The 2026 F1 Academy season kicks off this weekend in Shanghai, introducing a new cohort of promising rookie drivers eager to leave their mark on the all-female racing championship.
Megan Bruce
Megan Bruce joins Campos Racing for the 2026 season, with support from Tag Heuer. Her participation was confirmed in February 2026.
Starting her journey in karting as a hobby, Bruce transitioned to professional racing with Caterham Academy in 2023.
The British talent entered single-seater racing in 2024, competing in the GB4 Championship with Fox Motorsport. She secured four top-ten finishes in the final three rounds, concluding the season in 11th place.
Continuing in GB4 for 2025, Bruce moved to KMR Sport, finishing 20th overall.
Later in 2025, she also competed in the relaunched F4 Saudi Arabian Championship, achieving a seventh-place finish at the Jeddah season finale.
Bruce’s first F1 Academy Rookie test took place in September 2025 at the Circuit de Navarra, where she consistently placed within the top four across both sessions.
Last year, she deputized for the injured Aiva Anagnostiadis at the Singapore round, securing 12th in Race 1 and 13th in Race 2.
Mathilda Paatz
Mathilda Paatz joins Prema Racing for the 2026 season, with Aston Martin’s backing.
The German driver previously competed in the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games, finishing 13th in the Junior Karting Sprint Cup.
In 2024, Paatz made history as the first female driver supported by the ADAC junior team. She raced in the French F4 Championship, achieving a best finish of 10th.
During 2025, Paatz competed in F4 CEZ with her father’s team, earning her maiden podium at the Red Bull Ring. She also made a wildcard appearance at the Montreal round of the 2025 F1 Academy season, supported by Gatorade.
Payton Westcott
Payton Westcott will make her full-season F1 Academy debut with Prema Racing, backed by Mercedes.
Westcott’s racing career began at age 12 in karting, where she competed until 2024.
Primarily racing karts in the US, Westcott debuted internationally in 2024 through the Champions of the Future Academy Program, part of F1 Academy’s ‘Discover Your Drive’ initiative.
Transitioning to single-seaters in 2025, the American driver started the year in the Formula Winter Series with Van Amersfoort Racing.
Late in 2025, Westcott competed in the inaugural and final rounds of Formula Trophy with Prema Racing, achieving a historic victory in Race 2 at Dubai from reverse-grid pole, becoming the series’ first female race winner.
While campaigning in Italian F4, Westcott took part in the F1 Academy rookie test at Navarra, finishing third in the morning and first in the afternoon sessions.
She was later chosen as a wildcard entry for the 2025 F1 Academy season finale in Las Vegas, where she impressively scored points on debut with a sixth-place finish.
Natalia Granada
Natalia Granada joins Prema Racing for the 2026 season, with Sephora as her sponsor.
She holds the distinction of being the first Junior Driver for Iron Dames, the globally recognized all-female racing team, and receives mentorship from Ferrari factory driver and Le Mans winner, Miguel Molina.
The Spanish driver also showcased strong performance during the inaugural F1 Academy test in 2025.
Ella Stevens
Ella Stevens will race for Rodin Motorsport, backed by McLaren Oxagon.
Stevens started her karting career at six years old, continuing until 2025.
Beginning in Bambino karts, the British driver moved to Cadet karts in 2016, winning the BirelART UK Series the following year and the LGM Series privateer title in 2018. In 2020, she progressed to Mini karts, claiming victory in the TVKC Winter Series.
Returning to the UK, Stevens joined Jade Racing Team to compete in KZ2. Over her three years in the category, she won the Shenington Kart Racing Club in both 2024 and 2025, and was runner-up in the British Kart Championship in 2025.
In 2025, Stevens participated in the F1 Academy rookie test at Navarra, where she set the fastest time in the morning session and the second-fastest in the afternoon. Later that year, she was inducted into the McLaren Driver Development Programme.
Esmee Kosterman
Esmee Kosterman will compete for MP Motorsport in 2026, with support from Lego.
In her karting career, the Dutch driver was runner-up in the 2017 Dutch Karting Championship and represented the Netherlands in the 2018 Karting Academy Trophy.
Transitioning to car racing in 2021, Kosterman joined NXT Racing to compete in the Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup as a KNAF Talent Junior.
In 2025, Kosterman raced part-time in the F4 British Championship with JHR Developments. She also competed in almost all rounds of the relaunched F4 Saudi Arabian Championship, achieving a best result of sixth twice in the opening Jeddah rounds.
Kosterman made a wildcard appearance in the 2025 F1 Academy season at Zandvoort, racing for Hitech TGR with TeamViewer support. She qualified ninth on debut, recovered from a pitlane start to finish 12th in Race 1, and then secured her first points with a seventh-place finish in Race 2.
Ava Dobson
Ava Dobson joins Hitech TGR for a full-time campaign in the 2026 F1 Academy season, sponsored by American Express.
Following her selection as one of five female drivers to receive the Parella Motorsports Holdings Powering Diversity Scholarship in 2023, Dobson debuted in car racing in the 2023 Formula 4 United States Championship with Jay Howard Driver Development.
Towards the end of the 2023 USF Juniors season, where her team entered, she achieved a best finish of 11th in Race 3 and placed 16th overall.
Dobson initially announced a full-season return to USF Juniors in 2024, but a high-speed accident in Race 1 of the second round unfortunately curtailed her participation in the championship.
In July 2024, Dobson announced her debut in the 2024 GB4 Championship at the second Silverstone round, driving for VRD Racing.
She competed in the full 2025 GB4 season, switching to Arden Motorsport. In the final round, Dobson secured her first podium with a third-place finish and also earned the ‘Top Female Driver’ prize, ahead of Bruce.
On April 29, 2025, Dobson was announced as the wildcard driver for the Miami round of the 2025 F1 Academy season. Navigating incidents in Race 1, she finished 13th, marking the best result for a wildcard driver that season.
Rachel Robertson
Rachel Robertson will race for Hitech, with Puma providing support.
Robertson started karting at fifteen with rental karts before progressing to the British Karting Championship in the Senior Rotax category in 2024.
The following year, she joined Radical Racing Rebels to compete in the Radical Cup UK.
In August, Robertson tested F4 machinery with Cram Motorsport at Cremona, followed by her F1 Academy rookie test at Navarra a month later, where she finished fifth in both sessions.
In October, Robertson made her single-seater debut in the relaunched Hitech Grand Prix-managed F4 Saudi Arabian Championship.
In late November, the British driver debuted in F1 Academy for Hitech TGR at Las Vegas. She secured an impressive fourth-place finish in a wet Race 1 before concluding the weekend with 14th in Race 2.
Kaylee Countryman
American racer Kaylee Countryman will represent the TGR Haas F1 Team in the 2026 F1 Academy series, competing with ART Grand Prix.
Kaylee started racing on her 12th birthday in the LO206 J2 class, using a four-stroke Briggs & Stratton kart. Within her first year, she achieved multiple podium finishes at her home track, the Phoenix Kart Racing Association in Glendale, Arizona.
In 2023, Kaylee advanced to a more challenging two-stroke platform, joining J3 Competition and securing a factory driver role with CompKart.
For the 2025 USF Junior Season, Kaylee joined Exclusive Autosport, standing out as one of only three female drivers among 22 competitors. She achieved four top-ten finishes, including an eighth place at Mid-Ohio.
In September 2025, Kaylee received an invitation to the F1 Academy Navarra Collective Test in Spain, where she promptly showcased her talent on the international stage.
Jade Jacquet
Jade Jacquet will represent the Atlassian Williams F1 Team, competing under ART Grand Prix.
The French driver brings a strong pedigree, having impressed in both the French Junior Karting Championship and French Formula 4.
Jacquet also recorded the seventh-fastest time in the afternoon session of the F1 Academy Rookie Test.
The 2026 F1 Academy season continues this weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix. All 17 contracted drivers, along with this round’s wildcard entry Shi Wei, are set to hit the Shanghai International Circuit for Free Practice at 9:10 AM local time (1:10 AM GMT).
