1 Academy season in 2023 with Prema. That October McLaren signed her as the first woman on its Driver Development Programme. In 2024 she took second place in Miami.
The series was made with Hello Sunshine, the production company Reese Witherspoon founded. It follows the 2024 season of F1 Academy, which Formula 1 created to carry young women from Formula 4 towards the top of the sport.
The championship’s managing director, Susie Wolff, is an executive producer. In 2014 she became the first woman in 22 years to take part in a Formula 1 race weekend.
At the centre of the seven episodes is Abbi Pulling, the 22-year-old British driver who won the 2024 title. On the night, Bustamante sent a message to supporters in the Philippines. The series reached Netflix worldwide the next day, Wednesday 28 May.