Hamda & Amna Al Qubaisi set to make European Ligier Series debut

Emirati sisters Hamda and Amna Al Qubaisi will make their sportscar debut in the 2025 European Ligier Series with three-time team champions Group Virage, marking their transition from single-seaters to prototype racing.

Photo credits: Red Bull Content Pool

Emirati sisters Hamda and Amna Al Qubaisi are set to make their sportscar debut in the European Ligier Series, joining three-time team champion Group Virage aboard the Ligier JS P4 prototype.

The Al Qubaisi sisters will therefore share the car for the first time, both coming off single seaters, most recently in the all-female F1 Academy championship, where they raced in their two-year stint for Dutch team MP Motorsport.

Hamda collected four victories and ten podiums over her two seasons in the F1-promoted series, ending third in the championship in 2023 and fifth in 2024. The Abu Dhabi-based racer continues to be the female driver with the most victories in mixed-gender Formula 4 competitions, having also secured six wins between 2020 and 2021 in F4 UAE - now rebranded F4 Middle East - and one victory in F4 Saudi Arabia in 2024.

Hamda represented Red Bull Racing in 2024, with her sister Amna competing in the colours of Visa CashApp RB. 24-year-old Amna had an unfortunate season in 2024, scoring points on four occasions - but had the opportunity to display her racecraft in 2023, when she collected two wins in F1 Academy and four podiums, finishing sixth in the standings.

Amna Al Qubaisi famously won the F4 Trophy round at Abu Dhabi, support series race to the 2019 F1 season finale, becoming the first Arab woman to step on the F1 podium. She had previously honed her skills in the massively competitive Italian F4, then stepped up to Formula Regional machinery and scored points on her first weekend in Formula Regional Asian Championship in Abu Dhabi. She also has a podium to her name in the 2024 F4 Saudi Championship.

"Really proud to join the Ligier European Series with Team Virage this season", said Amna Al Qubaisi. "A new challenge, a fresh start, and a chance to keep doing what I love!"

It will indeed be a fresh start for the Al Qubaisi sisters, who will tackle their first season in sports cars, thus following in the footsteps of their father Khaled, an accomplished racer with experience in some of the most prestigious GT series in the world.

For Amna, however, it will not be the first ever start in prototypes, as she entered a round of the German STT series in Hockenheim aboard the WS Racing LMP3 machine in 2022.

22-year-old Hamda, on the other hand, will take her first steps behind the wheel of a closed cockpit machine, having raced in F4 since 2019 and subsequently moved up to FRECA in 2021 and 2022 - before the inaugural F1 Academy season in 2023.

"I am thrilled to announce that I will be competing in the Ligier European Series for the 2025 season", Hamda said. "I'm pleased to join Team Virage as I embark on my journey into endurance racing and LMP4. I'm looking forward to familiarize myself with this new car and work with the team to achieve great results."

The Ligier JS P4 is the top class of the Ligier European Series, a competitive and growing platform on the ELMS package that has established itself as one of the most formative series for prototype racing.

With operations also in Le Mans Cup and ELMS, Team Virage is one of the leading squads in the Ligier one-make series.

The 2025 calendar features six rounds, with Barcelona hosting the season opener on 4-5 April. After Le Castellet, the drivers will have the chance to contest a round at the legendary Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans. Spa, Silverstone and Portimao will round out the season.