French F4 kicks off 2026 season with record-breaking number of female entries

The 2026 French Formula 4 Championship season opener at Nogaro is set to mark a historic milestone for junior single-seater racing, as the championship welcomes the highest number of female drivers ever entered in a Formula 4 grid worldwide. Here are the protagonists.

Photo credits: KSP Reportages

The 2026 French Formula 4 Championship season opener at Circuit Paul Armagnac in Nogaro is set to mark a historic milestone for junior single-seater racing, as the championship welcomes the highest number of female drivers ever entered in a Formula 4 grid worldwide.

A total of 10 female racers will take part in the traditional Easter Cup weekend, accounting for 31.25% of the 32-car field, the largest outright number of women ever competing together in a Formula 4 championship round. The record surpasses the previous benchmark set by the British Formula 4 round at Zandvoort in 2024, which featured eight female drivers on the grid.

While the highest percentage of female participation remains the 2026 Saudi F4 Championship finale, where women made up 57.1% of the grid, marking the first time female competitors outnumbered male drivers - Nogaro represents the highest global participation in absolute numbers at this level of single-seater racing.

Held at the Circuit Paul Armagnac, the Easter weekend event traditionally launches the FFSA national championships and serves as the curtain raiser for the French Formula 4 series, which has seen its grid notably expanding both in quality and numbers over the years, often featuring highly promising emerging talents in European junior formulas.

The 2026 grid features a diverse mix of experience, with six female returning drivers and four rookies, including three women embarking on their first full-time campaigns in formula racing. Notably, two drivers balancing dual programmes in F1 Academy will also compete at Nogaro to maximise track time and race preparation.

Photo credits: KSP Reportages

French driver Lisa Billard enters the season as one of the most closely watched talents on the grid. Already competing full-time in F1 Academy with ART Grand Prix, the 16-year-old made her single-seater debut in French F4 in 2024, contesting a partial campaign before returning for a full season in 2025. She scored two points, with a ninth-place finish at Spa-Francorchamps as her best result, and often battled within the top ten.

After a wildcard appearance in F1 Academy at Singapore in 2025, where she impressed with a stellar qualifying performance, Billard is returning full-time to the all-female series with support from Gatorade.

Also combining her programme with F1 Academy duties, where she represents Williams F1 at ART Grand Prix, Jade Jacquet, 16, made her French F4 debut in 2025 and showed strong progress throughout the season, achieving a best finish of P11 at the finale in Le Mans. Jacquet also ran solidly in the midfield all season, finishing inside the top 15 on five occasions. On her F1 Academy debut in Shanghai, Jacquet finished P13 in Race 1 before an unfortunate accident forced her retirement from Race 2.

Billard and Jacquet, however, will not take part in all rounds and therefore will not be eligible to score points in the Female Trophy.

Dutch racer Annabelle Brian, 18, returns to the series after making her single-seater debut in the French championship last year. Brian often impressed with strong recovery drives through the field and was consistently one of the biggest movers during races but was unlucky not to fully capitalise on her pace across several rounds. Her personal best result was P11 at Nogaro in 2025. With a solid karting résumé, she also continues to gain experience in karting competitions on home soil alongside her formula programme.

Also returning is Angelina Proenca, 16, formerly an Alpine Rac(H)er-supported driver like Billard. Proenca showed promising flashes of speed during her rookie season, achieving a best finish of P13 at Nogaro in Race 3. Despite several retirements affecting her campaign, she consistently ran inside the top 20 and frequently fought further up the field, aiming to improve consistency and convert potential into stronger results in 2026.

Moroccan driver Sofia Zanfari, 19, also enters her second season in single-seaters, building on her rookie experience from 2025. She reached the Female Trophy podium on a couple of occasions, including a class victory, and finished inside the overall top 20 three times. With extensive high-level karting experience, including participation in the Champions of the Future Academy programme, Zanfari targets further progression throughout the 2026 season.

Photo credits: KSP Reportages

Héloïse Goldberg, 17, from France, made her first single-seater starts in 2025 and focused on steadily reducing performance gaps. She finished twice inside the top 20, recording a best result of P20 at both Nogaro and Spa-Francorchamps. Her second season aims to build on those foundations and continue her development.

Italian driver Ginevra Panzeri, 16, arrives as no stranger to Formula 4 competitions, having contested the highly competitive E4 Championship last year as well as the Formula Winter Series over the winter in preparation for her next programme. She now begins her first season in French F4. In the Formula Winter Series, Panzeri scored points with an encouraging ninth-place finish at Estoril.

Austrian rookie Clara Stiebleichinger, 20, joins the championship after making her Formula 4 debut in the Indian F4 Championship, where she made her first competitive race starts at the end of 2025 and quickly demonstrated strong pace, regularly battling for top-five positions. A podium narrowly eluded her, but she achieved a personal best of fourth place at Madras alongside ten points-scoring finishes, accumulating 40 points to finish 11th in the standings. The Indian series also uses the Ligier F4 car, experience she will carry into the French championship.

Autumn Fisher, 17, from Canada, enters her third year in motorsport - and her first full season stepping up from karting to race cars. She previously competed in prestigious karting events such as the SKUSA SuperNationals and Winter Series, building strong national experience ahead of her transition to cars. Fisher was also selected for the inaugural F1 Academy Rookie Test in Navarra in 2025 and now embarks on her first full-time single-seater campaign.

Isabella Abreu is set to make history as the first Cuban driver to compete in Formula 4 globally. She moves to Europe for this major step in her racing career after competing in karting in the United States, followed by experience in Mazda Miata racing before progressing to formula cars in the Formula FARA series in Miami. French F4 represents a significant leap forward, with 2026 expected to be a learning-focused season.

With three races scheduled across the Easter weekend at Nogaro, the season opener signals a continued shift in the landscape of junior motorsport: as the lights go out for the first races of the year, in fact, the historic grid at Circuit Paul Armagnac reflects a new era in which female representation is expanding faster than ever before.