TAG Heuer’s Megan Bruce got her weekend off to a strong start at the second round of the 2026 F1 Academy season in Montreal, as the rookie broke into the top three by finishing third in Free Practice ahead of Qualifying later today. The British driver quickly found momentum throughout the session and ultimately ended 0.487s behind her experienced teammate Alisha Palmowski.
As this weekend marks her first visit to the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Bruce reflected on her session, expressing her love for the track and satisfaction with the progress she made over the forty-minute session.
“It was good progress throughout the session. It started out as very, very dusty, it was just about adapting each lap because it’s a narrow and new circuit, so it was about pushing the braking at each corner bit by bit.”
“I love the track! I was excited to come here before and then after driving around, I think it’s a really cool circuit. It’s bumpy, you’re close to the walls. It’s a really good track and it’s one of my favourites.”
Aiming to carry improvements into qualifying
“We were first out for our Free Practice so it was the dustiest its going to be,” she explained.
In between practice and qualifying, with Formula 1 and 2 sessions still to come, Bruce noted that significant track evolution could play an important role in qualifying. She also emphasised the importance of staying alert to any unexpected changes during the session later today.
Bruce said: “To have F1 and F2 out for two sessions each now, it’s probably going to be a completely different track. There’ll be a lot more grip, so it will be about adapting again.”
“We adapted well and learnt the circuit quickly in Free Practice, so as long as we keep those improvements going into Qualifying, then we can have a good one.”
“The key priority to improve on the track grip because that will be the biggest adaptation. Then obviously being consistent for those two laps because you can have one fast lap, but you need to be able to replicate it again. It’ll be about consistency but also building up to the grip.”
Bruce: “The aim is always to be in the top eight”
Having opted to run a low downforce setup during practice, the 21 year-old explained her decision and remains confident that her pace will be competitive heading into qualifying.
“The rear wing has been the biggest difference compared to what I was used to last year, I struggled a bit with it in China, but I thought we need to adapt and make it work at some point, so I wanted to start straight off in Practice with the lower rear wing.”
“If I can improve on that into Qualifying even more then it will be even better because we made good progress from Shanghai to Silverstone testing and then to here.”
After qualifying P14 in Shanghai, she will be hoping to improve on that result. With a top eight goal in mind, Bruce said a top five finish would define a successful end to Friday in Montreal.
She added: “The aim is always to be in the top eight because you need that for points across the whole weekend. Successful would be the top five because we’ve just shown we have the pace for the top three. I’d be happy with that.”
