There are still two months ahead of us before the Chinese Grand Prix, AKA the first race in the F1 Academy calendar! With the new season comes new and old faces; the grid slowly taking shape.
Let’s look at our F1 Academy driver line-up so far.
Mathilda Paatz (GER)
Supported by: Aston Martin
The 17-year-old is joining the Teams’ Champions PREMA Racing. Paatz started karting in 2019 and has already added silverware to her collection.
She has won twice in the 2025 E4 Championship – Trophy Woman. She also has podium finish in the F4 Central European Zone Championship and finished eighth in the Standings.
While she’s technically a rookie, this isn’t Mathilda’s first time in F1A. She was the Wild Card entry for Round 4 in Montreal, finishing 11th in the second race.
Ella Lloyd (UK)
Supported by: McLaren
This is Ella Lloyd’s second season in F1 Academy. In her rookie season, she has been to the podium five times and once climbed the top step. The British driver placed 4th overall.
Lloyd joined McLaren’s driver development academy in 2024. Aside from driving in British F4 and F1A in 2025, she also gained further experience with McLaren’s Formula E team and the Berlin Rookie Test.
Alba Larsen (DEN)
Supported by: Ferrari
The 17-year-old has some big shoes to fill, as she’s taking on the mantle of 2025 Vice Champion Maya Weug. While it’s a daunting task, Larsen seems to be up for the challenge – her achievements prove that.
In her rookie season, the Danish driver gained 70 points, and placed 7th in the standings. Her performance earned her a place in the Ferrari Driver Academy and another season in F1 Academy.
Ella Stevens (UK)
Supported by: McLaren Oxagon
Ella Stevens is the second McLaren junior in the F1A grid, proving McLaren’s commitment to the series. This is in collaboration with their longtime partner NEOM.
Stevens is the vice-champion in the 2025 British KZ2 Karting Championship. She was the only woman in the premier karting class. Last September saw her participating in the F1 Academy Rookie Test, placing first.
Both Lloyd and Stevens will be driving Rodin Motorsport cars.
Lisa Billard (FR)
Supported by: Gatorade
Billard started karting at 7 years old, and went into the national categories in 2018. After moving to formula racing, she was hailed the Women’s Champion at the 2025 French F4 Championship at Le Mans. She was also the first female to win a race in the French Junior Karting Championship. These earned her a Wild Card Round in the 2025 F1A season in Singapore.
Larsen will be carrying Gatorade’s colors in the 2026 season as part of their “Fuel Tomorrow” initiative. She will race for ART Grand Prix.
Jade Jacquet (FR)
Supported by: Williams
We have another rookie! Jacquet has joined the Williams Racing Driver Academy and will represent the British team in F1 Academy.
After blazing through the French Junior Karting Championship until 2024, she moved up to single-seaters in 2025. Jacquet has racked up 12 top 20 finishes in the 2025 French F4. She also has the Female Trophy at the Dijon-Prenois circuit under her belt.
She will be racing for ART Grand Prix alongside fellow rookies Lisa Billard and Kaylee Countryman.
Kaylee Countryman (USA)
Supported by: Haas
The American F1 team supports an American driver in F1A. The 16-year-old is the last rookie under ART Grand Prix. Countryman has only been driving for four years, but she has already collected karting trophies and moved up to single-seater racing.
Alongside driving in F1 Academy, Countryman will also gain more experience in the USF2000 Championship, racing for Exclusive Autosport.
Nina Gademan (NL)
Supported by: Alpine
The Dutch driver is driving with MP Motorsport for the 2026 season. The 22-year-old delivered a strong performance in her rookie season. She had her maiden win in Zandvoort, her home race, and proceeded to climb the podum three times more.
She finished sixth in the 2025 standings.
Esmee Kosterman (NL)
Supported by: LEGO Racing
Kosterman was selected for the FIA Girls on Track – Rising Stars programme in 2020. She was the first woman to win in the Ford Fiesta Sprint Cup Benelux. To sweeten this victory, she went on to finish second in the Junior Cup and third in the overall standings.
She raced supercars until she made her single-seater debut in 2024 in the Indian F4. In 2025, she was the Wild Card in Zandvoort, collecting 6 points.
Alisha Palmowski (UK)
Supported by: Red Bull Racing
Palmowski first got behind an F1 Academy car in 2024 as a Wild Card for the Lusail Round, placing 5th in the first race. She then made an explosive debut in the 2025 season after winning the Shanghai Grand Prix. The British racer finished her rookie season in fifth place.
She aims to win the championship in 2026, driving with the support of Red Bull Racing Pepe Jeans Academy Programme.
Rafaela Ferreira (BR)
Supported by: Racing Bulls
Ferreira has made a name for herself in Brazilian circuits. She was the first woman to score pole position in the Copa Brasil de Kart in 2022, finishing fourth in the championship. She then moved up to Brazilian F4, securing a podium in the Interlagos circuit.
Ferreira’s first season in F1 Academy proved fruitful. She collected seven podiums and two wins.
Rachel Robertson (SCT)
Supported by: Puma/TAG Heuer
We’re down to our last rookie (so far)! 18-year-old Rachel Robertson will drive for HiTech TGR in the 2026 season, with support from Puma.
The Scottish driver joined competitive karting in 2022 and then moved up to the British Kart Championships in 2023. The next year, she was the only female driver to compete in the Senior Rotax Class in the 2024 BKC. She scored multiple top-ten results.
Ava Dobson
Supported by: American Express
The 17-year-old driver will be representing American Express for the 2026 season.
Dobson was an awardee of the Parella Motorsport Holdings Powering Diversity Scholarship in 2023. She mad her single-seater debut in US F4, then moved to race in Europe. She claimed her first podium in Donington Park in 2025, finishing the season as the highest-scoring female driver.
And that’s our F1 Academy grid so far! Surely, there will be more developments in the roster as the season approaches. We’re excited to see them prove once again that women belong in motorsport.
Featured image credit: F1 Academy
Edited by Alexandra.
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