Emma Felbermayr claims Shanghai feature race victory and F1 Academy championship lead
- RACERS
- 2 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Emma Felbermayr secured her second F1 Academy win in a thrilling feature race at Shanghai, fending off Alisha Palmowski to give Audi its first victory in the series and emerging as the early 2026 championship leader.
Emma Felbermayr took her second career victory in F1 Academy after an action-packed feature race at the Shanghai International Circuit, holding off Alisha Palmowski to secure Audi’s first win in the all-female series and take the early championship lead.
The fourth season of the all-female F1 Academy championship kicked off on Saturday with the reverse-grid race, where Dutchwoman Nina Gademan, supported by Alpine, took a lights-to-flag victory to redeem last year’s race, when she had led unchallenged until a technical issue denied her the win.
As the series returned to Shanghai, Gademan was flawless in claiming her second career victory, despite sustaining pressure throughout the race from Catalan rookie Natalia Granada, who made a remarkable first ever start in single-seaters.
Pole winner Alisha Palmowski, who had dominated both practice and qualifying with a half-second margin over her rivals, started eighth and managed a smart recovery drive to finish fifth on Saturday; she therefore lined up on the front row for Sunday’s feature race alongside new Ferrari driver Alba Larsen, whose unlucky Race 1 ended at the back after contact broke her front wing, leaving her seeking redemption.
After securing a podium from sixth on Saturday, Emma Felbermayr would start third, alongside Payton Westcott on the second row.
Cooler temperatures greeted the field on Sunday morning under cloudier skies. When the lights went out, it was a tricky start for Palmowski, as Alba Larsen fired into the lead while Felbermayr also moved through into second. The Audi driver briefly locked up at Turn 6 but managed to retain the position.
Race 1 winner Gademan was immediately on the move, climbing from eighth to sixth. As the early championship contender passed Rafaela Ferreira at the hairpin on the opening lap, Natalia Granada attempted to follow through but made contact with Ferreira, damaging the front wing. The Prema rookie was therefore forced to pit for a new nosecone.
Ella Lloyd was also progressing, moving up to sixth from tenth, while Rachel Robertson passed Jade Jacquet with a late but clean move.
At the front, Felbermayr was among the fastest drivers, while Palmowski attempted to reclaim second with Westcott also joining the battle. After a three-wide moment into Turn 1, positions remained unchanged, allowing Alba Larsen to extend her advantage to two seconds after three laps.
Positions then settled, with Lloyd setting the fastest lap and closing in on Gademan for fifth, although the Dutch driver defended well.
Fastest laps continued to change hands as Felbermayr set a 2:05.539 while trying to remain within reach of Larsen and keep Palmowski behind.
Larsen’s escape however ended on Lap 5 when rookie Jade Jacquet misjudged her braking at the hairpin and collected Esmee Kosterman, striking the rear of the LEGO-sponsored MP Motorsport car and eliminating both drivers from the race. The safety car was deployed.
Racing resumed at the end of Lap 8: Larsen initially made a strong restart but carried too much speed into the final corner and ran into the gravel, dropping outside the top eight. In a race-defining moment, Felbermayr, Palmowski, and Westcott moved into the top three.
Megan Bruce attempted a move on Larsen, who managed to hold position, while Rachel Robertson also ran through the gravel after losing a duel with Mathilda Paatz, who climbed to P11 in an solid recovery drive.
On the following lap, Robertson went for a late move on Shi Wei but made contact at Turn 14, eliminating the Chinese wildcard entry, who had been making steady progress. Robertson pitted and was herself out of the race.
At the front, Felbermayr and Palmowski ran closely together, separated by less than half a second as the race remained green. Tyre degradation began to play a role and, as the leaders entered the final lap, Palmowski was now applying intense pressure.
Felbermayr however defended hard into the hairpin, held her line, and crossed the finish line to claim her second F1 Academy victory - and Audi’s first win in its debut weekend in the all-female series.
Alisha Palmowski secured a strong second place, adding the fastest lap to collect a valuable points haul.
Payton Westcott finished third to claim her first podium in her full-time debut weekend, ahead of Nina Gademan and Ella Lloyd. After finishing fourth - her personal best to date - on Saturday, Rafaela Ferreira was sixth, while Lisa Billard returned to the points in seventh. Alba Larsen salvaged an eighth place, Megan Bruce finished ninth for her first top-ten result, and Ava Dobson rounded out the top ten to score her first points.
Mathilda Paatz overcame a difficult qualifying session, where a technical issue left her down the order, to recover to P11 ahead of Ella Stevens, Kaylee Countryman, and Natalia Granada.
After climbing from sixth to a podium finish in the reverse-grid race, Emma Felbermayr returned to the rostrum - this time on the top step - to receive the trophy from 2025 champion Doriane Pin and leaves Shanghai as the new championship leader, concluding a thrilling opening F1 Academy weekend of the 2026 season.
With the second round in Jeddah cancelled in April, the second F1 Academy round is now scheduled for 23-24 May at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal Canada.
