The Pursuit: F1 ACADEMY follows four drivers chasing their next step
Premiering on Disney+ on November 19, 2026, the documentary special follows Doriane Pin, Maya Weug, Chloe Chambers and Alisha Palmowski through the pressures and ambitions of the 2025 season.
The short answer: Premiering on Disney+ on November 19, 2026, the documentary special follows Doriane Pin, Maya Weug, Chloe Chambers and Alisha Palmowski through the pressures and ambitions of the 2025 season.
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For the young women in F1 ACADEMY, the challenge extends beyond winning the next race: they are trying to build careers that can carry them further in motorsport. The Pursuit: F1 ACADEMY follows that effort when the documentary special premieres on Disney+ on November 19, 2026, going behind the scenes with drivers including Doriane Pin, Maya Weug, Chloe Chambers and Alisha Palmowski during the 2025 season.
The special looks back at race weekends and life away from the track, exploring competitive pressure, personal sacrifices and ambition. It arrives ahead of the 2026 Las Vegas Grand Prix, scheduled for November 19–21, but tells the story of the previous season rather than providing live race coverage. It will also stream on the ESPN App later in 2026.
Viewers who watched Netflix’s F1: The Academy will be moving into a different chapter. That documentary series premiered in May 2025 and covered the 2024 season; The Pursuit is a new Disney+ special following the 2025 campaign.
Four drivers, different starting points
Pin came to the championship fight with experience in sports cars and unfinished business in F1 ACADEMY. She won on her series debut in 2024, but Abbi Pulling took that year’s title. In 2025, the Mercedes-backed driver faced Ferrari’s Weug in a contest that reached the Las Vegas finale with just nine points between them.
Weug had her own foundation to build on: eight podiums in 2024, including her first single-seater victory at the season finale in Yas Marina. Moving to MP Motorsport while continuing to represent Ferrari in 2025, she said her goal was to add more wins and challenge for the championship.
For American driver Chambers, 2025 was her second and final season in the category under its two-season limit. Her first campaign had brought a Miami podium while representing Haas; her second came with Red Bull Ford backing. A 2025 Formula 1 profile also described how she balanced international travel and competition with online business administration studies at Arizona State University.
Palmowski entered the 2025 field after finishing runner-up in GB4 with three wins and 11 podiums, as well as making an F1 ACADEMY appearance as a Wild Card driver. Joining the Red Bull program and Campos Racing for her first full season, she named winning the championship as her ultimate goal.
At the 2025 Las Vegas finale, Pin secured the championship with fifth place in the final race, while Chambers won ahead of Palmowski and Weug. The race victory and the championship went to different drivers—a reminder that a single result tells only part of a season’s story.
A category built for progression
F1 ACADEMY is an all-female development series created by Formula 1 to prepare young women for higher levels of motorsport. Its 2025 season spanned seven events on three continents, with an expanded 18-car grid. The Pursuit also explores the teams and leadership behind that structure, including Managing Director Susie Wolff.
Together with Disney+, we can share those stories on a global stage, and we hope they resonate far beyond motorsport and inspire young women to pursue their ambitions fearlessly, no matter the odds. Susie Wolff, Managing Director of F1 ACADEMY
That development mission has tangible examples beyond the season the special follows. After her title, Pin stepped up from the Mercedes Junior Programme to a development-driver role with the team. Runner-up Weug earned an F1 ACADEMY-funded GT test with AF Corse. Those are different opportunities, illustrating why advancement need not mean a single route toward a Formula 1 race seat.
From Grand Prix experiences to Disney+
Produced in association with ESPN, The Pursuit extends Fuel the Magic, Disney’s collaboration with Formula 1 and F1 ACADEMY. Its 2026 Chinese Grand Prix activities included original WEBTOON content and fan experiences; at the Canadian Grand Prix, it expanded into F1 ACADEMY with Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck at the center of dedicated merchandise and race-weekend experiences. The documentary shifts the focus from those fan events to the drivers working to build a future in the sport.