ABU DHABI: In her own words, Abbi Pulling is “living the dream.”
The 21-year-old racing driver wrapped up her historic year on the track by clinching the F1 Academy championship last weekend at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit, where she won two of the three races, and was second in the third.
Overall, Pulling enjoyed a record nine race wins in the female-only series in 2024, along with 10 poles. The Rodin Motorsport driver made the podium in every single race throughout the season.
It was a remarkable step up for the Brit, who admittedly struggled in her first campaign in F1 Academy in 2023, where she went winless to finish fifth in the championship.
“The first year was super hard. The transition from last year to this year, I did a really big deliberate step in my mental attitude and it’s really made the difference this year,” Pulling told Arab News after securing the F1 Academy title.
“I wanted to step up this year and show that I am capable of what I’m capable of and that I can go on to do great things.
“I think this year I’ve done everything I could, at every point I’ve maximized — there was only one race, Zandvoort, where I finished P3. We were fast there but I made a mistake.
“It’s nice and satisfying to be able to come away from a season, knowing that I’ve done almost everything I could. That’s very special.”
What makes Pulling’s year even more special is the fact she was running a dual program, racing in the British F4 Championship alongside the F1 Academy.
In May, she won a race at Brands Hatch — the second stop of the championship — to become the first woman in history to claim a victory in British F4.
Despite missing six races, Pulling finished the 2024 British F4 Championship in seventh place with one win and three podiums.
Her triumph in the F1 Academy comes with a fully funded seat for the GB3 Championship with Rodin Motorsport in 2025. This is a huge relief for Pulling who knows how difficult it can be to secure the finances needed to continue climbing up the motorsport ladder.
After making a promising single-seaters debut in British F4 in 2020 — finishing sixth overall, with four podiums — Pulling had to withdraw from the 2021 championship due to a lack of funding and her future in the sport was unclear.
The W Series — a predecessor to the F1 Academy — came to the rescue as Pulling got a chance to fill in as a reserve driver for the Puma W Series Team. She competed in just four races in 2021 yet finished seventh in the W Series championship with one podium and one pole.
Pulling had a full seat in the W Series in 2022, which she finished in fourth with Racing X. The series unfortunately went into administration and was liquidated. But then came another women-only series to the rescue — The Formula One-backed F1 Academy.
At the start of 2023, Pulling became a full-time member of the Alpine Academy program and made her F1 Academy debut with Rodin Motorsport — a team that one year later would help her make a historic return to British F4 and become the championship’s first female race winner.
“For me, the financial side of things is so important,” said Pulling, excited about her next chapter in GB3. “I had to pull out of a championship in 2021, it was a really tough time.
“But I was so lucky that there was an all-female championship to jump into, that one had everything paid for, and then F1 Academy came along and continued that dream. And for that I’m so grateful, because I wouldn’t be here today without them two organizations taking me on.
“I think you have to put things in perspective. If I was a guy, that would have been the end of the road for me; so I’m trying to make the most out of everything given to me.
“I’m so aware how lucky I am to be in this situation and I just want for the people that either can’t make that first step into karting, or can’t make the jump up into cars, or for whatever reason have to stop, or can’t get in in the first place, I want to do my best for all of them.”
Pulling feels prepared to take that next step up the ladder to GB3, and says she is “living proof” that the F1 Academy can help women transition into higher racing categories in mixed series.
“Obviously paired with a dual program as well,” she added.
“F1 Academy opened me up to the relationship with Rodin Motorsport, which then got me a relationship with Rodin Cars. And then in 2024 I’ve been doing a dual campaign British F4 with Rodin Cars and Rodin Motorsport, and obviously F1 Academy with Alpine Academy and Rodin Motorsport.
“So that alone has opened that door to do a dual campaign, get more seat time. I’m living proof that it’s working.
“Going around to tracks like this, Yas Marina, I wouldn’t have been here without the championship. It’s a very fun track to end the season on.
“They’ve given us plenty of seat time this year, lots of experience managing tires in hot conditions, changeable conditions as well. It’s been a really fun season.”
Pulling paid tribute to Alpine and believes the Enstone outfit have helped her become a “more well-rounded driver,” placing special emphasis on her physical preparation off the track.
Like any racing driver, Pulling’s dream is to one day land a seat in F1, but even if she does not, she is certain another woman will in the near future.
“There’s not been a wave like this ever (for women in motorsport). I’m going to ride it as long as I can,” she said.
“It’s just such a positive time to be a female in motorsport. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. I don’t know when it will be, but I’m certain that we’ll have a female driving in a Formula 1 car soon.
“And if it’s not me, I hope it’s the girls that I’ve been racing against or a young girl that’s been watching that is inspired by what we’ve been doing.”
Pulling’s motorsport dream was sparked when she was just 3 years old, watching her father, Andy, compete on motorbikes. At age 8, she opted for four wheels instead of two like her father, and by 14 was crowned national junior karting champion back home in the UK.
The rest, as they say, is history, and Pulling has now become the most promising female prospect in the world of motorsport.
Is it what she hoped it would be?
“It’s not always as glitzy or as glamorous as people think, but I’m living the dream,” she said.
