The 2026 season of the F1 Academy promises another important step forward for female talent in single-seater racing, and once again British drivers are set to play a prominent role on the grid. Abbi Pulling, of course, was champion in 2024.
With the fourth running of the championship continuing to run alongside selected Formula One weekends, the series will visit seven venues across the world, including a major home event at Silverstone Circuit in July.
Among the leading British prospects is Welsh driver Ella Lloyd, who returns for her second campaign after an impressive rookie season. Lloyd secured a race victory in Jeddah and multiple podium finishes on her way to fourth in the standings, establishing herself as one of the most consistent newcomers in the championship. Backed by McLaren and again racing with Rodin Motorsport, she enters 2026 with greater experience and expectations of mounting a serious title challenge.
Joining Lloyd under the McLaren banner is another British rising star, Ella Stevens. The Gloucestershire racer steps up to the championship after an outstanding karting career that included finishing vice-champion in the 2025 British KZ2 Karting Championship. Stevens also made headlines by topping the inaugural F1 Academy Rookie Test, suggesting she could quickly adapt to the demands of single-seater racing. Her transition from karting to the international stage will be one of the most intriguing storylines of the year.
Like Lloyd, Alisha Palmowski is another returning for a second full season with hopes of building on her rookie campaign experiences, which produced one win and four further podiums. Fifth place overall keeps her on Red Bull Racing’s roster.
Scotland will also be represented on the grid by Rachel Robertson, who graduates to a full-time seat after impressing during a stand-in appearance in the 2025 season finale. Robertson’s journey to the championship has been rapid; after starting competitive karting only a few years ago, she quickly rose through the British Kart Championships before finishing third in the Radical Cup UK standings. Her fourth-place finish during her F1 Academy debut demonstrated she has the pace to compete immediately with more experienced drivers.
The fifth member of the UK’s quintet is another product of the fertile British motorsport scene. Megan Bruce’s racing journey started in the Caterham Academy before progressing into single-seaters.
With five promising British drivers representing different stages of development – from the growing experience of Lloyd and Palmowski to Stevens’ and Bruce’s rookie potential and Robertson’s rapid rise – the 2026 F1 Academy season highlights the strength of the UK’s female motorsport pipeline.
As the series continues to grow in visibility and competitiveness, these drivers will not only be fighting for race wins but also aiming to become the next British talent to climb the ladder toward the upper levels of international motorsport – a pathway Jamie Chadwick has already taken to the echelons of the hypercar class in the World Endurance Championship.
“We’re not just giving young women opportunities on-track. We’re proving that this sport is no longer a man’s world. But I’m even more ambitious about what we can go on to achieve in the long term,” said Susie Wolff, the F1 Academy’s Managing Director.
“If we do our job, getting a woman into Formula 1 will be inevitable. But our responsibility is broader than that. It’s about creating structural change – and ensuring the most talented young female drivers have a genuine chance.”
It is, perhaps, no surprise that Britain is so well represented in the F1 Academy. It was 10 years ago that Motorsport UK joined forces with Wolff to introduce the Dare to be Different scheme, which has now evolved into Girls on Track, inspiring girls aged 8–18 to pursue career paths within the sport.
Motorsport UK has also introduced the Girls Karting Academy, offering those aged between 8–12 years old a taster experience at a local TeamSport venue – an initiative to empower females in motorsport supported by global luxury makeup, skincare and fragrance brand Charlotte Tilbury.
Further up the ladder, the UK’s most talented female racers have also benefited from membership of the Motorsport UK Academy, established to provide the country’s most talented young athletes, regardless of gender, with the opportunities to maximise their full potential. Just as with F1 2026, all five of the British contingent on this year’s F1 Academy grid have benefited from Motorsport UK Academy membership.
2026 F1 Academy Calendar
13–15 March — Shanghai, China
17–19 April — Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
22–24 May — Montreal, Canada
3–5 July — Silverstone, Great Britain
21–23 August — Zandvoort, Netherlands
23–25 October — Austin, United States
19–21 November — Las Vegas, United States
Click here to find out more about the Girls Karting Academy, here for the Girls on Track UK community Facebook page and here to join the Girls on Track UK mailing list.