Starting her weekend on a strong note by topping Free Practice, Alpine-backed Nina Gademan returns to her home circuit for the fourth round of the 2026 F1 Academy season at the Dutch GP, having won Race 1 at Zandvoort last year.
The circuit has proven to be a successful stomping ground for the Dutch driver, who became the first Wild Card entrant to score points in 2024 with a 4th-place finish in Race 1. That result stood as the highest finish for a Wild Card entry until Chiara Bättig’s impressive showing at Silverstone last month.
One year on, Gademan returns to her home race eager to build on her previous success and excited for the weekend ahead: “I’m so happy we’re racing at the last Dutch Grand Prix because it’s going to be such a good vibe. People are going to party and everyone’s going to be happy and it’s good to race on a weekend like that.”
“We had good results here last year and the year before. I’m quite confident that if we just get into the top six in Qualifying, which is our main goal, then we can have a really good weekend.”
Gademan reflects on her unforgettable Zandvoort win
Winning on home soil meant the world to Gademan, especially after enduring a difficult period that kept her sidelined from racing for a year and a half before making her return to single-seaters.
“I’m actually surprised I won that”, said Gademan, reflecting on her triumphant Zandvoort victory last year, despite enduring a difficult weekend that saw her sustain a wrist injury.
“Then in the end, I got saved by Maya [Weug] who was putting pressure on Lia. We had good pace apart from Turn 3, which is fixed now. Also, the field looks like it’s going to be stronger, it’s going to be tighter so I still have to put all the effort and energy into it to get a good result.”
“I’m going to be honest, if I win this year, I’m not going to cry. Trust me, I had a good reason for it. Normally, I don’t cry. I don’t cry on camera or here in the team, but I finally achieved something that I wanted to.”
She added: “It was hard to get here and I’ve had enough people telling me I couldn’t do it. All the stress came out and then I cried on the podium. At some point you can see me shaking my head like ‘oh god, why are you crying?”
“I’d rather have one win at Zandvoort than two wins spread across any other track. It’s the fans that are there. Last year, most of the fans stayed to watch the race. I spent two hours signing and taking photos with fans after the race. It’s quite an intense one for me, but I like it.”
Aims to close gap to Felbermayr as Gademan mounts serious title charge
Heading into the weekend 3rd in the Drivers’ Standings with 50 points, the Dutch driver looks to close the 28-point gap to Audi-backed Emma Felbermayr, who currently sits in 2nd.
“Our goal for this weekend is to close the gap to Emma.”, Gademan said. “Emma has been consistent and quick this year as well. I think our main focus is to be opening up the gap behind, because when I left Shanghai I was three points behind. Obviously I didn’t have a good weekend in Montreal and then I instantly dropped to P6.”
“Now I’ve got an 11-point gap [to P4], so it’s a little bit more of a breather in case you have a mechanical issue or something that’s out of your control.”
Although the championship lead remains out of reach, Gademan was startled to be excluded from the list of pre-season favourites for the 2026 F1 Academy title. The 22 year-old noted how many pre-season predicitions overlooked her chances, despite her 6th-place finish in her rookie season.
“Everyone left me out for some reason. Actually, I don’t really care if everyone’s wrong or if I’m good enough. As long as in the end I perform and I’m in the top three, I don’t really care.”
“I saw these title contenders. Everyone was like Alba [Larsen] — who was behind me in the Standings last year — then Alisha, Ella [Lloyd] and everyone except me. I thought whatever I don’t care, I’ll show you when I get there and I won the first race.”
Gademan: “The lowest goal we have is to stay in the top three”
She continued by acknowledging her realistic chances of remaining in the top three of the championship. While she admitted that Montreal was not her strongest round in terms of performance, Gademan sees no reason why she cannot close the gap to Felbermayr in the remaining rounds of the 2026 F1 Academy season, with the goal of moving ahead of the Audi-backed driver and finishing second in the championship.
“Montreal wasn’t the best weekend, so my title chances are kind of gone because Alisha is so strong. I can’t make that up in the second half of the season, but definitely our goal is to close the gap to Emma, so we can hopefully in the last round fight for P2.”
“The lowest goal we have is to stay in the top three. If I finish outside of the top three, I’m not going to leave F1 ACADEMY very happy.”
