CATCH UP WITH KATE - Aiva Anagnostiadis

Lights out and away we go! The F1 Academy has kicked off their season in Shanghai and we are thrilled to have not one, but two Australians on the grid - Aiva Anagnostiadis and Joanne Cicconte, both close friends of WinA. It was an action packed round full of highs and lows for both of the girls. Our WinA Director Kate Peck jumped on a Zoom call with Hitech TGR’s Aiva to chat about her start to the season. 

Hey Aiva. So where are you in the world? 

I’m in the UK! My race team called and said we need you in the UK tomorrow. So I flew in this morning, did my simulator work and now I'm here because we're testing at a new track next week. They were like - we need you on the simulator before we go there; so can you get here asap? And I was like, yeah, okay, I’ll be there. No worries!

KP - Is this some ridiculous $300,000 simulator? Is it the wildest simulator you've ever been on? 

AA - It’s like a massive movie theatre screen in a half circle around you. They also have the F1 simulator but we're not allowed on that one (yet). Ours is like the cockpit of the car, it’s pretty much as if you're driving. It’s also a great way to test  because you can crash it and it won't cost anything!

KP - Exactly. You've got nine lives. So, what was it like arriving in Shanghai and meeting everyone including all the other drivers? 

AA - We had a test in Jerez in Spain first which was kind of undercover because not all of the drivers had been announced yet. So we did that test and met everyone there. Then, everyone got to know each other at the official test at Shanghai. To rock up there and be walking on the F1 track and just seeing everything was incredible. Even just last weekend, walking into the paddock and being like, holy moly - we're at an F1 meet. I was sitting on the grid for practice and Lewis Hamilton just walked out of his garage. He's just standing there filming and he waved to me and I'm like, Oh My God. So yeah, it was pretty surreal, it was a bit of a pinch me dreamer moment.

KP - What are the other racers like?

AA - All the girls are really nice. And we're all quite competitive which is good. I spend a bit of time with a couple of them but we’ree all in different teams so it's hard to be around everyone all the time and during testing and race weekends you kind of stick to your race team. But when we are all together, everyone's really nice and it's quite a good community.

KP - Is it nice to have another Aussie on the grid in Joanne?

AA - I think it's good for not only us but for Australia to be representing two of the 18 drivers. It's a big deal. I've gone through the sport with Joanne. I think she was always that little bit younger so she was kind of with my brother racing but I've known her for a while and it's good to be able to have another Aussie to bounce off. And I think when Aussies travel, we always kind of end up merging together just because that's just how Aussies are in all the sports. 

KP - What is Susie Wolff like in person? 

AA - She’s so nice. I met her on Zoom when she told me I had the drive.  It was incredible! When we met her in person at the race in Shanghai, she was so nice and you can tell that she's just doing everything to try and help us progress in this sport. I really admire her and am thankful for everything that she's doing. 

KP - How did you feel about round one? You got a point which is a start!

AA - It felt like a bit of a (Steven) Bradbury weekend. We got quite lucky. The point, we're going to take any day of the week. If someone gets a Podium and you're in P4, and they get disqualified and you get that P3, you're going to take it.

I think what worked for us is that we kept our nose clean in the first race, which got us that point. The second race though wasn't as strong as we wanted pace wise, and we struggled a bit. The team is still learning as well. Hitech TGR is new to the F1 Academy grid, so we’re two years behind all of the other teams which means it’s going to take that little bit more to get up speed and be competitive but I'm working on my stuff, my team is working hard behind the scenes and we're going into Jeddah in a stronger position which  I'm excited for .

KP - There's just so many learnings for you every time you get in that car. It's very early on but do you have an inkling of what is possible this season?

AA - 100% by the end of the season we will be getting podiums. The first couple of rounds, we know, as a team if we can be P10 or creeping in or around that top ten then we're doing quite a good job given the team is new to the series and we’re a team of rookie drivers Next round, if we're in the top 10 then I’d say it’s a really good job done.

KP - What do you think is it gonna be the most challenging part of the season ahead? 

Just learning how everyone races and obviously learning a new track every time for me. Some of the girls on the grid have already raced the whole season at these tracks. So I am learning the different tracks and trying to get up to speed as fast as possible and working with the team to get the car 100%. It’s going to be a big learning year and our aim is to make progress every single round. 

KP - What do you think about the car, how is it feeling? Is there a lot of work to do to get you comfortable and able to push?

The team's done a good job with seat fit and everything. I could probably have a nap in there if I wanted to it’s that comfortable! But the car's a little bit different than your standard F4, just because the wings that they've put in - the rear wing and the front wing, they've made it try and look like an F1 car. F4’s already naturally have a bit of understeer, so now there's more weight on the back, so it's just pushing it even more.

Hitech have an F4 team, but they're still quite new to this car. We’re just trying to work that out, but the car is a race car and it’s awesome to drive. 

KP - Is it the coolest thing you've ever driven?

100%. And compared to a go kart, this is sick. 

KP - Which race are you most excited for? 

Definitely Vegas just because I've done a couple street meets with the go-karts In Vegas before and I love Vegas, it’s just awesome.

Once the night comes and everything lights up, it's sick. And the atmosphere, the Americans, it's awesome. Also, being on a street circuit, in Vegas going down the strip, it's going to be really cool. 

KP - And are you flying back and forth to Melbourne between races? 

In January 2024 we moved to England. I was living in England last year for the whole year, I think I went back to Melbourne only once or twice over Christmas. I've actually been home more this year than I have in the past two years. So, I do miss it. I love Australia. 

Now we’re based in Italy. So I can't really complain about that! I mean, it's Italy! I think everyone wants to live in Italy. It's awesome. And this year I also get to go back and forth a couple of times to Australia for media and sponsor commitments.

KP - Are your mum and dad over there with you? 

Yes, my brother's racing as well. Dad goes and mechanics for him and they do their thing. And then when we do meet up, it's probably a high five down the hallway on Monday, and then we both set back off again.

It's good and  bad at the same time and we miss them but once we get to where we’re both aiming for it's going to be all well worth it. 

KP - You gotta put in the hard yards for now and it'll all pay off. So, Jeddah next. What are your thoughts, what do you think about the track? 

AA - I went on the track on the simulator yesterday and then we had the official F1 Academy test there last week.. It’s pretty cool. It is just wall to wall and you’re pretty much kissing walls everywhere because it is a street circuit and it's quite fast. I think it will be a hot one too - next week is 37 degrees all week and a low of 26. It's going to be 80 degrees in the car so it's going to be tough! We're going to try and get prepped for that with some heat training and some ice. Hopefully they bring an ice bath.. Actually, I’m going to message the team after this and tell them to bring one! It’s going to be a new track for me again, but we've had three days of testing now so I'm excited and I love the track. 

KP How does heat training work? 

My trainer puts bikes and equipment in the saunas here and I just go at it in the heat. So then when your body temperature does regulate, it's like you're in 20 degrees when you're actually in 30 degrees in the car. Before we go out you get given an electrolyte slushie to try and cool your body temp naturally before you're head out. Also my bottle will probably be filled with ice water trying to keep my body temperature down before I'm actually going. That's really the most you can do and then you just have to be fit and deal with the sweat!

Thanks so much for chatting to us Aiva! We can’t wait to cheer for you back in Australia!