Feature

IN STATS: Felbermayr becomes F1 ACADEMY’s seventh different Drivers’ Standings leader

18 March 2026

If that season opener in Shanghai was anything to go by, we’re in for an unpredictable year. With Round 1 complete, here are 12 need-to-know numbers to recap the first weekend of the 2026 campaign…

Emma Felbermayr is the seventh different driver to lead the Standings in F1 ACADEMY history. The tally increased by two in China, as Nina Gademan briefly took the top spot after her Race 1 victory.
Race 2 saw the series’ youngest-ever podium: Felbermayr, Alisha Palmowski and Payton Westcott’s averaged 18 years, six months and 19 days. The previous best of 19 years, nine months and three days came in Jeddah Race 1 last year.
Palmowski became the 11th driver to take a pole position in Qualifying. Her pole margin of 0.403s was the largest in F1 ACADEMY since Maya Weug’s pole in Shanghai 12 months ago (0.497s).

Palmowski became the third Campos Racing driver to achieve a pole position

The top four all scored career-best Qualifying results. Alba Larsen secured her first front row start while Felbermayr qualified in the top five for the first time, although the Austrian has previously started in the top three on six occasions in reverse grid races, and Westcott was the highest-placed rookie in fourth.
Nina Gademan started on reverse grid pole for the fourth time. The Dutch driver has also led 24 out 26 reverse grid race laps at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Shanghai Race 1 marked the 18th time all cars have finished a race and only the second time since the grid expanded to 18 drivers. The only other previous occasion was in Jeddah Race 2 last year.
Westcott and Gatorade’s Lisa Billard spent the most laps in a single position across the weekend, totalling 16 laps apiece in P4 and P8, respectively.
Felbermayr was the only driver to finish inside the top three in both races, with her achieving Audi’s first podium and win at a Formula 1 weekend. That win is the first time she’s officially been classified on the podium in a main race, after being disqualified from third in Montreal Race 1 last season.

Four out of Gademan's five podiums have been achieved in reverse grid races

Four rookies made their F1 ACADEMY debut in Shanghai — Kaylee Countryman, Ella Stevens, Jade Jacquet and Natalia Granada, who competed in her first-ever single-seater race.
Following Granada and Westcott’s podiums, 22 drivers have now achieved silverware in the series.

Rafaela Ferreira’s fight for the podium in Race 1 marked the first time the Racing Bulls driver has completed a lap inside the top five in F1 ACADEMY. All three of her top-six finishes in the series have come in Shanghai (P5 in Race 1 last year, P4 in Race 1 and P6 in Race 2).
No other team matches Campos Racing’s consistency in Shanghai. They are the only squad to have all three of their drivers finish inside the points in Shanghai, a feat they’ve achieved three times — in both races last year and in Race 2 this season.