Yahoo Finance interviewed Susie Wolff of F1 Academy and PepsiCo’s Jane Wakeley about a partnership centered on women’s motorsport, performance science, and brand growth. Wolff framed F1 Academy as a long-term pathway to create opportunities for female drivers, while Wakeley argued PepsiCo/Gatorade sees women’s sport as a genuine growth driver, not just a CSR project.
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This interview is primarily about the commercial and developmental case for F1 Academy, the all-female motorsport series run by Susie Wolff, and how PepsiCo’s Gatorade is partnering with it. Wolff’s core thesis is that F1 Academy is not a charity or symbolic side project; it is a practical platform designed to create real pathways for young female drivers, build sporting credibility, and eventually produce a woman who can reach Formula 1. She emphasizes that the series is still early — “only in its fourth year” — but argues it has already built momentum through Formula 1’s support, race-weekend placement, and brand partnerships. Wolff supports that thesis with several concrete examples. …
Immediate setup is partnership-led brand storytelling: expect visibility around F1 Academy, Gatorade, and driver promotion rather than any sudden market-moving catalyst. The short-term risk is that the story stays inspirational without clear proof of commercial or sporting traction.
Over the next few months, the likely path is steady scaling if F1 Academy keeps converting attention into audience growth, sponsor depth, and athlete development. The main confirmation signal is whether the series can keep adding credible partners and producing visible performance or participation gains.
The structural thesis is that women’s sport is evolving into a durable growth category for consumer brands, with performance science and access acting as real competitive advantages. If this model works, F1 Academy becomes a template for how underfunded talent pipelines can be turned into commercially viable sports platforms.
F1 Academy is bringing in new engagement and new viewers to F1, acting as a recruitment driver for the sport.
Jane Wakeley asserts that F1 Academy expands F1's audience, which is an implicit growth claim about the sport's reach.
Women's sport is a major growth driver for brands, not just a charitable side project.
Jane Wakeley cites the rising popularity of women's sports and says Gatorade sees it as a growth strategy, backed by a stat that women consume 20% less Gatorade than men, implying headroom.
Formula 1's global fan base is now 42% female and the fastest-growing demographic is 18-to-24-year-old women, providing a major opportunity to connect with female fans.
Susie Wolff states this as a fact about F1's current audience composition, arguing it creates an opportunity for F1 Academy to connect with female fans.
Tell me about your story. How did you get this position?
Susie started racing at age eight, raced for 7 years with Mercedes-Benz in German Touring Cars, became a test/reserve driver with Williams Formula 1 team, moved into management running a Formula E team, and now runs F1 Academy for Formula 1 — an all-female series creating opportunities for young female drivers to possibly reach Formula 1.
How hard is it to be a trailblazer because that's what you are?
Susie doesn't think of herself as a trailblazer. She says she was lucky to find a passion early and never set out to prove what a woman could do — she just loved the sport and now enjoys giving others the same opportunities she was given.
How does this partnership work? How are you working with F1 Academy?
Jane says PepsiCo partners with F1 Academy to support Susie's mission and also sponsors driver Lisa Billiard as their Gatorade driver. They provide visibility, storytelling, and performance science — including personalized hydration and nutrition through the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, since F1 drivers lose 2-4 liters of fluid during a race.
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