ALICE POWELL and ABBI PULLING Make History in F1 Commentary Booth

July 3, 2026

• ALICE POWELL and ABBI PULLING delivered BBC Sport’s first all-female F1 commentary at Barcelona-Catalunya, breaking barriers in the traditionally male-dominated broadcast booth during Lewis Hamilton’s emotional victory.
• POWELL became the first woman to win a Formula Renault championship in 2010 and first to score GP3 points in 2012, building expertise across Formula 3, Formula E, and W Series before transitioning to broadcasting.
• The 33-year-old Oxford native started karting at eight among grids of 30-40 boys with only two or three girls, working through budget constraints with her builder father wrenching karts alongside her grandfather.
• POWELL mentored Alpine Academy drivers including PULLING through F1 Academy until 2024, emphasizing structure, technical development, and managing grueling 8:30am-6pm race day schedules while filtering crucial performance data.
• Female representation has surged post-Drive to Survive with F1 Academy and Girls on Track initiatives creating pathways beyond driving into engineering, mechanics, and broadcast roles across 600-1,000 person F1 teams.

all-female f1 academy, formula 1, formula renault