Wild Card entrant Chiara Bättig made an immediate impression at the 2026 F1 Academy Silverstone round, with the 16 year-old Swiss driver topping the timesheets in Free Practice. The achievement marked a dream start to her debut weekend, as Bättig becomes the first Wild Card entrant in the series’ history to top a session.
Going to the top with a 2:02.640, more than two tenths clear of current championship leader Alisha Palmowski, the Wella-backed driver performance showed no signs of inexperience. Reflecting on her session, the Swiss driver said: “I’m happy to get a good start. There are still a lot of things that I have to improve.”
“It was my first time driving in this car, so it’s very different to what I’m used to. It’s heavier braking, the steering is heavier and there’s overall more grip in the tyre. I think it is a good step for a strong weekend.”
“It’s just maximising all the track. Maximising all the corner speed, especially through Maggotts and Becketts. There’s a lot of straights, you just need to prep everything very well and prepared early. There’s going to be a huge step in grip probably because the track is really dirty.”
Bättig: “Looking strong” ahead of Qualifying
With F1 Academy racing alongside F1, F2 and F3 this weekend, the track will be significantly more rubbered in by the time Qualifying gets underway at 18:00 local time later today.
Although the 2026 F1 Academy Silverstone round marks Bättig’s first weekend racing alongside the three major categories, she revealed that she had completed extensive simulator preparation to experience different grip levels ahead of the weekend.
“I can’t really tell you because I’ve never really driven with F2 or F3, but I surely expect that there’s going to be a higher grip. There’s going to be higher speeds overall and later braking. I did a lot of sim with grip changes to really get into it.”
“We had a good Free Practice. If we improve on the things we have to improve, I think we’ll be looking strong.”
With sights set on a strong Qualifying performance, Bättig could be one to watch later today as she targets becoming the first-ever Wild Card entrant to claim pole position.
