It’s been an action packed first race weekend for the F1 Academy opener in Shanghai. Across the three days, practice, qualifying and two races allowed for the first analyses and predictions for the new season. Between dominant drives, strong rookie outings and unexpected dissapointments, China provided action all around.
Emma Felbermayr emerged as the clear winner across the board: With a podium on Saturday and a victory on Sunday, she collected the most points out of the eighteen drivers and put herself into the top spot in the championship standings. Having qualified third, Felbermayr attacked the reverse grid from sixth and made her way up through the field to finish in P3, behind Nina Gademan and Natalia Granada. Her success also marked the first ever podium by an Audi driver on a Grand Prix Weekend, with Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley and F1 Driver Gabriel Bortoleto showing their support during the podium ceremony.
Encouraged by the pace, Felbermayr went on to battle it out for the win in race 2. Starting between Palmowski in second and Westcott in fourth, the three of them fought hard but clean through the opening stages of the main race. Once Felbermayr was in the lead, she did not let herself be pressured into mistakes and crossed the finish line first. The full 25 points make her collective stand at 31, firmly putting herself into championship contention in her second F1 Academy season. Felbermayr further stated that she feels more prepared with last years experience under her belt, now adding to her maiden win in Montréal.
A championship shapes up
Felbermayr is only one of six returning drivers for the season. Among them, Alisha Palmowski is the potential favourite for the championship title and the F1 Academy opener immediately proved why. A dominant showing in practice and qualifying secured her pole position, the reverse grid seeing her always in the mix for valuable points. Her biggest hurdle turned out to be the start in race 2, losing out to Larsen and Felbermayr immediately.
While she expressed her dissapointment about it in the post-race radio, it is her clean racing and smart communication that set her apart from the field. In one instance, Palmowski came on the radio to inform her race engineer about the pace of the cars around her and her further action because of it. She remained calm under adrenalin, keeping the bigger picture of her championship campaign in mind without erratic, often race ruining reactions and finished with the point for fastes lap. It reminds of Doriane Pin’s road to victory, where sensible thinking allowed her to consistently maximise races across the season.
Next to the red bull-backed driver, McLaren’s Ella Lloyd impressed in 2025. While bringing home valuable points, her first weekend back did not go as smoothly. Missing pace during qualification resulted in a start outside the top eight, which made it hard to fight for podiums in any of the two races. A P5 in race 2 is damage limitation and more points for the Rodin Motorsport team she shares with Felbermayr and rookie Ella Stevens. Still, it is clear that if she starts the next weekend on a better foot, she will be back in contention for the top spots. Her double overtake in the early laps of race 2 definitely reminded of her strong race craft and heightens anticipation for what’s coming next.
Heavy setback for Larsens Ferrari dreams
Not many other F1 Academy drivers have made headlines like Alba Larsen recently. The newest adition to the Suderia Ferrari Driver Academy is not only proud to represent the red team, but has also founded her own motorsport initiative G.I.R.L (Girls International Racing Lab) and won the inaugural 2025 FIA Women in Motorsport Award. Starting her second year, Larsen looked forward to the F1 Academy season opener with clear intentions. She expressed slight dissapointment at coming second in qualifying and started the reverse grid in seventh, ready to fight her way up. Her race fell short when an optimistic overtake attempt on Felbermayr damaged her front wing, ultimately leaving her to box for a second one and ending the race last.
With pressure to make up lost points, Larsen went into race 2 from the front line and had a blistering start. Taking the lead into turn one, she extended the gap up to two seconds where she seemed to be managing the race out front. That was until lap 6, where Jade Jaquet misjudged breaking late into a corner and locked up into the back of fellow rookie Esmee Kostermann. Jaquet has since been handed a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision, but it is Larsen who ended up losing out more than that.
On the restart on lap 9, she got away well again before she lost the car at the apex of turn 16, carrying too much speed. Her trip through the gravel dropped her down to 8th place, where she ended up finishing. The incident is reminiscent of Las Vegas last season, where Larsen led a race for the first time, before she went off in tricky conditions. It is a heavy setback in her championship ambition, her total of four points leaving her in ninth and significantly behind Felbermayr. Like her predecessor Maya Weug, Larsen will have to learn to put a weekend of dissapointment behind her and take the positives of her raw pace into the next.
Of new beginnings and maiden podiums
Twelve rookies started the F1 Academy opener in Shanghai, and it was an all-around impressive display. While Race 1 saw all cars finish, race 2 packed a few incidents. Like Jaquet, Rachel Robertson has been handed a five-place grid penalty after she collided with wildcard Shi Wei in lap 11. Natalia Granada had to box on the first lap after losing her front wing in contact with Ferreira, however there was no further investigation. The spanish driver can definitely still celebrate the weekend a success, after her P2 spot secured her maiden podium on Saturday. For Mathilda Paatz, an unlucky qualifiying resulted in a low grid spot for both races, and while she leaves China without points, her lightnign start and fight through the field caught eyes.
Lastly, Payton Westcott left quite the impression on her first ever outing in the Mercedes-backed car. The sixteen year old American proved competitive all weekend, qualifying P4 for the main race and converting it into a maiden podium to finish behind Felbermayr and Palmowski. She received her trophy by none other than Doriane Pin, the reigning F1 Academy champion whose seat Westcott took over. Pin is still engaged with the team, offering advice and guidance to her successor. In combination with Westcott’s points finish in race 1, this puts her into the top four in the championship contention and, as of now, earns her the spot as top rookie. It is a promising start for yet another exciting F1 Academy campaign, with the 2026 grid full of new talent ready to battle it out on track.
