Red Bull announces full MP line up for F1 Academy season

Hamda Al Qubaisi, Amna Al Qubaisi and Emely de Heus will join the Red Bull Academy Programme for the upcoming F1 Academy season, completing the MP Motorsport line up.

MP Motorsport announced its full driver line up for the 2024 F1 Academy season, with a full returning trio: Hamda Al Qubaisi, Amna Al Qubaisi and Emely de Heus will represent the Dutch team in the sophomore year of the all-female series.

All three drivers are set to join the Red Bull Academy Programme: Hamda will be driving in Red Bull Racing colours, her sister Amna in Visa Cash App RB's livery and De Heus will also have a Red Bull inspired livery - with full sponsors associated to be revealed in due course.

This deal highlights the Austrian brand's commitment for the F1 Academy project and for women in motorsport.

“We are thrilled to be welcoming Hamda, Emely and Amna, three incredibly talented drivers, into the Red Bull Academy Programme and are looking forward to working with them closely this season", commented Sarah Harrington, Red Bull Academy Programme Manager. "This is a landmark moment for us and is testament to our complete commitment to the future of women’s motorsport."

"F1 Academy provides an opportunity to promote genuine change in our industry and this is a great stepping-stone to help ensure that the drivers progress to the next level. This is a pivotal moment for women in motorsport and we are excited to see what this season brings”.

The series is set to join the F1 support bill on a full-season basis, and all F1 teams are now required to line up at least one driver in their colours. Via its new Academy Programme, Red Bull is the first team to commit to a full-line up sponsorship, which will be operated by top team MP Motorsport.

“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", confirmed Sander Dorsman, MP Motorsport's Team Principal. "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."

Hamda, Amna and Emely are all F1 Academy race winners after a remarkable 2023 season, which saw Hamda battling for the championship until the penultimate round.

The youngest of the Al Qubaisi sisters was coming off a serious arm injury after a crash in F4 UAE, but recovered in record times and climbed the podium at her first round in Austria. She would secure her first win at Valencia, before a stellar weekend in Zandvoort made the young Emirati Marta Garcia's closest title contender.

She eventually finished third in the standings, collecting 7 podiums, four victories, two pole positions and 5 fastest laps. Hamda remains the most successful female F4 driver globally in mixed-gender series, with 6 wins to her name in F4 UAE and a historic outright podium in Italian F4.

Her sister Amna started racing in Italian F4 and made history in November 2019 when she became the first ever Arab woman to win a single seater race: she did so at the F4 UAE Trophy Round at Yas Marina, in a support race to the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. She went on to score points in F3 Asia and, at her full.time return to racing in Europe, Amna was again on top of her game with two race wins, four podiums and two fastest laps in F1 Academy.

Despite a few unfortunate rounds, Amna's highly positive season ended with sixth place in the drivers' championship standings.

Emely de Heus made her single seater's debut in Spanish F4 in 2021, where she secured the Female Trophy. She moved to Formula Regional machinery after being selected for the 2022 W Series season - and she scored points at her first race in Miami.

She then contested a partial F4 UAE season in preparation for her F1 Academy debut, which saw the Ducthwoman securing a groundbreaking pole position and maiden victory at Barcelona. An equally strong weekend at her home track in Zandvoort resulted in a further podium and two P5 finishes; she continued to score points consistently, finishing ninth in the standings.

"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", Dorsman continued.

"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.”

MP Motorsport is the second team to complete its driver's line up ahead of the 2024 season, after Prema announced Hausmann, Pin and Weug. Bianca Bustamante and Lia Block will be driving for ART Grand Prix, while Chloe Chambers and Carrie Schreiner are the confirmed drivers at Campos Racing. Alpine's Abbi Pulling will return to Rodin Motorsport.

The second F1 Academy season is set to get underway at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 8-9 March for its first triple-header.