They were told it wasn't for girls, but these could be the future faces of F1

They were told it wasn't for girls, but these could be the future faces of F1 4 hours ago Isabella BullBBC World Service In many ways, Rachel Robertson is your typical British teenager. She spends her spare time catching up with friends for lunch, and going to college in the south of England, near her family home. But in one glaring way, she is far from typical.

Because when she suits up for her job - sitting behind the wheel of a sleek, 174-horsepower race car, with the smell of petrol in the air and the squeal of rubber tyres underneath her - Robertson is one of the fastest drivers on the planet.

The 18-year-old is among an elite group of women breaking into motorsport, which has been dominated since its inception by two institutional powers - men and money.

Robertson is taking part in F1 Academy, a female-only racing championship founded by the Formula 1 Group.

She wants to be the first woman driver in 50 years to qualify for Formula 1 itself - the world's most popular annual sporting series.

When she started out, driving go-karts aged 14, Robertson remembers typically being the only girl on track. She raced against boys, who she says often saw her as an annoyance, rather than a serious competitor. "A lot of the time in their head, [they think] 'Oh, it's just a girl in front of me, I'll just put her off track'. " It was those same boys, Robertson says, who often had nothing to say when she sped across the finish line in front of them. "They don't want to acknowledge that you're actually better," she says. "If you lose to a few of them, then they'll be like, 'That was good'. "But if you win? They will not say anything. " It's a story also told by Dutch driver, Esmee Kosterman. The 20-year-old remembers competing against boys who did not always welcome her presence. "They'd always tell me, 'It's not for girls' and 'it's not your sport'. They'd make fun of it," she says. Kosterman's passion for racing took shape at the age of six. As a child, she was shuttled from school to dance recitals by her mother, while her motorsport-loving father took her brother to the local race circuit. "I told my parents, 'I don't want to dance, I want to go as well, on the circuit - driving!' "And there it all started," she remembers, laughing.

Robertson and Kosterman are among the drivers competing for the first time this year in F1 Academy - and are already taking advantage of guidance from their more experienced rivals.

It is Alba Larsen's second year driving in F1 Academy, and she's now stepped into the coveted seat sponsored by Italian giant Ferrari - motorsport's biggest powerhouse. A few years ago, the 17-year-old from Denmark would have laughed if you'd told her where she would be now. During the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, when most sports were cancelled due to close contact rules, Larsen was invited by a friend to try go-karting. It was vastly different from her usual hobby of handball, but she says a fire was lit inside her. Larsen vividly remembers the feel of the little bumps on the tarmac, the smell of the burning rubber, and the way her head thrust backwards when she pushed the throttle. "I wasn't going very fast… but I just remember such an adrenaline rush," she says. "You have all these emotions - and I think that's when I really fell in love with driving. "

Larsen says she never thought her passion could translate into a career, because she couldn't see any women competing at the top level of professional motorsport.

And that's the issue F1 Academy is trying to address. Motorsport is one of a handful of sports in which men and women can - theoretically - compete fully with each other. However, you wouldn't know that from looking at the top levels of the sport, which are overwhelmingly dominated by men with money.

The last woman to compete in an F1 race was Italy's Lella Lombardi in 1976.

Only 10% of drivers currently involved in motorsport are women, according to the most recent study.

Female participation peaks at 13% in karting, the category of racing in which almost all professional drivers - including Robertson, Kosterman and Larsen - begin their careers.

In the higher categories of the sport, that figure shrinks to 7%.

F1 Academy was founded in 2023, as part of an ambitious plan to return women to the ranks of Formula One and increase the pool of female drivers.

At a basic level, it resembles a graduate programme for young female drivers who have shown an aptitude in junior levels of karting. To develop their skills, F1 Academy provides the type of institutional support which has historically only been available to men - funding, training, and, most importantly, time on track. In the motorsport pyramid, it's similar to Formula 4 - the entry-level, international single-seater racing category.

Drivers have 14 races across seven rounds to become F1 Academy champion, earning them a fully-funded race seat in the discipline of their choosing.

But there is a catch - for the lucky few who get the chance, they will likely only have two years in the academy to make their mark. And if they fall short, they will have to keep fighting without that support. "You want to show [that] out of the box, yes, you can perform," says Robertson. "There is pressure that comes with that," For Kosterman, the potential of losing her seat for that crucial second year is keeping her focus razor-sharp.

"There is no time for mistakes.

You want to defend your seat," she says, "and if you don't you know: next year, it's not my seat anymore. "

Under a relaxation of the rules announced last year, some drivers may be granted an exemption to continue for a third season if it is thought to be beneficial for their development.

F1 Academy is not without its critics.

Some, including four-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen, have expressed concerns the cars used in the series are too slow to allow women to properly advance up the F1 ladder.

Others have questioned the purpose of separating female drivers into their own category. Larsen says there is a lot of pressure on women drivers. "You can't make too many mistakes because then people will say, 'They're women drivers, of course that's what's gonna happen. ' But that's not how it is," she says. "I can be aggressive too!" Robertson is excited for the opportunity to learn from other women on the track after years of isolation. "Women neurologically are not the same as men. There's so many differences, and how that shows when all 18 of us are driving together, I'm very curious to see," she says. There is also financial pressure on female drivers. The cost of an initial racing kart alone can be upwards of £7,500 ($US10,000), and women often struggle to source early investment and sponsorship - a critical factor in being able to continue in the sport.

Its most recent champion, France's Doriane Pin, has stepped up as a development driver for the Mercedes F1 team this year.

The drivers crowned in 2023 and 2024 - Spain's Marta García and Britain's Abbi Pulling - are also still on track, competing in regional and international championships.

"I remember when I was eight years old in primary school, writing on, 'what do you want to be in the future?'," says Robertson. ' That's the shining gold star. " Photographs courtesy of F1 ACADEMY LTD/PARC FERMÉ, Rachel Robertson, Esmee Kosterman & Alba Larsen. LAT Images via Getty Images The 2026 F1 Academy season begins in Shanghai, China on 13-15 March