Abbi Pulling‘s first introduction to motorsports was through her dad, who drove long-circuit endurance motorbikes. “I ended up going on four wheels instead of two,” she tells PS. She started her journey as an eight-year-old kid karting and entering into local championships. She went on to compete in the British F4 and the W series, garnering multiple podiums. Having most recently snagged wins during the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, she is now competing with Alpine in the F1 Academy, the female-only single-seater racing championship helmed by Formula One with Susie Wolff as managing director.
Pulling is the first to win the British Championship back-to-back and also one of the first women to drive an F1 car in Saudi Arabia, which legalized women driving and getting a license in 2018. “Driving an F1 car for the first time for anyone is super special, but the meaning and messaging behind it was so important, and it made it that much better,” she says. “Eight-year-old me wouldn’t believe that I was one of the females pioneering the sport and helping make a difference. There are so many people now like Wolff, Roadin Motorsport, and Alpine Academy with their race program really pushing to promote females in motorsports.”
For race day prep, Pulling and her team are big on music. “I always say a happy Abbi is a fast Abbi, and it helps keep my mood high. I just absolutely love my ’80s and I’ve recently got back into my 2000s,” she says. Pulling also has a mental performance coach to help her get into the right mindset for race day. Their sessions allow her to stay focused and attentive despite what’s going on around her. “For me, I always say it almost feels like silence,” she says of her mental space following their work together. “Obviously, you’ve got the engine roaring in your ears, and you’ve got your engineer giving you lots of information, but it’s quite peaceful. It turns into a white noise almost. You don’t really process that you’ve got like 50 decibels constantly in your head.”
When she’s not on the track, she can be found exercising in the gym, working on her graphic design skills, fiddling around with Adobe Illustrator, or catching up with friends. Pulling loves to indulge in self care and destress by unleashing her inner foodie, treating herself to some takeout. She’s currently watching Physical 100 on Netflix and is a true crime enthusiast.
On the heels of the success of Formula 1-based docuseries “Drive to Survive,” Netflix and Reese Witherspoon‘s Hello Sunshine are producing a
