Taking on her second season in F1 Academy, Rafaela Ferreira aims to build on her rookie year experiences and deliver a strong final campaign in the 2026 all-female championship.
In 2025, the Brazilian driver started the season off with promise after achieving a season-best result of P5 during the campaign opener in China. However, later throughout the year, inconsistency and costly rookie mistakes often left her behind with DNFs and penalties.
Now, as one of the six second-year drivers on the 2026 grid, Ferreira looks to improve by scoring her maiden podium and making a lasting mark before moving on to the next step in her career.
Ferreira on finding improvement in 2026
Looking ahead to the season, the Racing Bulls-backed driver shared:
“I’m really excited. I think it’s going to be a really good year because I’ve already done my first one. I would say my first year was all about learning everything – getting used to the Series, the car, the tyres, how to work with the team. I think the second year is the year we need to prove why we are here and do our best.”
She joined F1 Academy as one of the 10 2025 rookies on the grid. However, this year the rookies have notably outnumbered the second-year drivers, 11 to 6.
With this in mind, she continued: “For sure, if we have some rookies that are really fast, they’re going to be there to fight too, but I want to fight for the title. I think the goal this year is to get my first podium and my first win in F1 ACADEMY.”
“I think last year I made some mistakes that I’m really clear to not commit this year. I’ll use everything that I learned last year to prepare myself from the beginning of the year.”
Pressure and ease
The second-year drivers have all set their sights on maximising their final moments in the series to secure the 2026 F1 Academy title. Ferreira’s Campos Racing teammate Alisha Palmowski entered the season as a championship favorite, alongside fellow second-year competitors Ella Lloyd, Alba Larsen, Emma Felbermayr, and Nina Gademan.
Reflecting on the high expectations that these drivers carry, she said:
“I think we have a little bit more pressure, mainly because we have the rookies so we want to be faster than them, for sure. At the same time, I think everything is calmer – we arrive here and already know everything that’s going to happen.”
“It’s basically the same as last year so we’re already used to it. At the same time as we have the pressure, everything is easier, I would say.”
Having finished P12 in her rookie season with 18 points, Ferreira is already on track to exceed her rookie results. She kicked off Round 1 in Shanghai by claiming 13 points with a career-best P4 finish in the Reverse Grid Race, and a P6 result in the Feature Race.
With the 2026 F1 Academy Canadian GP up next, Ferreira will be one to watch as she hopes to build on her Shanghai momentum.
