That motorsport is an expensive sport is a fact that most people know at this point. However, not many people know the pressure that young talent go through when trying to secure sponsorship while having to deliver results on track — the pressure of knowing they cannot afford to make a mistake, or spending the last weeks of every year not knowing whether they’ll be on a grid the following season. Most drivers navigate this reality quietly, and few talk about it with real honesty.
Maya Weug is one of those drivers who, from the outside, you’d think would have no trouble securing sponsorship. The Dutch-Belgian driver born in Alicante, Spain, is one of the most talented young women in motorsport today. Inspired by the Pixar film Cars and seeing her dad enjoy karting on weekends, she got her own kart at seven and hasn’t stopped racing since.
Wherever she competes, she leaves a mark: from beating the likes of Kimi Antonelli and Gabriele Bortoletto at WSK in her early years, to becoming the first woman ever to join the Ferrari Driver Academy, to finishing Vice Champion in her final F1 Academy season. This year, in her debut GT season, she’s stepped onto the podium in both of her first two rounds.
Talent And Results Are Not Enough
Maya’s results speak clearly. But that, as she’ll tell you, is not enough. And it’s not just her who’s struggling. Historically, women’s sports have received just 1% of global sports sponsorship dollars. In motorsport, the percentage is even lower. And although the market is undergoing a significant shift, with more brands starting to genuinely support female drivers, it is still not enough.
We sat down with Maya to talk about this reality and to know the woman behind the helmet. We talked about the shift from F1 dreams to Le Mans ambitions and what drove that change. About what she learned inside the Ferrari Driver Academy and F1 Academy, and what happens when that support disappears. About the solidarity between the drivers who’ve come out the other side of F1 Academy, all navigating the same uncertainty together. And about what she wishes people really understood about the life of a racing driver.
Watch the full interview now and follow her journey through her socials.
