Emma Felbermayr secured a hard-fought podium in Race 1 of the 2026 F1 Academy Chinese GP, finishing third after a tense and action-packed reverse-grid contest. The Austrian remained in the mix throughout the race and navigated several battles and incidents, including contact with Alba Larsen that triggered a Safety Car period. After the restart, Felbermayr stayed within striking distance in the fight for the final podium position and ultimately emerged ahead in the closing laps to claim P3 behind Nina Gademan and rookie Natalia Granada.
Early clash with Larsen adds tension to Felbermayr’s Race 1 charge at F1 Academy Chinese GP
Felbermayr described the race as challenging, with the field closely matched in pace and few drivers making significant progress through the pack. She nevertheless felt confident in her own speed, particularly in certain sectors where the car allowed her to attempt overtakes. The contact with Larsen, however, briefly left her fearing her race was over and may have delayed some of her moves through the field, even though she ultimately recovered and secured the podium.
“It definitely was a tricky race. I feel like we were all more or less on the same level of pace. There was no one coming through the field or having a bad race because of the pace.”
“I feel like we were quite strong as well in some sectors, so we could do the overtakes. Unfortunately, (there was) the hit with Alba, I thought my race was over. Maybe I could have done all the moves a bit earlier without it, but anyways, lucky I came away from it.”
Sector 1 pace proves key for Felbermayr’s overtake
She explained that overtaking had been difficult for much of the race, as the gaps between the cars remained just unreachable. While her rival held the advantage in some parts of the circuit, she recognised that her own strength lay in the opening sector. By closing the gap there, she finally positioned herself close enough to attempt the move, which ultimately paid off.
“I’d never been as close to make the overtake (before). In some sections she was faster and some I was faster, but the distance was always too big. I knew where my strength was, which was Sector 1. I closed the gap there and it turned out good.”
Race 1 performance gives Felbermayr confidence against key rivals
Felbermayr also drew confidence from the pace she showed against her closest rivals in Race 1 of the F1 Academy 2026 Chinese GP. Having finished ahead of both Larsen and Alisha Palmowski, she felt assured about her speed in race conditions. While she acknowledged that their stronger qualifying performances could make future battles more difficult, she remained optimistic that the team could continue to build on the result and stay firmly in the fight.
“I was in front of Alba [Larsen] and Alisha [Palmowski] today and neither of them were faster than me. I’m quite confident with the speed. Obviously, it’s not going to be easier than today because they were faster in Qualifying than me. But from today, I think we can get the work done — the fight is on.”
