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All to play for: How the race for the 2026 Teams’ title became a four-way fight
Campos Racing are leading the Teams’ Standings by 73 points with two rounds to go and could claim their first F1 ACADEMY title after the Feature Race in Austin. But if this season has so far been anything to go by, they are going to have a fight on their hands to do so.
Closest rivals Rodin Motorsport have a tough challenge to catch the leaders, while MP Motorsport are putting together a late challenge and reigning Champions PREMA Racing will be hoping their all-rookie trio can propel them to glory.
As the penultimate round of the 2026 season at the Circuit of the Americas draws closer, we’ve been taking a look back at how the Teams’ title fight has unfolded from the Shanghai season opener to Zandvoort and all the twists and turns in between.
ROUND 1 - SHANGHAI
In Qualifying, Alisha Palmowski took Campos Racing’s sixth pole position in the series, while also claiming her maiden pole position ahead of Alba Larsen and Emma Felbermayr.
Nina Gademan lined up on pole for the Reverse Grid Race for the fourth time in her F1 ACADEMY career, converting it to a comfortable lights-to-flag. Despite MP taking the first win of the season, it was PREMA Racing who led the Standings by one point after Natalia Granada secured P2 on her single-seater debut and Payton Westcott finished sixth.
After rounding out the podium, Emma Felbermayr’s streak continued as she took the Feature Race win. Larsen initially looked set for victory after snatching the lead from Palmowski off the line, until a mistake during the Safety Car restart sent her plummeting down the order, handing Rodin their first win of the season and 13th in the Series.
Palmowski managed to claim P2 for Campos, who were the only team to have all drivers finish inside the points with Rafaela Ferreira in P6 and Megan Bruce in P9. Payton Westcott rounded out the podium with PREMA’s second piece of silverware in Shanghai.
Felbermayr's Feature Race win pushed Rodin to the top of the Teams’ Standings on 44 points, holding a four-point advantage over Campos, with MP and PREMA a further 14 points behind.
ROUND 2 - MONTREAL
Three races at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve meant there were lots more points to play for, so it’s not surprising that the title fight took a dramatic turn in Canada.
Palmowski took both pole positions, going on to lead from start to finish in a dominant drive in the Opening Race. Posting the largest winning margin in F1 ACADEMY history, the Red Bull Racing driver crossed the line 10.1s clear of Bruce, with Campos Racing securing their first 1-2 finish of the season — and the first double podium by any team.
Recording a bumper haul of 56 points thanks to Ferreira’s fourth-place finish, the Spanish squad moved to the top of the Teams’ Standings. Rodin dropped to second after picking up just 13 points, widening the gap to 39 points. Notably, this marked the only time their trio have all scored points across the nine races.
In the Reverse Grid Race, an unfortunate five-second penalty for a false start from Ferreira cost her and Campos the win, promoting Mathilda Paatz to her first F1 ACADEMY victory and PREMA’s first win of the season.
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Kaylee Countryman finished P2, taking hers and ART Grand Prix’s first podium of the campaign, with Westcott in third. Campos could only extend their lead by three points after Bruce and Ferreira finished in P7 and P8. Rodin were pushed down to third, leapfrogged by PREMA thanks to Paatz and Westcott’s double podium.
Sunday morning showers left the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve slippery and cold, but that didn't stop Palmowski, who converted pole position into a dominant victory in the Feature. Beating Felbermayr by over 10.9s, the Briton broke her own record from the Opening Race. Bruce rounded out another double Campos Racing podium, despite losing out on P2 in the final stages.
Leaving Canada with 102 points out of a possible 145 and four podiums, Campos cemented their position at the top of the Teams’ Standings, leading with 142 to PREMA's 88, leaving Rodin a further eight points back in third.
ROUND 3 - SILVERSTONE
Round 3 saw another team steal the spotlight. Silverstone Wild Card driver Chiara Bättig not only topped the one and only Practice session but also delivered Hitech's first pole position since joining the series last year. The 16-year-old also became the first Wild Card to take pole and the youngest F1 ACADEMY driver to do so.
Crucially, Palmowski secured her spot on the front row ahead of Gatorade’s Lisa Billard and Hitech’s Ava Dobson and Rachel Robertson. There were mixed fortunes for the leading title contending teams, as Ella Lloyd and Felbermayr qualified in P6 and P8, with Gademan splitting the pair. Meanwhile, Bruce and Westcott could only manage to round out the top 10.
Starting on pole for the Reverse Grid Race, Felbermayr capitalised on her position, leading from start to finish to return to the top step of the podium. Rodin secured a double podium, with Lloyd finishing third, moving the New Zealand squad back into second in the Standings. Gademan split the pair, taking MP’s first podium since the opening race of the year.
Bättig started on pole but couldn't convert it into Hitech’s first Feature Race win after Palmowski overtook the Wella driver at the start to take her third win in three rounds. The 16-year-old had to settle for second, securing Hitech’s first podium of the series and the first-ever Wild Card podium. Felbermayr climbed from eighth to third, marking Rodin’s third podium of the weekend, while Gademan scored some crucial points in fourth.
Campos strengthened their hold on the top of the Teams’ Standings, gaining 32 points. Their 53-point advantage over Rodin was the largest gap at the halfway point in F1 ACADEMY history. Rodin came away with 41 points — as did Hitech — reasserting their place as Campos’ closest rivals, 27 points ahead of PREMA. The Italian squad which dropped into third after claiming only six points at Silverstone, courtesy of Granada’s P7 finish in the Feature Race.
ROUND 4 - ZANDVOORT
Palmowski left it until the last possible moment to take control of the timesheet in Qualifying, after navigating two Red Flags, a trip into the gravel and wet conditions. Her 1:40.911 put her ahead of Larsen by 0.864s, with the Ferrari driver and MP making it on to the front row for the first time since Shanghai.
After Zoe Florescu was disqualified from the session for a technical infringement, Bruce and Westcott were promoted. with the Mercedes driver starting on Reverse Grid Race pole. Surviving the start and two Safety Car restarts, Westcott took her first-ever F1 ACADEMY race win.
However, MP were the big winners. Larsen gained five places to achieve her first F1 ACADEMY podium in second and Gademan secured a double podium in third. Teammate Esmee Kosterman finished fourth, picking up her first points of the season.
Meanwhile, both Campos and Rodin suffered setbacks. Title rivals Palmowski and Felbermayr both failed to score, while Bruce was unable to capitalise on her P2 start and dropped to P7.
Palmowski was once again untouchable in the Feature Race, fending off Larsen to win by 2.7s. It was another double podium for MP as Larsen claimed her second podium of the weekend in second and Gademan rounded out her and the team’s home weekend in third.
Picking up another 38 points in Zandvoort, Campos extended their lead, sitting on 212 points compared to 139 for Rodin in second. MP picked up 53 points, overtaking PREMA for third in the Teams’ Standings, with just 12 points separating second and third place going into Austin.
WHAT THIS MEANS?
Campos are on the cusp of claiming their first F1 ACADEMY Teams’ title. Holding a 73-point advantage over nearest rivals Rodin, they need a margin of 86 points or more to wrap it up at the Circuit of the Americas.
How the Drivers’ title battle plays out will have a huge knock-on effect on their teams. Campos and Palmowski are the ones to beat, while Rodin’s hopes rest on Felbermayr having her strongest weekend in the series yet. MP have both Gademan and Larsen in the fight, both sitting inside the top four, while fifth-placed Westcott leads PREMA’s charge in the Top Rookie fight.
With a maximum of 231 points on offer for the final two rounds, who will be crowned the 2026 F1 ACADEMY Teams’ Champions is still anyone’s game…