"My ultimate goal is to make it to F1. It is not easy to do but I am going to work like I have been working the last few years and try to get to my target"; Marta Garcia will race in FRECA next season after becoming inaugural F1 Academy champion
Tuesday 31 October 2023 18:31, UK
Inaugural F1 Academy champion Marta Garcia says making it to Formula 1 is her "ultimate goal" as she prepares to race in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) in 2024.
Garcia has been rewarded for her success this year in the first running of the all-female series by earning a seat at the title-winning Prema team in FRECA, which serves as a bridge between Formula 4 and Formula 3.
However, the 23-year-old Spaniard is setting her sights even higher and is hopeful of reaching the elite tier.
Garcia told Sky Sports News: "F1 Academy is doing a good job and gave me the opportunity to race in Formula Regional which is a good step for me.
"It means the work they are doing is amazing, trying to get us to higher levels in motorsport.
"My ultimate goal is to make it to F1. It is not easy to do but I am going to work like I have been working the last few years and try to get to my target."
Reflecting on her F1 Academy triumph, which was sealed after she held off Britain's Abbi Pulling to claim her seventh victory of the season during the US Grand Prix weekend earlier this month, Garcia said: "When I finished the race I had a lot of emotions.
"You don't realise until you go into the pitlane and see everyone - my parents, my mechanics, everyone in the team. It felt great after all the hard work during the season.
"Being the first F1 Academy champion feels amazing. Now we need to work a lot as we have another chapter coming. Formula Regional is such a hard, complicated championship so there is a lot of work."
Garcia added that she was grateful for the support of seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and his fellow drivers.
She said: "I have always looked up to Lewis. He is an amazing driver and the fact that when I got out of the car he was there waiting to congratulate me is something I will always remember.
"He is one of my favourite drivers in F1 and it felt great to be able to see him. It is amazing that the F1 drivers support F1 Academy.
"It is always a bit more pressure, the crowd is there, the F1 drivers are there, eyes are on you, especially if you are going quite good like I was. I just tried to take it race by race."
F1 heads to Brazil for the final leg of the Americas triple header and the last Sprint weekend of the 2023 season.
Watch every session from the Sao Paulo Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday, with Sunday's race at 5pm. Stream F1 with NOW.
