Emirati Racing Stars Amna and Hamda Al Qubaisi set to join F1 Academy with MP Motorsport in 2023
As the global motorsports calendar moves into the beginning of the European season, MP Motorsport have announced the addition of Emirati racing stars Amna and Hamda Al Qubaisi to their academy programme for the upcoming season, with the team joining the new F1 all-female driver series introduced for 2023.
The Al Qubaisi sisters, the youngest racers within the Al Qubaisi family, have made history with every lap on track in their short careers, with Amna becoming the first Emirati and female driver to compete in the Formula 4 UAE championship in 2018.
Following her sister’s footsteps, Hamda would become the first woman to race in and get a podium in the Formula 4 Italian Championship in 2022 at Misano, making history in the toughest and most competitive entry formula series before making the step up into Formula 3 in the Formula Regional Asian Championships in 2022.
Hamda along with Amna, will become a part of the first F1 Academy this year, joining the 15 all-female drivers to compete in the new series to be launched in 2023. The series launched by Formula One Management during #AbuDhabiGP weekend in November aims to develop and prepare young female drivers for elite competition, with the long-term view to see female drivers joining the pyramid working towards Formula 1.
Following the announcement of the Al Qubaisi sisters joining the academy, Sander Dorsman, Team Principal of MP Motorsport said: "We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Amna and Hamda to our F1 Academy squad. They are from a family that carries speed in their veins and have a bright future in motorsport ahead of them.
“I have fond memories of the Dubai 24 Hours in which we competed against their father Khaled who won it twice back in 2012, 2013 when Amna and Hamda were still little girls, and then for a third time in 2020. It's amazing to realize that they have grown into fierce competitors in karting and now in single seaters where they form arguably the quickest sister act in the entire world of motorsport. 2023 is going to be great with the pair of them."