Formula 1 welcomed Mickey Mouse to the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix, with the iconic character dancing in front of the Bellagio Fountains before a flurry of fireworks lit up the skies. Now, following the thrills of the Shanghai Grand Prix and the exhilarating start of the 2026 F1 Academy season, Disney has announced the extension of the ‘Fuel the Magic’ campaign.

The entertainment conglomerate has expanded its partnership with F1 to include F1 Academy, set to premiere later this Spring. The project will bring the classically beloved Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck into the series to promote the representation of women-led partnerships and encourage young girls to pursue new passions in motorsports. Exclusive merchandise, character experiences and new original content will also be unveiled, offering an exciting gateway into the world of racing.

Managing director of F1 Academy Susie Wolff has commented,

“By bringing together two worlds united by creativity, ambition, and a belief in what’s possible, we’re building pathways that inspire and empower future fans, drivers and leaders to shape the future of our sport.”

Disney’s decision to deepen its involvement in motorsports comes as F1 Academy enters its fourth year, announced just shortly after a new partnership with Sephora. Sharing the same goals of increasing visibility and boosting confidence, these initiatives present the growth of women’s motorsports and the series’ rising popularity.

When F1 Academy first launched in 2023, it offered a launchpad for women to compete in a male-dominated sport, despite previous challenges with Formula Woman and the W Series. Since then, F1 Academy has expanded in both scale and reach to showcase incredible talent and unique stories. Innovations such as bringing in Wild Card drivers for specific weekends have created a truly global community, opening further opportunities to break into racing and captivate audiences worldwide.

Additionally, the involvement of major sponsors - including all F1 teams to fund cars and drivers - demonstrates a newfound commitment to greater diversity and a dedication to the growth of women in motorsports. This level of support was lacking in F1 Academy’s predecessors, resulting in limited opportunities and their eventual closure.

Disney and F1 Academy’s collaboration also indicates a wider shift in the way motorsports are embracing new tech in sports media. The introduction of interactive digital content and the wide adoption of social media indicate that sports are moving past traditional broadcast models that separate athletes and fans. This enables audiences to step directly into the action through immersive experiences, fostering deeper engagement and connection.

The success of Formula 1’s own media strategy, with the release of Netflix’s Drive to Survive, led to an impressive boom in global viewership. The show revealed a behind-the-scenes look into drivers’ lives and team dynamics to captivate a new generation of fans - an approach that F1 Academy now hopes to replicate. The debut of their own Netflix series, F1: The Academy, last year displayed the inner workings of the sport, alongside the efforts made to bring women back to the F1 grid.

F1 Academy’s partnership with Disney aims to promote women’s stories and provide an accessible platform for young girls to hear the inspirational narratives of female drivers. Chief commercial officer for F1, Emily Prazer, said,

“Disney is a global storytelling powerhouse that unites young and old generations alike, while celebrating individuality. It’s therefore a natural step as part of our collaboration for it to support F1 Academy, a series that champions women, encourages them to get involved in our sport and ultimately thrive. It marks another momentous step in how we continue to build impactful integrations that not only deliver enormous fan engagement, but underline the values of our wider sport.”

More information about Disney and F1 Academy’s partnership is expected to be released in the coming months, but the collaboration has already set out clear goals. The two organisations hope to engage new audiences and increase female participation in motorsports, delving into creative storytelling and fan-driven campaigns to support women and girls in the years to come.

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With three seasons of F1 Academy now in the rear view mirror, the all-female racing series has seen a plethora of drivers graduate from it and go off to pastures new. But what have those drivers been doing and where are they now?

It’s Race Week! takes a look at six of F1 Academy’s alumni and how what they’re doing now is not only benefiting themselves but also paving the way for other women entering motorsport in the future.

Marta Garcia

For many general and die-hard motorsport fans, Marta Garcia will already be a household name. The 25-year-old Spaniard is someone who oftentimes comes across as having been around for a lot longer than she actually has been. Such is the breadth and depth of her career so far.

Joining F1 Academy in its inaugural season in 2023, Marta notched up seven race wins from the twenty-one races. On top of that, she scored five additional podiums, five pole positions and six fastest laps. Garcia finished P1 in the Championship by the end of the year with 278 points, 56 points clear of Lena Buhler in P2.

After winning in F1 Academy, Garcia moved over to the Formula Regional European Championship, where she raced with Iron Dames in 2024. This came about as part of F1 Academy’s prize for winning the Championship. At the same time, she competed in the Ligier European Series for four races, an endurance racing series, also with Iron Dames. Two wins in this series in Spa and Portugal came Marta’s way, and her transition into endurance racing looked to have gone very well indeed.

The move from single-seaters to endurance racing is not an uncommon one in motorsport. Many single-seater drivers do it not only to stay afloat in the racing world when competition for seats is especially high, but also to further develop their overall racecraft abilities. The more different disciplines of racing one competes in, the more rounded a driver becomes and their ability to adapt from one racing series to the next becomes more and more impressive.

We’ve also seen drivers use this pathway to return to single-seater racing. When Mick Schumacher left Formula 1, he spent time racing in the World Endurance Championship with Alpine before securing his seat for the 2026 IndyCar Season with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. While it may come across as frustrating to some fans to see the pathway towards higher classes of single-seater racing appear to become closed off to a driver like Marta, it’s a door that is not as firmly shut as it may seem.

Iron Dames and Formula E Debut

In 2025, Marta teamed up once again with Iron Dames to compete in the Le Man Cup GT3, a support series for the European Le Mans Series. She finished in P4 overall. This was made even more impressive due to the fact that she had a massive shunt at the season opener in Barcelona and also had to miss racing at Le Mans due to her teammate being injured. On her comeback in Spa, however, she hit the ground running with a podium finish. Marta then followed this up with a victory in Silverstone, her first win in this category of racing, and a solid P5 finish in Portugal.

Marta also made her Formula E debut back in 2024, taking part in the rookie test with ERT - now Cupra Kiro. Later that same year, she tested with Porsche in the pre-season women’s test. She then switched teams again, partnering with Lola Yamaha ABT in this season’s pre-season women’s test. Experience across multiple teams allows Marta to enhance her skills at transitioning into different working environments, learning and adapting to differing procedures and not letting these behind-the-scenes changes negatively impact her performance inside the car. Being involved with Formula E consistently like this also helps her to keep the door ajar to the single-seater world.

While we don’t yet know what Garcia’s plans are for 2026, it’s clear that a number of options are open to her. There’s also the potential to switch things up entirely again and explore a new corner of the motorsport landscape.

The Al Qubaisi Sisters: Amna & Hamda

Following her two seasons in F1 Academy, the elder Al Qubaisi, Amna, also moved over into endurance racing. She competed in the Ligier European Series JS P4 with Team Virage in 2025. It was a unique situation as her sister, Hamda, was also racing with her as her teammate. Amna achieved multiple P3 results in Barcelona, Spa and Silverstone.

Amna would go on to finish in P4 overall in the Championship, just eleven points behind P3. Earlier this year, she doubled down on her endurance racing potential by competing in the 2025–26 24H Series Middle East at the Dubai Autodrome. During the race, she was running very solidly in the podium places before contact with another car resulted in her having to retire from the race.

Like Marta, perhaps Amna is honing her craft in another way aside from in single-seater racing. But her participation in the endurance race at Dubai could suggest that she’s looking to develop her skills in this discipline of racing, perhaps with an eye on the European Le Mans Series or even the World Endurance Championship in the years to come.

Hamda, the younger Al Qubaisi, joined her sister in the Ligier European Series JS P4 with Team Virage after her stint in F1 Academy. The move from single-seaters to prototype machinery is not always a straightforward one, but it’s not the first time that members of her family have competed in this type of racing, with her father being a well-known endurance racing driver in the past.

Both Hamda and Amna have expressed interest in competing alongside and against their father in a race, so perhaps the sisters’ delve into this style of racing is leading them closer to realising that dream. Hamda is also two years younger than Amna, and while age shouldn’t make a difference, drivers are often judged on this, and younger drivers are often prioritised over older ones - even if the gap is only a couple of years.

By switching disciplines and being able to learn both from her father and her sister, Hamda is laying a solid foundation to ensure a lengthy career in motorsport.

Nerea Marti

In 2025, Nerea moved across to Endurance Racing. Part of the BMW M Racing Academy and racing for BMW España, Nerea competed in the Supercars Endurance Championship. She competed in the series back in 2024 too, where she got onto the podium three times. In 2025, Nerea built on that success by winning a race at Jarama. She then repeated this feat by winning in Valencia too and would finish the season in P5 overall in the GT4 Pro Class. Just six points stood between her and third place.

Nerea also transitioned into the E1 Series with Team Alula for the final two rounds of the 2025 season. She joined the team again for the opening round of 2026 in Jeddah, where she finished in third place. It wasn’t the only electric racing series that she would be involved in though as Nerea went on to become an ambassador for Andretti. She tested with the team in the Formula E pre-season women’s test, having tested with them in 2024 too.

When you combine her sublime single-seater ability (P4 overall in both seasons of F1 Academy, along with a solid stint and string of results in W Series) with her proven adaptability to both endurance racing and electric racing, Nerea presents herself as a strong and reliable competitor who is an exciting prospect to any team on the lookout for a new driver signing.

A proven winner and podium finisher across all forms of racing she’s competed in in recent years, Nerea is reminiscent of more traditional, old school racing drivers who used to compete in just about anything. Being able to not only do that but also deliver results makes her someone to watch with great interest not only for the rest of the year, but into 2027 and beyond.

Bianca Bustamante

Following a less-than-stellar second and final season of F1 Academy in 2024, it was unclear as to where Bianca would land in 2025. Post F1 Academy, though, Bianca was able to secure a seat in the GB3 Championship with Elite Motorsport. Bianca scored points in seventeen of the twenty-four races and finished in P22 overall.

This year, Bianca has once again doubled down on making it in single-seater racing, rather than pivoting into an alternative racing category. The Filipino has signed with Palou Motorsport to compete in the Euro-Cup 3 Series. In the opening round in Portugal, Bianca had a highest finish of P13. An unfortunate error in the final race sent her tumbling down the order after having made significant progress up through the field prior to that.

Still, at only twenty-one years of age, much of the racing that Bianca is doing is to help her gain more and more valuable experience inside the car out on track. Seat time is difficult to come by in racing, regardless of the category and on paper, results often don’t tell the full story, leading to drivers being judged too harshly too soon into their careers. But by committing to single seater again for another year, Bianca is demonstrating how seriously she’s taking the challenge and that she wants to succeed.

Moreover, Bianca has also been signed up as a development driver in Formula E with Cupra Kiro. The first major duty she had to undergo for the team was representing them at their rookie test in Berlin and then again in the pre-season women’s test in Valencia. Much like Marta Garcia, Nerea Marti and Abbi Pulling, her place there both helps to normalise the presence of women in single-seater racing, gives them an opportunity to develop their skills in different machinery and opens up another potential pathway for them to compete in a high level of racing in the future.

Abbi Pulling

Having raced in British F4 for a number of races in 2024 alongside her F1 Academy duties, where she won a race alongside two further podiums, it was only natural for Abbi to move into GB3 in 2025. The F1 Academy Champion had the highest result of P3 at Brands Hatch, becoming the first woman to do so in the series since its formation. She would go on to finish in P10 overall that year. In 2026, she’ll return to that series for her second full season, competing once again for Rodin Motorsport.

But that’s not all. In 2025, the Nissan Formula E Team signed Pulling to be their test and reserve driver. She took part in the Formula E rookie test in Berlin back in July as well as the women’s test held in Valencia back in October and the series’ recent rookie practice session in Miami.

While not a full-time seat racing in the series, Abbi’s role here, as with Bianca’s too, is steadily normalising young women taking on these roles at teams and further paving the way for a woman to get the opportunity of competing in the series on a regular basis in the near future. By driving in Formula E too and having a consistent relationship with one of the teams further captures her intent to make single seater racing her prime focus of where she wants to compete in not only this year, but in the future.

Like Bianca, Abbi has appeared to pick her path and is determined to throw everything she has at it until she succeeds. That kind of commitment hopefully won’t go unnoticed, along with the results she’s achieving to back up the potential many know her to hold.

Doriane Pin

Pin finished her rookie season of F1 Academy in an impressive second place overall with only the unstoppable force of Abbi Pulling being able to beat her to the title.

However, in 2025, it was Pin who took that mantle and quite simply dominated. The Mercedes-backed driver won four races and collected a further four podiums with a lowest result all season of P6. She stood 15 points clear of Maya Weug at the end of the year, sealing the 2025 Championship in Las Vegas.

Prior to the finale in Las Vegas, Pin hinted that whether or not she won the Championship would ultimately decide if she continued along the single-seater ladder or returned to endurance racing. With the Championship now in her back pocket, many thought a seat in GB3 or something similar was on the cards for the French Driver. Instead, it’s been revealed that Pin will, in fact, return to her endurance racing roots as she competes in the LMP3 category of the European Le Mans Series with Duqueine Racing. Alongside this, though, Doriane has also been given the role as a test and development driver for the Mercedes F1 Team - hinting that her future in single-seater racing may not be done quite yet.

Having both pathways open to her will be a huge relief for Pin, as she’ll be able to continue exploring both properly without risking compromising a future in either for the sake of the other. As much as it may seem like an obvious point to make, Pin getting this chance also helps set the standard for other women looking to compete in both categories in the future. The more examples of it that are seen, as demonstrated by Pin, Pulling, Bustamante, etc. the less reason there will be to deny that to others in the future.

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The opening round of the 2026 F1 Academy Season got underway last weekend in Shanghai and gave fans a tantalizing glimpse into what we’ve got to look forward to for the rest of the season. With two race winners, two rookies on the podium and over half of the field scoring points in the opening round, let’s take a look at what we learned from F1 Academy’s trip to Shanghai.

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Experience Delivers Results

Only six drivers on the grid this season competed in last year’s Championship full time. Of those six, all currently sit inside the top ten places in the Driver’s Championship, with three of them locking out the top podium spots.

Felbermayr, Palmowski and Gademan lock out the top of the standings and their consistency across the weekend was remarkable. Felbermayr impressed the most as the Austrian driver converted P6 to P3 for Race I and then took the win on Sunday for Race II after having started in third place following a strong qualifying effort.

Palmowski finished in fifth in the first race, but then finished in second place on Sunday, adding the accolades of Pole Position and Fastest Lap to her name to boot. Gademan meanwhile won Saturday’s race while under constant pressure throughout before finishing in a solid P4 on Sunday. Just nine points separate all three drivers as F1 Academy departs from Shanghai.

“I really liked Gademan - she stood out for me.” - Jenny Craig, Inside F2

Elsewhere, Rafaela Ferreira had her best weekend yet in F1 Academy, finishing in P4 and P6 across the weekend. Ella Lloyd finished inside the top ten in both races too while also getting the fastest lap of the race on Saturday. Experience is always key in motorsport but in this season of F1 Academy, it looks set to give us an extremely exciting and tightly fought Championship as a result.

Speed is Nothing without Control

The last of the experienced drivers to return full time in 2026 is Alba Larsen. Now backed by Ferrari, there is a large spotlight on the young Danish driver. Across the race weekend in Shanghai, Larsen demonstrated once again what she did all of last year - that there’s a lot of potential within her. But an unfortunate racing incident (along with a questionably late call from the team to return to the garage to fix damage to the car) ruined her race on Saturday.

On Sunday, Larsen had a blistering start and launched herself into the lead going into T1. But trouble came for her again after a Safety Car period. Taking too much kerb on the exit of the final corner on the Shanghai International Circuit, Alba found herself on an unplanned trip through the gravel trap on the opposite side of the track and haemorrhaging positions as she tumbled down the order. In the end, Larsen had to settle for P8.

Following both races, Larsen was quite critical of herself and rued the ultimate outcome of the weekend. But the seventeen year old has time on her side and appears to have the right kind of support around her. Such lessons are always tough in motorsport but they are ones that can be learned from if approached correctly. With a significant gap until F1 Academy goes racing again in Canada, it won’t be surprising if Larsen does all she can to ensure she doesn’t repeat the same mistakes again next time out.

Rookies on the Rise

Eleven rookies are on the grid full time this year. Three stand out in particular after the first race weekend in Shanghai. The first of those is, of course, Natalia Granada. Announced just days before the series hit the track in China, the opening round marked Granada’s first time competing in single seater machinery. What a fantastic story it was then when she proceeded to finish on the podium in P2 in her debut race. For a driver who just a short time ago had no idea if she’d even have a racing future, it’s a simply astounding turn of events.

Having finished in a respectable P6 on Saturday, Mercedes’ latest signing, Payton Westcott made her way onto the podium on Sunday by finishing in P3. The American was a Wild Card entry in Las Vegas at the end of last season and was only one of two rookies to score points in both races in China. The second of those was Lisa Billard. While a podium finish eluded her on this occasion, P8 and P7 were both excellent starting points for the French Driver’s full time debut in F1 Academy.

Last year, rookies such as Lloyd, Palmowski and Gademan impressed everyone up and down the grid. Might we be seeing more of that as we head into the 2026 season? It certainly looks like it.

More Action on Track

Even with six returning drivers, there was an air of rebirth about F1 Academy at its season opener. For dedicated fans, many of the names and faces on the grid, rookie or veteran (as much as one can be in this series) will have been familiar. But for the most part, there won’t have been any household names - and that’s a good thing. For the first time since F1 Academy made its debut back in 2023, it feels like it’s showcasing a full complement of unknown drivers that fans can embrace and support for the first time.

This freshness has transitioned into action out on track too as all eighteen drivers last weekend seemed hungry to prove themselves.

“There seems to be a lot more overtaking than usual and the series feels like it’s a lot less dominated.” - Jenny Craig, Inside F2

Without the presence of a dominant driver such as Marta Garcia or Abbi Pulling, it felt truly as if it was anyone’s game. All drivers, both rookie and experienced, had a legitimate chance to win the race or get onto the podium. Both podiums on Saturday and Sunday proved that by who was standing upon them. Even when moves didn’t go the driver’s way or rookie mistakes happened, such as Jacquet’s collision with Kosterman, it still felt more organic and more action packed than we’ve seen in past seasons. Tight battles throughout the field - and crucially the pressure on the drivers out in front - came across more naturally and it became harder to predict who would win. It’s what a series like F1 Academy needs and it’s brilliant to see.

Less Domination in 2026?

As mentioned, so far in 2026 there doesn’t appear to be a runaway driver in terms of the Championship. Sure, Felbermayr looks very strong but coming into the weekend, most people’s money would have been on Palmowski, Lloyd or Larsen. To get this shake up so early is a brilliant sign and a potential tease for the remainder of the season.

“I enjoyed both races actually quite a lot, it was more competitive and there were less crashes.” - Jenny Craig, Inside F2

In 2023 and 2024, it was all but a sure thing from the word go that Marta Garcia and Abbi Pulling would win their respective Championships. Last year, we knew it would be between Pin and Weug and despite it going down to the final round, it was all but guaranteed to be Pin’s time as top dog. That’s not the case in 2026 - at least not yet. The favourites had a mixed weekend and a different standout rookie from last season took the reins instead, while fresh rookies wasted no time in making names for themselves.

Can Felbermayr keep this momentum up and run away with the Championship or will one of the plethora of other drivers steal it away from her? We just don’t know. Isn’t that fantastic?

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F1 Academy returns May 22nd in Montreal, Canada.

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In April 2003, a marshland area in the Jiading District of Shanghai was earmarked for a future in Formula 1. Eighteen months later, at a cost of roughly $450 million, the state-of-the-art Shanghai International Circuit was completed. Formula 1 was about to make its debut in China.

The Chinese Grand Prix has thus been on the calendar since 2004. Rubens Barrichello won the inaugural race at the Shanghai International Circuit on that occasion for Ferrari, with Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen finishing alongside him on the podium. Since then, we’ve had a further seventeen Grand Prix held at this venue, including Formula 1’s 1000th Grand Prix back in 2019.

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But F1 Academy only made its debut in China for the first time last year. It was the first race of the series’ third season. Maya Weug claimed Pole Position for Sunday’s Race by half a second from season long rival, Doriane Pin. Meanwhile, then rookie, Nina Gademan took Reverse Grid Pole for the first race, which would be held on Saturday.

The races themselves were dramatic and the action even began before the racing got underway, courtesy of a significant crash in practice between Ferreira and Block. Collisions continued into the first race as Block and Nobels made contact on Lap 5 while Chong and Havrda came together five laps later. Gademan did a brilliant job to maintain the lead of the race, despite having to successfully navigate the challenge of three Safety Car race restarts. But a gut-wrenching issue with the car on the penultimate lap took the win away from her and instead saw fellow rookie Alisha Palmowski take her maiden win.

In the second race, Pin overtook Pole sitter Weug at the very start. But the Mercedes-backed driver wasn’t able to gain much of a lead. The Safety Car bunched up the pack when it came out because of a collision between Gademan and Hausmann. Nobels and Havrda were again involved in an incident, this time with each other, while Chong made contact with rookie Ciconte as she attempted to avoid this incident. Pin would go on to win the race though, with Weug keeping her honest in P2 and Chloe Chambers rounding out the podium in third.

This year, F1 Academy returns to kick off its brand new season. The Shanghai International Circuit is 5.451km long with sixteen corners, including the famous twisty opening three corners and the long back straight that leads drivers from T13 to T14.

Being held in March, the climate should be mild and comfortable, but prone to change. Shanghai usually has an average annual temperature of 17.5 °C (63.5 °F) and with rain occurring 111 days each year, there is a chance that we may see some for the opening round of the F1 Academy Season.

If you’re reading this and you’re also trackside in Shanghai, check out the Fan Stage if you want to see the drivers themselves from F1 Academy making an appearance this weekend.

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With the end of the 2025 season came a major reset in F1 Academy. The series’ two-season limit means that a wave of drivers have now graduated, opening the door to a new generation ready to step in. The 2026 F1 Academy Grid is now closed and ready to race.

Each rookie will be looking to make their mark early on and set themselves apart from the established drivers that are returning to the championship this year.

With the new season kicking off this weekend in Shanghai, let’s meet the young women competing alongside Formula 1 and who hope to make it there one day.

Meet the 2026 F1 Academy Grid

PREMA

Payton Westcott

Payton Westcott demonstrated her abilities enough to earn herself a full time seat in the 2026 Season after participating as a Wild Card Driver in 2025 on the final round in Las Vegas. Backed by the Mercedes F1 Team, Payton brings experience from the UAE4 Series, the Italian F4 Championship, and the Formula Winter Series.

Mathilda Paatz

Another 2025 Wild Card Driver, Mathilda made her F1 Academy debut last year in Montreal following stints in the French F4 Championship and the Formula Winter Series, amongst others. For 2026, she’s back full time, making the switch from Hitech TGR to PREMA and will be supported by the Aston Martin Formula 1 Team.

Natalia Granada

The final piece of the F1 Academy 2026 puzzle - Natalia completes PREMA’s line-up, announced just days before the season gets going. The seventeen year old Spaniard will be supported by the Sephora brand, a French multinational make-up and beauty brand. It has also teamed up with F1 Academy directly as an Official Partner and the Official Beauty Retail Partner of the series.

Natalia began racing when she was eleven years old, in local and regional karting championships. She became the first Junior Driver selected by Iron Dames, and was mentored by Miguel Molina, Ferrari factory driver and Le Mans winner. Last year, she explored the world of GT racing while also testing in Formula 4.

Campos Racing

Megan Bruce

The first of the drivers to be announced to be competing with Campos Racing for 2026, Megan Bruce will be a familiar face for F1 Academy fans. She made her debut in the series at last season’s round in Singapore, where she finished in P12 and P13 across the two races of the weekend. This year, she’ll be backed by one of F1 Academy’s partners, Tag Heuer. Previously, Bruce has competed in Saudi Arabian F4, GB4 and the Caterham 270R Championship.

Rafaela Ferreira

Hailing from Brazil, Rafaela enters her second full season of F1 Academy in 2026. Last year, she finished in P12 overall with a best result of fifth which came at the opening round in Shanghai. Prior to that, Ferreira has competed in both the Formula Winter Series and the Brazilian F4 Championship. In the latter, she achieved ten podium finishes, including three wins - the last of which occurred in Interlagos.

Alisha Palmowski

Palmowski also enters her second full season of F1 Academy this year, once again competing for Campos Racing. Finishing in fifth overall with three podiums to her name, including a win in China, the Red Bull Junior Driver impressed many up and down the paddock. This came off the back of her F1 Academy debut as a Wild Card driver in 2024 in Qatar, where she finished in fifth place.

The nineteen-year-old British driver moved into single-seater racing for the first time in 2024, after racing in the Ginetta Championship in the UK. She competed in both the GB4 Championship and the Formula Winter Series.

MP Motorsport

Nina Gademan

Last year, Nina made her full time F1 Academy debut after having joined the series in 2024 as a Wild Card Driver at her home event in Zandvoort. She finished the year in P6 overall with four podiums to her name. This included a home win in Zandvoort, racing on the same weekend as Formula 1.

Switching to MP Motorsport from PREMA in 2026, Nina is once again backed by the Alpine Formula 1 team and enters the 2026 season as one of the favourites for the title.

Alba Larsen

After a solid foundation in racing, which included karting and competing in the Indian Racing League, Alba Larsen moved into F1 Academy for her rookie season in 2025. Supported by Tommy Hilfiger and racing for MP Motorsport, she finished her debut season in P7 overall. Larsen got close to the podium on several occasions and scored points in all but four races in 2025.

Now backed by the Ferrari Formula 1 Team (and part of the Ferrari Driver Academy), Alba is a driver many will be keeping a close eye on this year as she looks set to be one of the Championship contenders.

Esmee Kosterman

An immediate fan favourite from her Wild Card debut in F1 Academy last year in Zandvoort, Esmee returns in 2026 to compete in the entire Championship. While racing with MP Motorsport, she’ll be backed further, not by an F1 Team, but by Lego. Prior to F1 Academy, Esmee competed in British F4, the Indian Racing League and the Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup Benelux.

Rodin Motorsport

Ella Lloyd

Lloyd was announced as part of the McLaren Driver Development programme ahead of her debut season in F1 Academy. She hit the ground running and finished the year as the highest placed rookie, in P4 overall with a victory in Jeddah to her name. Returning to race for Rodin Motorsport again in 2026, as the highest returning driver, Ella looks set to be the main title contender.

Ella only began her competitive racing career in 2022, making her debut in the Ginetta Junior Championship. She finished in the points in 15 of the 25 races before graduating to the Ginetta GT Championship in the following year. The Welsh driver became vice-champion that year in a highly competitive field. Lloyd has also competed in the Formula Winter Series, achieving the Female Driver Trophy several times, and in the British F4 series where she stood on the podium several times.

Ella Stevens

McLaren announced a second female driver to their development programme last year in the guise of Ella Stevens. Ella is a double English KZ2 Champion as well as a British BirelART Cadet Champion and the 2025 British KZ2 Vice-Champion, along with being the first woman to win in the UK’s premier karting class.

Ahead of being announced by McLaren last year, Ella topped the time sheets in the F1 Academy rookie test held in Spain.

Emma Felbermayr

Emma made her F1 Academy debut in 2025, backed by the Kick Sauber Formula 1 Team. Emma finished the year in P10 overall, with a victory in Canada to her name, along with several other top ten finishes. In 2026, she’s backed by the new Audi Formula 1 Team and will once again compete for Rodin Motorsport.

Emma’s racing journey began when she was just seven years old, making her karting debut. Emma has since competed in the Micro, Mini, and Junior Classes of karting and finished as runner-up in her first international race in the 2021 ADAC Ladies Cup. In 2023, she qualified 23rd out of 119 drivers in the KZ category of the World Championship in Wackersdorf, Germany and in 2024, Emma competed in all major shifter karting events, including WSK-Karting and the World and European Championships.

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ART Grand Prix

Lisa Billard

Lisa made her F1 Academy debut last year in Singapore, where she was backed by F1 Academy partner Gatorade. She moves up to the series full time this year with ART and once again backed by the drinks company. This follows two seasons in French F4 and six years of competing in a number of karting championships.

Jade Jaquete

The sixteen-year-old French driver arrives in F1 Academy after competing in both the French Junior Karting Championship and in French Formula 4, having only driven a single-seater car for the first time back in 2024. As Lia Block heads away from single-seater racing, Jade replaces her as the driver to be backed in F1 Academy by the Williams F1 Team.

Kaylee Countryman

Sixteen-year-old Countryman hails from the great state of Arizona and will be backed by the original American F1 Team in 2026 - Haas. Countryman began racing three years ago, competing in a four-stroke Briggs & Stratton-powered kart in the LO206 J2 class. Kaylee competed in the North American-based USF Juniors as one of three female drivers in the 22-driver field, scoring four top-10 finishes. She’ll be competing in this Championship again in 2026, alongside her F1 Academy duties.

Hitech

Rachel Robertson

Taking over from an injured Aiva Anagnostiadis at the final round of F1 Academy last year, Rachel finished in an almighty P4 on her debut. This was more than enough for the Scottish driver to secure a full time seat in the series for 2026. She’ll be backed by one of F1 Academy’s partners, PUMA, this season and enters the series after competing in both the Radical Cup UK and the Saudi Arabian F4 Championship.

Ava Dobson

Another of F1 Academy’s Wild Card Drivers, Aba Dobson didn’t get a fair shake of the stick in 2025 as she was only able to compete in one of two planned races across the Miami Grand Prix weekend, due to the treacherous wet weather conditions leading to the cancellation of the second. But consistent performances across GB4, the USF2000 Championship, US Juniors and the US F4 Series have enabled Ava to find her way onto the F1 Academy grid full time in 2026, supported by American Express.

F1 Academy Wild Cards

Part of F1 Academy’s weekends is introducing a Wild Card Driver for each event. This is in addition to the season-long drivers that are competing for the Championship. The aim of the Wild Card driver is for them to showcase their abilities, possibly with an eye on securing a seat on the grid for the following season. These drivers are announced quite close to the commencement of each race weekend, which is why at present we only know the Wild Card Driver for the opening round in China - Wei Shi.

Wei Shi

In some ways, now the ultimate Wild Card Driver, Wei Shi was the Wild Card driver at last year’s opening round of F1 Academy in Shanghai. The Chinese Driver didn’t fare well, unfortunately, with a DNF in the first race and a P14 finish in the second.

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