Ava Dobson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American| Ava Dobson | |
|---|---|
 Dobson at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix | |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | June 9, 2008 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| F1 Academy career | |
| Debut season | 2025 |
| Current team | Hitech TGR |
| Starts | 3 (4 entries) |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Best finish | 9th in 2026 |
| Previous series | |
| 2024–2025 2023–24 2023 2023 | GB4 Championship USF Juniors USF2000 Championship Formula 4 United States Championship |
Ava Dobson (born June 9, 2008) is an American racing driver[1] who currently competes in F1 Academy for Hitech. She previously competed in the 2025 GB4 Championship for Arden Motorsport.[2] She also previously drove for Velocity Racing Development in the 2024 GB4 Championship.[3]
Dobson will race in F1 Academy for Hitech TGR for the 2026 season.[4]
Formula 4 United States Championship
Dobson began karting at the age of seven.[5]
After being one of five female drivers awarded with the Parella Motorsports Holdings Powering Diversity Scholarship in 2023, Dobson made her car racing debut in the 2023 Formula 4 United States Championship driving for Jay Howard Driver Development.[6] She joined for the third round of the championship, the first after her fifteenth birthday, following an extensive testing program.[7] She finished 31st in the championship with a best finish of 11th.
USF Juniors
2023
Towards the latter part of the 2023 USF Juniors season, Jay Howard Driver Development entered the series; Dobson joined them for their first round at Road America.[8] She had a best result of 11th in race three and finished 16th in the championship.[9]
2024
On September 22, 2023, Dobson announced that she would be returning to USF Juniors to run a full season in 2024 with Jay Howard Driver Development.[10] In race one at the second round at Barber Motorsports Park, Dobson suffered a high speed accident in which she collided head on with Bruno Ribeiro.[11][12] Dobson suffered injuries to her chest, back, and pinkie finger.[13] She also suffered a severe concussion, which caused sickness while training.[14] As a result of this crash, Dobson was not cleared to race for the remainder of the round, and she did not return to the championship.
GB4 Championship
2024
In July 2024, Dobson announced that she would make her debut in the 2024 GB4 Championship at the second Silverstone round driving for VRD Racing.[3] This would mark her return to racing following her crash at Barber Motorsports Park. She took a best result of ninth in race two at Silverstone, recovering well from a stall on the grid.[15] She finished the season in 17th place overall.
2025
Dobson returned to the championship for the full 2025 season, switching teams to Arden Motorsport alongside Leon Wilson.[2][16] She took her first top-ten finish of the season in race two at Donington Park, finishing tenth, and improved her best finishing position to eighth in race one at Oulton Park.[14] In the final round, Dobson claimed her maiden podium, finishing in third place, and she also won the Top Female Driver prize ahead of Megan Bruce.[17][18]
F1 Academy
2025
On April 29, 2025, it was announced that Dobson would be the wildcard driver for the Miami round of the 2025 F1 Academy season.[19] She would compete for Hitech TGR with Morgan Stanley as the car's sponsor.[20] She started race one from the back of the grid, having been given a three-place penalty for colliding with Lia Block in free practice two.[21][22] However, she avoided incidents in the race to finish thirteenth, the season-best result for a wildcard driver.[23] Race two was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions.[21][24] It was rescheduled to take place in Montreal, but Dobson was unable to return, as participating in more than one round counts towards the two-season entry limit.[14]
2026
Dobson raced full-time for Hitech TGR in the 2026 F1 Academy season, with backing from American Express.[25][26]