F1 Academy returned for its second round in Canada last weekend as the all female feeder series went racing in Montreal. Last time out in Shanghai, Emma Felbermayr walked away with the Championship lead. But a challenging weekend for the Austrian would see her slip from the top spot. Around her, numerous drivers made their own headlines, for reasons good and bad. Let’s take a look at The Paddock Chronicle’s Key Takeaways from F1 Academy in Canada.
Palmowski Strikes Back
The opening round of the season in Shanghai was by no means a bad weekend for Alisha Palmowski. But through a combination of sheer dominance and bad luck for her main title rival in these early stages of the Championship, the Red Bull backed driver was able to fight back with two statement drives in Montreal.
After taking Pole Position, Palmowski controlled the opening race of the weekend from start to finish, taking a bonus point for the fastest lap of the race too. In the process, she also annihilated the record set by Maya Weug last year for biggest winning margin. What had been a record of around seven seconds was now ten. While a tricky reverse grid race saw Alisha down in P10 and out of the points, it was the only major blip in her weekend. Pole and another dominant win for Sunday’s Feature Race saw Palmowski demonstrate her impressive capabilities in the wet but also allowed her to break her own record of biggest winning margin. The record now stands at 10.995 seconds.
Leaving Montreal, Palmowski leads the standings with a healthy gap back to Felbermayr of twenty-five points.
Fresh Faces at the Top in Canada
There were a number of fresh faces at the top of the field last weekend in Canada. Megan Bruce was one of them as she hit her stride in her rookie season. Two podiums from three races and inside the top ten for all three easily made her one of the standout drivers of the weekend. Mathilda Paatz reached a milestone moment too. In the opening race, she scored her first podium in F1 Academy with a P3 finish just behind Bruce. But in the reverse grid race, the German driver picked up her first win in the series – followed by a fifth place finish in the feature race. Both were Wild Card drivers last year so it’s fantastic to see their development almost immediately upon entering the series full time.
More Where That Came From
Another rookie to impress in Canada was Haas backed driver Kaylee Countryman. The sixteen year old had a tough start to the year back in Shanghai, leaving without any points on the board. In Canada, she righted that immediately with a P7 finish which was then bettered by an outstanding P2 finish in the reverse grid race. Lisa Billard impressed too with a fifth place finish in that same race where she also claimed the fastest lap.
Watch out for Ferreira
The Brazilian driver of Rafaela Ferreira may not have stood on the podium yet this season but she’s certainly a driver her fellow competitors should be worried about. Ferreira is the only driver aside from the two drivers of Palmowski and Felbermayr at the top of the Championship to score points in every race so far this year.
She equalled her best result of P4 in Canada and while sitting in seventh place overall, is only ten points away from P3 in the Championship. With an extra season of experience under her belt than most of her competitors, Rafaela is definitely one to watch for the rest of the season. That much is certain from what we saw of her in Canada.
Down but not Out
Three of the full time drivers have yet to score a point this season. That unfortunate accolade belongs to Esmee Kosterman, Rachel Robertson and Jade Jacquet. Each of them were on the fringes of the points in Canada but couldn’t quite get there when the chequered flag fell.
The same is true of the two wild card drivers we’ve had so far in 2026. In Canada, it was Canadian Autumn Fisher who made her F1 Academy debut, fresh from the latest round of the French Formula 4 series. These weekends involve a lot of learning for these one-shot drivers and to demonstrate their potential. For Fisher, that was clear immediately as she finished in P11 in the opening race of the weekend – tantalisingly close to the points. Time will tell if she follows the path of many a fellow previous wild card driver and gets the call up to race full time in the series in 2027.
A Perfect Blend in Canada
Alba Larsen’s maiden podium all but came to fruition in Canada. Crossing the line in second place in the reverse grid race, she was penalised for causing a collision with Felbermayr and subsequently plummeted to P11. A P5 and a P6 in the other two races was good to see but the contact shows that there is still a lot of learning that needs to be done by the young Danish driver.
Gademan, Westcott and Granada had anonymous weekends but none of the trio will mind that too much. With the exception of Gademan’s DNF in the reverse grid race, it was a clean weekend with solid points on the board for all three and another podium for Westcott, her second of the season.
Final Thought
For the second year in a row, F1 Academy in Canada proved to be a stellar weekend. With a new race winner and new faces on the podium too, that would have been enough to keep even the most dedicated fan happy. Throw into the mix a new record breaking Championship leader and drama on track for each race and you can see why F1 Academy wanted a long term contract to race around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. We can’t wait for the series to do it all again this time next year.
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F1 Academy returns for Round Three in Silverstone, Great Britain from July 3rd-5th.
Feature Image: Red Bull Content Pool