Ava Dobson (born June 9, 2008) is an American racing driver who competes in F1 Academy for Hitech with support from American Express.
Dobson previously competed in the 2025 GB4 Championship for Arden Motorsport. She also previously drove for Velocity Racing Development in the 2024 GB4 Championship.
Racing career Dobson began karting at the age of seven.
Formula 4 United States Championship 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. She joined for the third round of the championship, the first after her fifteenth birthday, following an extensive testing program. 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. She had a best result of 11th in race three and finished 16th in the championship.
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. 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. Dobson suffered injuries to her chest, back, and pinkie finger. She also suffered a severe concussion, which caused sickness while training. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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. She would compete for Hitech TGR with Morgan Stanley as the car's sponsor. 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. However, she avoided incidents in the race to finish thirteenth, the season-best result for a wildcard driver. Race two was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. 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.
2026
Dobson raced full-time for Hitech TGR in the 2026 F1 Academy season, with backing from American Express.
Karting record
Karting career summary SeasonSeriesTeamPosition2019SKUSA - SupernationalsN/A32nd2021SKUSA - SupernationalsMerlin24th2022SKUSA - Supernationals19thSources:
Racing record
Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2023 Formula 4 United States Championship Jay Howard Driver Development 12 0 0 0 0 0 31st USF Juniors 3 0 0 0 0 28 16th USF2000 Championship 3 0 0 0 0 15 32nd 2024 USF Juniors Jay Howard Driver Development 3 0 0 0 0 10 31st GB4 Championship Velocity Racing Development 6 0 0 0 0 40 17th 2025 GB4 Championship Arden Motorsport 21 0 0 0 1 120 19th F1 Academy Hitech TGR 1 0 0 0 0 0 23rdF4 Saudi Arabian ChampionshipPeax1000003611th2026F1 AcademyHitech TGRFormula 4 CEZ ChampionshipCram Motorsport Season still in progress.
Complete Formula 4 United States Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points 2023 NOL1 NOL2 NOL3 ROA1 ROA2 ROA3 MOH1 MOH2 MOH3 NJM1 NJM2 NJM3 VIR1 VIR2 VIR3 COA1 COA2 COA3 31st 0
American open-wheel racing results USF Juniors (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points 2023 Jay Howard Driver Development SEB1 SEB2 SEB3 ALA1 ALA2 VIR1 VIR2 VIR3 MOH1 MOH2 ROA1 ROA2 ROA3 COA1 COA2 COA3 16th 28 2024 Jay Howard Driver Development NOL1 NOL2 NOL3 ALA1 ALA2 VIR1 VIR2 VIR3 MOH1 MOH2 ROA1 ROA2 ROA3 POR1 POR2 POR3 31st 10
USF2000 Championship (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points 2023 Jay Howard Driver Development STP1 STP2 SEB1 SEB1 IMS1 IMS2 IMS3 IRP ROA1 ROA2 MOH1 MOH2 MOH3 TOR1 TOR2 POR1 POR2 POR3 32nd 15
Complete GB4 Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points 2024 Velocity Racing Development OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 SIL11 SIL12 SIL13 DON11 DON12 DON13 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 SIL21 SIL22 SIL23 DON21 DON22 DON23 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 17th 40 2025 Arden Motorsport DON1 DON2 DON3 SIL11 SIL12 SIL13 OUL1 OUL2 OUL3 SNE1 SNE2 SNE3 SIL21 SIL22 SIL23 BRH1 BRH2 BRH3 DON21 DON22 DON23DON24 19th 120 Complete F1 Academy results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 DC Points 2025 Hitech TGR SHA1 SHA2 JED1 JED2 MIA1 MIA2 MTL1 MTL2 MTL3 ZAN1 ZAN2 SIN1 SIN2 LVG1 LVG2 23rd 02026 Hitech TGR SHA1 SHA2 MTL1 MTL2 MTL3 SIL1 SIL2 ZAN1 ZAN2 COA1 COA2 COA3 LVG1 LVG2
Complete F4 Saudi Arabian Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 DC Points 2025 PeaxBHR11BHR12BHR21BHR22JED11JED12JED21JED22JED31JED32 11th 36
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