Haas-backed Kaylee Countryman enters her rookie F1 Academy in 2026, balancing a busy racing schedule as she continues to gain experience in single-seaters. As the youngest full-time driver on the grid at 16 years-old, she enters the 2026 season with a lot to learn.
At the season opener in Shanghai, the weekend proved challenging for the rookie, as an issue disrupted her qualifying and left her settling for P17. However, she made progress through the field in both races, finishing P16 in Race 1 and P13 in Race 2.
Having started racing at 12 years-old, the American continues to settle into life in single-seaters. To gain more exposure, on top of her 2026 F1 Academy campaign, Countryman will also balance her racing commitments, as she is set to contest in the USF2000 Championship.
Speaking about the opportunity, she said: “It feels amazing. I’ve never had this opportunity before, so this year I’m looking to make the best of it.”
“I think that seat time is always going to be valuable, which is the main reason why I’m going to be doing it back in the US. I think it’s going to be hard to go back and forth so much, but I think that with all the seat time that I’m going to be getting, it’s really going to prepare me for 2027 and my next years of racing.”
The importance of simulator preparation ahead of Montreal
Unlike Shanghai, where the 2026 F1 Academy grid experienced the track ahead of the weekend, the rookies head into the next round with no prior experience. Ahead of Montreal, Countryman highlighted the importance of simulator preparation and is grateful for the facilities at ART Grand Prix.
“Based on my previous campaigns, I did want to implement more sim training. Thankfully with F1 ACADEMY, ART has a great programme with their simulator, and I’m able to get practice for the F1 ACADEMY tracks, but not the same thing for USF.”
“Some of their tracks aren’t on the sim, so that’s also really going to teach me to adapt quickly. I think that’s going to be another area that I get to practice in, since I’ll be working on that style back in the US.”
Despite a tough start to her rookie season, Countryman—like the other rookies—has her sights set on becoming the highest-finishing rookie. She also aims to maximise any points-scoring opportunities and podiums in the near future.
“As any rookie would say, I think we want to win the Best Rookie of the Year award and just get as many points finishes as possible and try and sneak in a podium here or there.”
