PREMA Racing sealed off its 2026 F1 Academy debut with two podium finishes at Shanghai International Circuit, collecting points and experience with its trio of rookie drivers.
In Race 1, Natalia Granada took off from the front row of the reverse top-8 grid and kept second place from lights to flag, while staying in close pursuit of the leader and waiting for a chance to attack. She eventually secured a brilliant podium at her very first race in single-seaters. In Race 2, the Spaniard suffered contact damage and dropped back early to finish in P14.
Payton Westcott delivered a hard-fought Race 2, starting from fourth and gaining one spot on lap 8. The American then mastered a safety-car restart to claim the final podium spot. In Race 1, she posted P6 to achieve three valuable points.
Mathilda Paatz faced an issue during her qualifying session but made gains in both races. The German provided the team with two solid races, achieving P14 despite a tricky start in Race 1 and ending up close to a points finish with P11 in Race 2.
With the cancellation of Round 2 in Saudi Arabia, F1 Academy will be back at the end of May in Montreal, Canada.
#8 - MATHILDA PAATZ
"The weekend was not perfect — starting from the issue in qualifying which was not very easy to recover from. In Race 1, it was a difficult start because we weren't comfortable with the procedure and stalled, but the second race went much better, even if we struggled a bit with the tyres in the end."
#9 - PAYTON WESTCOTT
"I think the whole weekend was quite consistent — we stayed around the same spot. Qualifying was very good, even better than expected, and I'm very proud of it. We made some mistakes in Race 1 but learned a lot and carried that into the second race to achieve a good result."
#19 - NATALIA GRANADA
"There is a lot to take and analyse from this weekend, especially from the races. In Race 1, the consistency, pace, and strength we had, and in Race 2, the racecraft, being in the middle of the pack. There is a lot to reflect on, but the pace was good, and we will be even stronger in Montreal."