Interview
‘I'm really glad that I pushed myself last year to be on the grid’ – Bruce reveals expectations for her rookie season
For Megan Bruce, her rookie season in F1 ACADEMY is all about baby steps, with the 21-year-old focused on extracting small improvements in every area to reap the benefit of having a full-time seat.
Bruce had a somewhat unexpected debut in the Series as she was drafted in to replace the injured Aiva Anagnostiadis for Round 6 of the 2025 season in Singapore, just a few weeks after participating in the Rookie Test.
After placing P12 and P13 across the weekend, the Briton was announced as TAG Heuer’s 2026 driver and joined Campos Racing alongside second-year drivers Alisha Palmowski and Rafaela Ferreira.
“It's a big opportunity and I'm really glad that I pushed myself last year to be on the grid for this year,” Bruce said ahead of the opening round in Shanghai. “I think the Rookie Test was really good to prove ourselves and obviously that opportunity got me Singapore.
“Singapore was such a last-minute decision so it was pretty much just to learn as much as possible from the weekend – how it runs, the format, the races, and the media side.
“I think my goal this season is obviously just to keep improving. I've got good teammates which I can learn from because they're both second-year drivers so just to keep improving, learning off them, and to make the top eight each time because you've got to be within the reverse grid to have chances in both races for good points.
“Hopefully score some podiums and finish, I don't know, like top six or top eight in the Standings – that'd be good.”
Keeping her promise of building on her skills with each session, Bruce charged from P14 to P9 in the Shanghai Feature Race, helping Campos to become the only team to have all three of their drivers finish in the top 10.
Elaborating on her relationship with her teammates, she said: “We had one day in Bahrain testing with them just as a taster to see how they work. That was really good just to meet everyone and to see how Alisha and Rafa work as well.
“I think we've worked really well with them. We're all trying different things and it's been good progress. Campos have been really helpful with the sim and on track so yes, it’s exciting.”