F1 Academy in Canada - What Did We Learn?
F1 Academy returned for its second round of the 2026 - bringing with it fresh faces to every step of the podium.
Following a statement of intent from Emma Felbermayr at the opening round of the 2026 F1 Academy Season in Shanghai, it was the turn of Alisha Palmowski this time out as the all female racing series went racing in Montreal. But F1 Academy’s time in Canada was more than just an occasion for the Championship hopeful to fire a return serve. Across the weekend, we saw consistency, close calls, records being broken, heartbreak and moments of pure joy. In only its second year hosting F1 Academy, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will surely now be a fan favourite that most will hope remains on the calendar for many years to come.
Alisha Palmowski on Top
Alisha Palmowski may not have had a dream start to the season in Shanghai but Montreal certainly saw the British driver take everything up a level. Through a combination of almighty dominance that was sprinkled with a dash of bad luck for Felbermayr, the Red Bull backed driver was able to fight back against the Audi supported driver with two statement drives in Montreal.
First, Palmowski took Pole Position. She then controlled the opening race of the weekend from start to finish, adding a bonus point for the fastest lap of the race to her tally too. But Palmowski didn’t just win comfortably, she dominated, annihilating the record set by Maya Weug last year for biggest race winning margin. What before had been a record of around seven seconds obliterated as Alisha reset the record at ten seconds.
A frustrating reverse grid race saw Alisha all the way down and out of the points in P10. But that was the only anomaly in her weekend. Come Sunday’s Feature Race and Palmowski was back on top. Once again, she demonstrated her impressive capabilities with an outstanding drive that allowed her to break her own newly set record of biggest race winning margin. The record now stands at 10.995 seconds. What makes that even more impressive is that she achieved this new feat in wet conditions.
Leaving Montreal, Palmowski leads the Championship standings with a healthy gap back to Felbermayr of twenty-five points. If the battle between these two alone can continue like this, we’re in for a brilliant Championship fight this season.
Megan Bruce on the Rise
There were a number of fresh faces at the top of the field last weekend in Canada. One of these was British driver Megan Bruce as she put in her best F1 Academy performance so far. She didn’t do badly in China as she scored her first points in the series, following her time as a Wild Card Driver last season in Singapore. But in Montreal, much like Palmowski, Bruce stepped things up a notch. Two podiums from three races in the form of a P2 and P3 finish was an incredible achievement. Moreover, in the reverse grid race, Bruce still finished inside the top ten with a P7 result. Bruce was easily one of the standout drivers of the weekend.
Promising Potential from Paatz
Mathilda Paatz reached a major milestone moment in Canada too. At the venue where she made her F1 Academy debut in dramatic style last year as a Wild Card Driver, Paatz gave Aston Martin their first win and podium of 2026.
In the opening race, she secured her first podium with a P3 finish just behind Bruce. But it was in the reverse grid race that the German driver reached the top spot. It was her first win in the series and a result that she followed up with a fifth place finish in the feature race on Sunday.
Having not scored any points in the series until this weekend, it was one heck of a turn around for the young German driver.
Consistency is Key
Nina Gademan, Payton Westcott and Natalia Granada had relatively anonymous weekends in Canada. But none of these three will necessarily complain too much about that. The only really dramatic thing to happen to any of them was Gademan’s DNF in the reverse grid race, spoiling what was a clean weekend up to that point. With solid points on the board for all three and another podium for Westcott, her second of the season, they are each building upon the foundations of their season from Shanghai and keeping themselves within touching distance of the hunt for the Championship ahead of them.
Another driver being incredibly consistent is the Brazilian driver Rafaela Ferreira. While she may not have stood on the podium yet this season, she’s certainly a driver that her fellow competitors should take note of. Ferreira is the only driver apart from the two drivers of Palmowski and Felbermayr at the top of the Championship to score points in every race so far this year.
She equalled her best result of P4 in Canada and while sitting in seventh place overall, is only ten points away from P3 in the Championship. Missing out on the race win in the reverse grid race due to a penalty for a false start, one has to wonder how much closer she’d be to the top with those additional points. With an extra season of experience under her belt than most of her competitors, Rafaela is definitely one to watch for the rest of the season.
Drama Throughout the Pack
Alba Larsen’s maiden podium ultimately continues to elude her. Crossing the line in second place in the reverse grid race and getting to stand on the podium as a result, Larsen was then penalised for causing a collision with Felbermayr. She lost her first podium and the points to go with it, dropping down to P11 as a result. That will have stung for sure for the Danish driver but should hopefully serve as an excellent motivator moving forwards.
A P5 and a P6 finish in the other two races in Canada was good to see but the contact shows that there is still a lot of learning that needs to be done. Speed is nothing without control and so far in her F1 Academy career, Larsen has shown that she can get close, but not quite close enough.
Further down the order, Ella Lloyd had another lacklustre qualifying performance. But the Welsh driver didn’t let this deter her in the races. The McLaren backed driver fought hard throughout and finished in the points in both the opening race and the feature race. If she can fix her qualifying efforts moving forwards, she may even enter the conversation as a late starting Championship contender.
Finally, there is the Haas backed driver of Kaylee Countryman. The sixteen year old American had a tough start to the year back in Shanghai. She left the opening round without any points to her name. In Canada though, she turned things around immediately. A P7 finish in the opening race saw her hit the milestone of first F1 Academy points. She then bettered that result with an outstanding P2 finish in the reverse grid race. She jumps up to P11 in the standings overall and has already scored more points than previous Haas backed driver Courtney Crone in the entirety of last season.
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F1 Academy returns for Round Three in Silverstone, Great Britain from July 3rd-5th.