Wild Card entries were introduced for the 2024 season, with a driver being granted a seat for a specific weekend. The initiative was designed to help strengthen the talent pool in the regions where F1 ACADEMY races and prioritises talented young drivers from each race region.
At races where a Wild Card entry was present in 2024, PREMA Racing operated a fourth Wild Card car in addition to their three full-time entries, offering support and training to the selected driver. Drivers were eligible to score points in the Drivers' Standings but not the Teams' Standings.
Six Wild Card entries were fielded, of which four drivers scored points in their respective rounds. Additionally, four drivers have progressed from being Wild Card entries last season to full-time seats on the 2025 grid - Courtney Crone (Miami), Nina Gademan (Zandvoort), Ella Lloyd (Singapore). and Alisha Palmowski (Lusail).
This season, the Wild Card entry will feature at all seven rounds and will be operated by Hitech TGR as part of their trio of cars. As a result, the Wild Card entry will also now be eligible to score points in the Teams' Standings alongside the Drivers' Standings.
Mathilda Paatz was full of fighting spirit as she made her F1 ACADEMY debut at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.
Alongside progressing up through European and World level karting, the German racer competed in the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games, finishing 13th in the Junior Karting Sprint Cup. Paatz was also a two-time finalist in the FIA Girls on Track - Rising Stars program, in the Junior category in 2022 and in the Senior category a year later.
Climbing into single-seaters in 2024, she competed in the French F4 Championship, earning a best result of 10th. In 2025, the then-16-year-old has been honing her craft in the Formula Winter Series and F4 CEZ Championship, scoring her first podium with a second-place finish at the Red Bull Ring.
Although the both the Canadian track and the series were new to Paatz, she swiftly picked up the pace in the #8 Gatorade operated by Hitech TGR car. After finishing the one and only Free Practice in P16, she improved by two places in Qualifying, but wasn't able to make more progress up the order. Early retirements in Races 1 and 3 were accompanied by a P11 finish in Race 2.
Putting on a show in front of the home crowds, American racer Ava Dobson stepped on to the F1 ACADEMY grid as the Wild Card entry for Round 3 in Miami.
After starting out in karting aged seven, Dobson steadily began racking up wins and podiums across World Karting Association, USPKS, SKUSA, ROK Cup and the Route 66 Sprint Series events. Progressing to open-wheel racing in 2023, she contested the F4 United States Championship alongside participating in the USF Juniors, USF 2000 and the YACademy Winter Series.
Moving over to race in Europe in 2024, Dobson scored points on her GB4 Championship debut before returning for a full campaign this year.
Racing in the #90 Morgan Stanley operated by Hitech TGR car, the then-16-year-old quickly found more pace. Improving across the four sessions, Dobson finished Free Practice 1 in P17 and moved up one place in FP2. Qualifying in P15, she made inroads in Race 1 to take the chequered flag in P13.
Learning with every lap, Farah AlYousef took to the track as the Wild Card entry for her home event around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia.
After being crowned Champion at the Saudi Women’s Karting Championship in 2022, AlYousef secured 26th place at the Karting World Finals. A rising talent in Saudi motorsport, she also raced in the F4 Middle East Championship prior to her F1 ACADEMY debut..
The then-22-year-old focused on the job in hand, driving the #4 MUHRA car operated by Hitech TGR for Round 2. P18 in Free Practice was followed by a P17 result in Qualifying, with AlYousef taking the chequered flag in 16th and 18th place in each of the respective races.
Inspiring local fans to chase their dreams, Shi Wei, also known as 'Tie Dou', became the first Chinese driver to race in F1 ACADEMY when she competed at the 2025 season opener in Shanghai.
Racing the #24 Juss Sports car operated by Hitech TGR, Shi finished Free Practice in P16 before going on to qualify in P17. Two tough races followed, with an early DNF in Race 1 followed by a P14 finish in Race 2.
Prior to her appearance in F1 ACADEMY, Shi won the Challenge Cup at the 2024 FIA F4 Chinese Championship in Shanghai and finished third in the CFGP category. Alongside this, she has also competed in the Toyota Gazoo Racing GR86 Cup and the China Endurance Championship.