Emma Felbermayr left the 2026 F1 Academy Silverstone round with a double podium and retained her second place in the Drivers’ Standings. The weekend did not start as she would have wanted, with eighth in Qualifying leaving her with work to do. However, she relied on her racecraft to turn things around, claiming a lights-to-flag victory in the Reverse Grid Race before following it up with third place in the Feature Race.
Felbermayr remains the only driver on the grid to have scored points at every round of the 2026 F1 Academy season so far and leaves Silverstone second in the Drivers’ Standings.
Felbermayr reflects on her F1 Academy British GP Feature Race
Felbermayr was direct about what the Feature Race showed. The result was positive, but she was under no illusions about the performance gap to the drivers ahead.
“It was a good race. We had a great start and great first lap. Also the Safety Car was on point, so it was definitely a good comeback from where we started. P8 was tough and I would have liked to have finished even further up, but overall it was nice,” Felbermayr stated.
“Nothing really to say about the race, just that the pace was a bit poor. We couldn’t catch up or hold the gap to the two girls in front but at least I was P3.”
Felbermayr heads into summer break with confidence building
Felbermayr has been running a parallel campaign in Italian F4 alongside her F1 Academy commitments. She pointed to that additional seat time as something that has sharpened her across the year, with the improvements becoming more visible with each round.
“I’m going into the summer break confident. I have another Italian F4 round, which we are also seeing really good progress in. Obviously, I can’t do the whole championship, but the races are getting better and better, which I like to see.”
“We’re going to have an F1 ACADEMY test in Zandvoort, which is always helpful. Then relaxing a bit and enjoying also some time at home.”
Felbermayr eyes improvement at Zandvoort after Silverstone
Zandvoort arrives next, and Felbermayr knows it is a circuit she needs to tackle differently to last year. Her Qualifying performance at the track in 2025 was the weakest of her season. She believes her overall growth since then points towards a better outcome.
“Last year, we had good pace there, just Qualifying wasn’t good,” she admitted. “Overall, it’s a nice track where you can overtake.”
“I think I need to put a bit of preparation into it from last year. But in general, it’s been such a big improvement from last year in January to this year, so I’m confident that we are going to be faster,” Felbermayr concluded.
Heading into the break, Felbermayr has plenty to build on from the 2026 F1 Academy Silverstone round. The pace gap to Palmowski remains, but her consistency keeps her firmly in the title fight.
