McLaren-backed Ella Lloyd enjoyed a solid start to her 2026 F1 Academy season at the season opener in Shanghai, scoring points in both races. Returning to the grid for her second season, the 20 year-old entered the weekend with high expectations that weren’t entirely met.
Despite finishing 7th and 5th in Race 1 and 2 respectively, Lloyd felt that her Qualifying performance fell short of expectations, ending the session in 10th. Reflecting on her weekend, Lloyd said: “I think it obviously ended better than it started. Qualifying wasn’t really the best. We did have the pace in Qualifying but kind of didn’t really put it together, so a bit unfortunate.”
“The pace is there and obviously we made up places. We made some good overtakes and hopefully we can put it together for Qualifying wherever we end up next.”
While she highlighted the positives in the progress made through the field, Lloyd acknowledged that the pace is there to fight for strong results this year. The season opener proved successful for Rodin Motorsport, with Emma Felbermayr securing a double podium, Lloyd scoring points in both races and Ella Stevens enjoying a positive debut weekend.
Eyes on a strong comeback in Montreal
While Lloyd left the weekend with some regrets over her performance in Qualifying, she took positives from scoring points in both races and demonstrating the ability to fight through the field.
Lloyd said: “I think if I had a bit of a better Qualifying and started higher up then I could’ve probably challenged for a podium but it is what it is,”
“At the end of the day, I started where I started and I made as much progress as I could. I scored some points so that’s the main thing.”
Following the cancellation of the Saudi Arabian GP, the next F1 Academy round will take place at the end of May in Montreal. Heading into the second round of the 2026 F1 Academy season, Lloyd sits 6th in the Drivers’ Standings with 13 points. Eyeing a comeback and strong return to the venue where she scored a hat-trick of podiums last year, the 20 year-old aims to put it all together in Qualifying and replicate her success once again.
“Last year we had some good success [in Montreal] – we had three podiums so I’m excited to be back. Obviously I’m going to have to prepare like I did last year and just try to put everything together in Qualifying.”
