Meet the F1 Academy Class of 2026 - PREMA Racing and Campos Racing
- Anny Wooldridge
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
The grid is set for the F1 Academy 2026 season and it's time to go racing! PREMA Racing and Campos Racing were the final teams to announce their drivers, with the third PREMA driver announced as part of a historic partnership with Sephora.
Eleven rookies will be joining the grid this season, seven of who featured last season as Wild Card entries or injury replacements.
Six teams are joining the series once again, with MP Motorsport, Hitech, Rodin Motorsports, PREMA Racing, Campos Racing, and ART Grand Prix all back on the grid.
Find out more about the ART Grand Prix and Hitech drivers here. Discover the MP Motorsport and Rodin Motorsport drivers here. Here is the Campos Racing and PREMA Racing F1 Academy class of 2026:
Campos Racing
Campos Racing surged to the lead in 2025 but couldn't maintain its chase for either title. They led the Team Standings until Round 4 in Montreal and ultimately secured P2 by just one point, with Chloe Chambers reestablishing her position in the top three.
#4 Megan Bruce
Campos Racing
Supported by: TAG Heuer
Nationality: British
Megan Bruce made her F1 Academy debut at the 2025 Singapore race weekend as a replacement for Aiva Anagnostiadis, who sustained a fracture in her left foot.
The British 20-year-old debuted in the GB4 series in 2024 and moved to KMR Sport for the 2025 season, where she was the highest-placed female in the standings, scoring points in 12 races, with her best finish P4.
Bruce also took part in the inaugural F1 Academy Rookie Test at the Circuito de Navarra, the Brit clocked in two top-four times.
#18 Rafaela Ferreira
Campos Racing
Supported by: Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula 1 Team
Nationality: Brazilian
2025 F1 Academy Stats: Standings 15th, Points 6
Rafaela Ferreira made her F1 Academy debut with Campos Racing, supported by Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula 1 Team in car #18 in 2025. Her season got off to a great start with a P5 in Shanghai Race 1, but that would prove to be her best result of the season.
The Brazilian was the first woman to achieve pole position at the 2022 Copa Brasil de Kart and transitioned into single-seaters the following year.
She has competed in the Brazilian Formula 4 Championship during the 2023, 24 and 25 seasons and claimed her first podium at Interlagos during the Grand Prix weekend, making her the first woman to do so in 2023.
Ferreira bettered this in her second season in the series and became the first female to win a race, finishing the season with three race wins, two poles and seven podiums. Last season, she was back on the top step of the podium in Interlagos.
#21 Alisha Palmowski
Campos Racing
Supported by: Oracle Red Bull Racing
Nationality: British
2024 F1 Academy Stats: 17th, 10 points, Qatar Wild Card
2025 F1 Academy Stats:
Alisha Palmowski made her F1 Academy debut as the Wild Card at Lusail, Qatar, in 2024. In 2025, she joined the grid as a full-time driver with Campos Racing and Oracle Red Bull Racing, and she's in her second season in the series, supported once again by Oracle Red Bull Racing.
Palmowski made her mark immediately as a full-time driver, with her first win coming from the first round of the season in Shanghai's Race 1, which proved to be her only race win of the season. However, she did finish her rookie season with four more podiums. With her raw speed, she's a top title contender for the 2026 season.
The British driver started karting in 2018 and competed in the Daniel Riccardo Series in 2020 and 2021, achieving the Junior Vice-Champion titles in both years.
Palmowski moved into cars in 2022, competing in the Ginetta Junior Championship and achieving 10 podiums. She also finished as Vice-Champion in the GB4 Championship with three wins, two poles and 11 podiums.
PREMA Racing
Current Team Champions PREMA Racing face a mighty challenge ahead, with their trio of rookies striving to follow in Doriane Pin’s footsteps.
#9 Payton Westcott
PREMA Racing
Supported by: Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
Nationality: American
Payton Westcott debuted in the F1 Academy as the Wild Card for the final 2025 season round in Las Vegas and delivered a P6 finish, setting herself a high benchmark going into the new season.
17-year-old American driver is making history by becoming the first driver to progress from an F1 Academy Discover Your Drive karter to a full-time grid driver.
Westcott has shown her speed by competing in Italian F4, the E4 Championship, the F4 Saudi Arabian Championship, and the Formula Winter Series, and she became the first and only woman to win in the UAE Trophy series.
#8 Mathilda Paatz
PREMA Racing
Supported by: Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team
Nationality: German
Mathilda Paatz is another Wild Card to a full-time seat graduate, after competing in the 2025 F1 Academy season in Round 4 in Montreal.
Paatz has a strong CV, including third-place finishes in the 2020 ADAC Kart Masters - Mini and OK Junior in 2022, a win in the ADAC Kart Masters - Ladies Cup, and took part in the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games.
In 2024, Paatz moved over to single-seaters, competing in the French F4 Championship, then progressed to the 2025 E4 Championship and won two Women's titles. She achieved her first podium finish in the F4 CEZ Championship at the Red Bull Ring and finished 8th in the Standings.
#19 Natalia Granada
PREMA Racing
Supported by: Sephora
Nationality: Spanish
Natalia Granada will make her F1 Academy and single-seater debut this season as a rookie driving for PREMA Racing and supported by Sephora, as part of the championship's new partnership with the iconic global beauty brand.
The 17-year-old Spanish driver made her karting debut at 11, alongside her twin brother, competing in the elite IAME international karting championships and IAME World Final.
Granada made her debut in the Ligier European Series’ JS2R category with Iron Dames in 2024, after joining their driver programme in 2022, and finished seventh at Mugello.
Her full-time seat promotion marks a step forward in her development, following her seventh-fastest overall lap time in the F1 Academy Rookie Test at Circuito de Navarra last year.
F1 Academy gets underway for the 2026 season in Shanghai for Round 1 on March 13-15, alongside the F1 Chinese Grand Prix weekend.
All images are credited to F1 Academy Limited.