Ella Stevens, one of 18 rookies who took part in the inaugural F1 Academy Rookie Test, made an immediate impact by becoming the only driver to dip into the 1:46s during the morning session.
Jumping into an F1 Academy car for the first time at the Circuito de Navarra, she quickly got up to speed and topped the timesheets. After steadily building laps, where she had 41 in total, a late-session burst of pace saw her clock a 1:46.921 — just seven tenths shy of Ella Lloyd’s benchmark from in-season testing on Day 2.
Stevens followed that up again in the afternoon in the F1 Academy Rookie Test, finishing within the top 3 behind Payton Westcott and Megan Bruce, with a time of 1:47.333.
“I’m very happy with how the test has gone. I wasn’t expecting to be this high on the timesheets and I’m really happy with how I did in my progress. I definitely made a big step from the last time I’ve been in an F4 car and I’m looking forward to getting in one again.”
Learning, adapting and improving on the horizon
In the morning session, Natalia Granada opened proceedings as the first rookie to set a time, but Bruce quickly eclipsed her benchmark within 15 minutes. Shortly after, race officials deployed a brief Red Flag when Annabelle Brian momentarily stopped at Turn 4.
Once the session resumed, Bruce and Stevens continued improving their laps until Brian ran into the gravel at Turn 13, triggering another Red Flag early in the second hour. After the interruption, Westcott set a new benchmark, but a further Red Flag came when Eva Dorrestijn went off at Turn 8. Westcott maintained the fastest times until the final eight minutes, when Stevens surged to the top of the timesheets, finishing 0.092 seconds ahead of Billard.
Stevens, recently crowned Vice-Champion in the British KZ2 Karting Championship, explained that she had to significantly adjust her driving style to suit the F1 Academy car in the Rookie Test. She highlighted that mastering the car’s technique was a key learning point, while also emphasising the importance of adapting to the changing track conditions.
“I want to use this test to go forward as a driver to hopefully prove what I can do and learn from everything to be ready for the next step.”
“The biggest thing I’ve learnt today is the technique with the car,” she explained. “Just getting used to the F1 ACADEMY car, learning all the brake shapes and the techniques that I need to be having.
“Some challenges I found on the day were adaptability with the track as it got quite hot. It got quite slidy and I just had to try my best to work around it.”
