F1 Academy champion Abbi Pulling shares ‘pressure’ concerns as new challenge announced

Abbi Pulling

Abbi Pulling shares ‘pressure’ concerns as new world championship challenge announced

The F1 Academy champion has a new goal

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 2 November 2025 14:57

Nearly a year on from winning the 2024 F1 Academy title, racing driver Abbi Pulling has her sights set on the upper echelons of motorsport.

The British racing driver enjoyed a dominant campaign in the all-female racing series last year, winning nine out of the 14 races on offer throughout the season, and finished over 100 points clear of title rival Doriane Pin in the standings.

Following her F1 Academy victory, Pulling received a fully funded seat in the GB3 championship, a single seater championship based in the UK, a step up from Formula 4 machinery to the trickier Formula Regional spec cars.

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Pulling finished the 2025 GB3 championship in 10th, scoring points in 20 out of 24 rounds, and a podium finish at Brands Hatch.

What’s next for Pulling's on-track career remains unknown, but her target is clear. She wants to compete at the top of racing, in the all-electric racing series Formula E.

Pulling first took part in a Formula E test in October 2024, where she competed for Nissan at the women’s test in Jarama, Madrid and set the quickest time of the three-hour session ahead of Jamie Chadwick.

In June 2025, Pulling was announced as Nissan’s rookie and simulator driver on a multi-year deal, also taking part in the Rookie Test in Berlin.

Pulling takes part in 2025 Formula E Women’s Test

Recently, the Brit returned to the GEN3 Evo for the 2025 Women’s Test, once again going up against Chadwick and current F1 Academy stars such as Chloe Chambers and Ella Lloyd.

Pulling set the second fastest time and was just 0.064s off Chambers, who set the fastest time across both sessions with a 1m22.767s.

Speaking to the media during the Formula E Women’s Test in Valencia, Pulling revealed her aim of racing full-time in the series and the pressure to achieve this in her career.

“Formula E is something that is really attractive, and I'd like to one day be a driver in this series. It's a World Championship, and it’s the pinnacle at the end of the day,” Pulling explained.

“With Nissan, we've not discussed that far ahead yet, but we're working together to get to the point where I can go on and gather some experience and keep getting better, to open up that potential if I'm able to perform.

“Obviously, that's a bit of pressure on me, but they're giving me lots of support, and hopefully that can keep progressing in the future. But at the moment, I'm purely just the simulator and rookie driver and just constantly learning, practicing a lot of the technique for the race run.”

Since her commanding F1 Academy victory, there has been a lot of expectation placed on Pulling to continue breaking boundaries for women in motorsport, and earning a full-time opportunity in a field as competitive as Formula E would certainly make headlines.

Simona de Silvestro remains the longest serving female driver in Formula E, competing with Andretti for two seasons and full time from 2015 until 2016, while Katherine Legge and Michela Cerruti have also driven in an E-Prix.

2025 Formula E Women's Test Overall Classification

Position	Driver	Team	Gap
1	Chloe Chambers	Mahindra Racing	1:22.767
2	Abbi Pulling	Nissan	+0.064sec
3	Bianca Bustamante	CUPRA KIRO	+0.770sec
4	Alice Powell	Envision Racing	+0.890sec
5	Ella Lloyd	Envision Racing	+0.909sec
6	Jamie Chadwick	Jaguar TCS Racing	+0.925sec
7	Tatiana Calderon	Citroen Racing	+1.071sec
8	Nerea Marti	Andretti	+1.661sec
9	Juju Noda	Jaguar TCS Racing	+1.675sec
10	Marta Garcia	Lola Yamaha ABT	+1.848sec
11	Gabriela Jilkova	Porsche	+3.219sec
12	Jessica Edgar	DS Penske	+3.293sec
13	Janina Schall	Porsche	+6.087sec
14	Lindsay Brewer	DS Penske	+6.152sec

Written by

Sheona Mountford - F1 Journalist

Sheona Mountford is a motorsport journalist specialising in F1. As a writer and contributor, she covers a wide range of motorsport series from F1 to F1 Academy, responsible for breaking news, live race coverage and in depth analysis of the sport and the culture around it.

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F1 Academy Formula E Abbi Pulling