Everything You Need to Know About the Porsche Mobil 1 Female Driver North America Programme

Porsche is one of the most widely known brands in the motorsport industry. With teams in both the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and FIA WEC, the automotive company has long been involved in numerous racing series. The 94-year-old brand is pioneering additional gender diversity in the male-dominant industry with the reintroduction of the Porsche Mobil 1 Female Driver programme. This is what you need to know about its reinitiation for the 2025 season. 

The Benefits

First launched in 2023, the Porsche Mobil 1 Female Driver North America programme is a collaboration between Mobil 1 and Porsche Motorsport North America. The programme’s focus on supporting North American female drivers provides more opportunities for American and Canadian drivers, narrowing the gap between the more readily available resources in European countries, where motorsport attracts a greater audience. Not only do selected drivers receive financial aid to cover half of the season’s entry fees, but they also gain access to networking opportunities with, but not limited to, former Porsche-affiliated drivers, performance initiatives, including full sets of the same Yokohama tires used in the races to the top performers, and workshops dedicated to career insight and media training. In fact, on July 21, 2025, members of the Porsche Mobil 1 Female Driver North America programme joined others from the Porsche EBOOST Junior Program for the yearly development workshop.

While many racing drivers today are often associated with nepotism and generational wealth, causing the sport to feel exclusive and elite, it is crucial to remember that there exist young up-and-coming drivers without that luxury and opportunities to further their careers. Combined with the existing gender gap between the number of male and female drivers, it is more important than ever that opportunities such as these not only help finance these women’s journeys but also provide career advancement-focused resources. 

You may ask, “Is the Porsche Junior Programme not sufficient?”

Porsche is a global vehicle brand that not only creates a wide variety of road-legal vehicles, ranging from family SUVs to luxurious supercars, but one that has a history of racing. Behind the big-name professionals that we know today, there were junior stars who raced their way up the motorsport ladder, whether that was through regional karting championships, the formula series or rookie testing windows. Porsche is not one to miss out on promising individuals in the making, hence Porsche’s creation of the Porsche Motorsport Junior Programme, Young Drivers Programme Talent Pool and Porsche EBOOST North America Junior Programme. Both programmes are amazing pathways meant to provide young drivers with financial aid, media training and coaching, among other benefits, yet these are still mostly male-dominated. The Young Drivers Programme supports rising talent competing in the German Carrera Cup, which currently includes one female driver, Emely de Heus, who is an ex-F1 Academy driver during the 2023 and 2024 seasons, while the Porsche EBOOST North America Junior Programme’s 2025 line-up includes one more female driver, Anna Cecchi, who is also in the 2025 Mobil 1 Female Driver North America. Porsche’s intent to back young talent is entirely visible, also seen through the Porsche Deluxe Female Driver Development Program of 2023, which included Sabré Cook, Madeline Stewart and present-day F1 Academy driver Chloe Chambers, but the Mobil 1 Female Driver North America programme is the only one today to place its entire focus on uplifting women and women only. Kudos to Porsche for their support!

The Talents Behind the 2025 Porsche Mobil 1 Female Driver North America Programme

Last year, seven top-notch drivers were announced as part of the programme, including Sabré Cook, Madeline Stewart, Paige Morales, Caroline Candas, Loni Unser, Ashley Freiberg and Therese Lahlouh.

In 2025, two new drivers entered the scene as replacements for Morales and Candas to join the five veteran drivers of the programme. The complete list of the seven talented women in the 2025 line-up includes Loni Unser, Therese Lahlouh, Anna Cecchi, Erika Hoffmann, Ashley Freiberg, Madeline Stewart and Sabré Cook. Each driver races in one of two Porsche one-make series based in North America: the Porsche Sprint Challenge or the Porsche Carrera Cup. The Sprint Challenge is a tier below the Carrera Cup on Porsche’s motorsport pyramid, thus using different and slightly less powerful cars, according to the Porsche Newsroom, Porsche’s own media outlet. In 2025, Unser, Lahlouh, Cecchi and Hoffmann race in the Sprint Challenge, while Freiberg, Stewart and Cook take part in the Carrera Cup. 

Loni Unser, Therese Lahlouh, Madeline Stewart, Sabré Cook, Ashley Freiberg, Anna Cecchi and  Erika Hoffmann (left to right) pose together ahead of the 2025 Carrera Cup and Sprint Challenge season. Image credit: Porsche Carrera Cup North America

The Carrera Cup is split into three divisions: Pro, Pro-Am and Masters. Out of the seven women, Freiberg, Stewart and Cook are a part of this series, and all three currently compete in the Pro division, which contains all drivers aged 17 to 35. Carrera Cup drivers in the Pro class compete with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 992, a road-legal and track-ready model with 510 horsepower.

Sprint Challenge drivers, on the other hand, use three different types of cars depending on their division. In the Sprint Challenge North America, there are five divisions: 992 Pro-Am, 992 Masters, 991, Cayman Pro-Am and Cayman Masters. Unser, Hoffman and Cecchi compete in the Cayman Pro-Am, whereas Lahlouh is in the 992 Pro-Am. Derived from the name of each category, drivers in the 992 Pro-Am category drive the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup model; Cayman Pro-Am drivers compete with the 718 Cayman GT4RS Clubsport car. 

As a one-make series, every driver across the grid uses the same car with the same specifications, lifting the focus from whose car outperforms another, but rather placing it onto how well the drivers manoeuvre the machine. Although the Sprint Challenge uses a different car per division, it is still considered one-make, as every driver in each division drives identical cars. The beauty of a one-make series shines through the level playing field that the female drivers compete in, allowing them to fully concentrate on honing their skills.

Current Standings

The seven-month Porsche Carrera Cup North America season that began in March and will end in mid-October runs alongside major Formula 1  and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - a prestigious American racing series owned by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) - race weekends. This gives female drivers more visibility, especially during the three North American grands prix, including the Miami, Canadian, and United States (around the Circuit of the Americas) races throughout the eight-round, two-race-per-round calendar. With three veteran drivers in the Carrera Cup this year, here is how each of them is doing as we are just over halfway through the season.

From left to right, Ashley Freiberg, Sabré Cook, and Madeline Stewart drive the #22, #37, and #82 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 992 cars. Image credit: Porsche Carrera Cup North America

Out of 38 total drivers and eight races so far, Cook, Freiberg and Stewart stand in 12th, 13th and 24th place, respectively. Cook has had three finishes in the top ten, along with two finishes right outside this group. Freiberg finished within the top ten three times so far, also with one finish right outside tenth place. Both Cook and Stewart’s highest finishes were during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, where Cook placed ninth with seven points and Stewart placed 14th with two points. Freiberg’s highest finish was also ninth, but during the Miami Grand Prix weekend. We have no doubt that these brilliant ladies will continue to build momentum, break barriers, and show exactly why they belong at the front of the pack!

The Porsche Sprint Challenge North America season spans six months, with its opening round in late February and final round in mid-September. There are seven rounds, each consisting of two races, similar to its Carrera Cup North America counterpart. Here is how each of the four drivers is doing so far.

Therese Lahlouh, the sole Mobil 1 Female Driver North America Programme member in the 992 Pro-Am division, currently ranks third out of 21 drivers. In the most recent race at the Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, she finished eighth in Race 1 and 18th after her car underwent an unfortunate spin. Yet, since the start of the season, Lahlouh has finished in the top ten, sometimes even top five, in at least one of every single round so far—a more than impressive feat. 

Anna Cecchi, Loni Unser and Erika Hoffmann, the remaining three drivers who are part of the Cayman Pro-Am division, stand in second, third and fourth place, respectively, so far. In Race 1 of Virginia, Cecchi placed second, while Unser was third and Hoffmann was tenth, proving that they are nothing short of the best. In Race 2, Unser finished second, Cecchi in third and Hoffmann in fourth. Eight races in, Cecchi has phenomenally finished in the top five seven different times; Unser has had a podium finish five times; and Hoffmann finished in the top five three times and top ten five times. If consistency were a person, it would be these ladies!

Erika Hoffmann finished third in Race 1 at Sonoma Raceway in just the second round of the Sprint Challenge, clinching her first podium in the series. Image credit: Kyle Schwab

The Road Ahead

The Porsche Mobil 1 Female Driver North America Programme is more than just a racing initiative, but a powerful step toward equity in North American motorsport. Through Porsche and Mobil 1’s partnership, the two brands are helping female drivers build careers and prove that they belong in a male-dominated world that has historically overlooked them. With a lineup of talented, driven and resilient women making waves on the track, the 2025 season is shaping up to be not only competitive but transformative. And if their current trajectory is any indication, they’re only just getting started.