The 2026 F1 Academy championship kicks off this weekend in Shanghai, introducing a new cohort of rookie drivers eager to leave their mark on the all-female racing series.
Megan Bruce
In February 2026, Megan Bruce confirmed her participation in the 2026 F1 Academy season with Campos Racing, backed by Tag Heuer.
Starting her racing journey with karting as a hobby, Bruce’s professional career launched with Caterham Academy in 2023.
The British driver transitioned to single-seaters in 2024, competing in the GB4 Championship for Fox Motorsport. She secured four top-ten finishes in the final three rounds, ultimately placing 11th overall.
Continuing in GB4 for 2025, Bruce moved to KMR Sport, finishing 20th in the standings.
Late in 2025, she also competed in the revived F4 Saudi Arabian Championship, achieving her best result of seventh in the final race at Jeddah.
Bruce’s first F1 Academy Rookie test took place at the Circuit de Navarra in September 2025, where she consistently placed within the top four across both sessions.
Last year, she deputized for the injured Aiva Anagnostiadis in the Singapore round, finishing twelfth in Race 1 and thirteenth in Race 2.
Mathilda Paatz
Mathilda Paatz joins Prema Racing for the 2026 season, with support from Aston Martin.
The German racer competed in the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games, securing 13th place in the Junior Karting Sprint Cup.
In 2024, Paatz made history as the first female driver backed by the ADAC junior team. She raced in the French F4 Championship, achieving a best finish of 10th.
In 2025, Paatz competed in F4 CEZ with her father’s team, earning her first podium at the Red Bull Ring. She also received a wildcard entry, supported by Gatorade, for the Montreal round of the 2025 F1 Academy season.
Payton Westcott
Payton Westcott is geared up for her full-season debut with Prema Racing, under the sponsorship of Mercedes.
Westcott started karting at age 12, continuing until 2024.
Predominantly racing karts in the US, Westcott debuted internationally in 2024, participating in the Champions of the Future Academy Program as part of F1 Academy’s ‘Discover Your Drive’ initiative.
Transitioning to single-seaters in 2025, the American driver commenced the year in the Formula Winter Series with Van Amersfoort Racing.
Towards the end of 2025, Westcott competed in the inaugural and final rounds of the Formula Trophy with Prema Racing, securing a historic victory in Race 2 at Dubai from reverse-grid pole, becoming the series’ first female race winner.
During her first Italian F4 campaign, Westcott took part in the F1 Academy rookie test at Navarra, achieving third in the morning session and topping the afternoon session.
Subsequently, she was chosen as the wildcard driver for the 2025 F1 Academy season finale in Las Vegas, earning points on her debut with a sixth-place finish.
Natalia Granada
Natalia Granada will race with Prema Racing, backed by Sephora.
She is notably the first Junior Driver for Iron Dames, the globally recognized all-female racing team, and receives support from Ferrari factory driver and Le Mans winner, Miguel Molina.
The Spanish driver also showcased impressive performance during the inaugural F1 Academy test in 2025.
Ella Stevens
Ella Stevens will be racing for Rodin Motorsport, with support from McLaren Oxagon.
Stevens started karting at age six, continuing until 2025.
Beginning in Bambino karts, the British driver progressed to Cadet karts in 2016, joining and winning the BirelART UK Series the following year. She then claimed the LGM Series privateer title in 2018, before moving to Mini karts in 2020 and winning the TVKC Winter Series.
Stevens returned to the UK with Jade Racing Team to compete in KZ2. Over her three years in the category, she won the Shenington Kart Racing Club in 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, setting the fastest time in the morning session and the second-fastest in the afternoon. Later that year, she joined the McLaren Driver Development Programme.
Esmee Kosterman
Esmee Kosterman will compete for MP Motorsport, with sponsorship from Lego.
During 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 cars in 2021, Kosterman joined NXT Racing to race in the Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup as a KNAF Talent Junior.
By 2025, Kosterman raced part-time in the F4 British Championship with JHR Developments. She also participated in almost all rounds of the revived F4 Saudi Arabian Championship, achieving a best result of sixth twice in the first two 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, finished 12th in Race 1 after starting from the pits, and then secured her first points with a seventh-place finish in Race 2.
Ava Dobson
Ava Dobson will compete full-time for Hitech TGR in the 2026 F1 Academy season, supported by American Express.
In 2023, Dobson was one of five female drivers to receive the Parella Motorsports Holdings Powering Diversity Scholarship, making her car racing debut in the 2023 Formula 4 United States Championship with Jay Howard Driver Development.
Towards the end of the 2023 USF Juniors season, her team joined the series, where she achieved a best result of 11th in Race 3 and finished 16th overall.
Dobson initially announced her full-season return to USF Juniors for 2024 on September 22, 2023, but a high-speed accident in Race 1 of the second round unfortunately cut her championship participation short.
In July 2024, Dobson announced her debut in the 2024 GB4 Championship at the second Silverstone round, driving for VRD Racing.
She returned for the full 2025 season with Arden Motorsport, where she secured her first podium finish in the final round, placing third, and also earned the Top Female Driver prize, surpassing Bruce.
On April 29, 2025, Dobson was confirmed as the wildcard driver for the Miami round of the 2025 F1 Academy season. She skillfully navigated incidents in Race 1 to finish thirteenth, marking the best result for a wildcard driver that season.
Rachel Robertson
Rachel Robertson will race for Hitech, backed by Puma.
Robertson started her karting career 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 participation in the F1 Academy rookie test at Navarra a month later, where she finished fifth in both sessions.
In October, Robertson debuted in single-seaters in the revived Hitech Grand Prix-managed F4 Saudi Arabian Championship.
In late November, the British driver made her F1 Academy debut for Hitech TGR in Las Vegas. She impressed with a fourth-place finish in a wet Race 1, concluding the weekend with a 14th-place finish 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 began racing on her 12th birthday in the LO206 J2 class, driving a four-stroke Briggs & Stratton-powered kart. Within her first year, she earned numerous podium finishes at her home track, the Phoenix Kart Racing Association in Glendale, Arizona.
In 2023, Kaylee advanced from four-stroke to the more challenging two-stroke platform, joining J3 Competition and securing a factory driver position with CompKart.
For the 2025 season, Kaylee competed in the USF Junior Season with Exclusive Autosport, standing out as one of only three female drivers among 22. 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 made a significant impression.
Jade Jacquet
Jade Jacquet will represent the Atlassian Williams F1 Team, competing with ART Grand Prix.
The French driver boasts 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 resumes this weekend at the Chinese Grand Prix. All 17 drivers, along with this round’s wildcard entry Shi Wei, will take to the Shanghai International Circuit for Free Practice at 9:10 AM local time (1:10 AM GMT).