Natalia Granada remains focused on improving race pace despite topping the opening day of F1 Academy’s 2026 in-season test at Circuito de Navarra.
The PREMA Racing driver entered the test with renewed motivation after bouncing back from a DNF to claim her third top-four finish of the season in Zandvoort’s Feature Race. Granada kicked off Day 1 by going fourth-fastest in the morning session before setting a 1:46.906 in the afternoon to go quickest overall. She finished 0.187s ahead of title contender Emma Felbermayr, with Rachel Robertson completing the afternoon top three.
“Keep making steps forward”: Granada after topping the timesheets
Speaking about her opening-day result, the Sephora-backed driver credited her progress to her ability to adapt to changes in the car amid mixed weather conditions.
“We’ve made good steps forward during the day,” she began. “Also in the morning, improving on fresh tyres and then when we put new ones on this afternoon, managing to make more improvements.”
“We tried a few things with the car and I could adapt to it. Also, the wind has started to pick up a bit more. I think we have found something quite nice.”
Building on the improvement seen during the previous round at Zandvoort, she added: “Already in Zandvoort we made a step forward. It’s good that we can carry this momentum into testing, but it is only testing. So we just keep making steps forward. I’m focused on how I’m driving and my technique and that’s it.”
Preparing for unfamiliar circuits
Looking ahead, Granada will take on a new challenge in the final two rounds, racing at Austin and Las Vegas for the first time.
However, after gaining experience adapting to challenging track conditions at Zandvoort and now at Navarra, Granada believes the lessons learned can help her get up to speed quickly when she arrives at Austin on October 23.
“It’s something that all of us had the opportunity to practice in Zandvoort in Qualifying when the conditions were changing and adapting to everything,” she explained “It’s good to have more opportunities to be on track and try to switch on as fast as possible when we arrive at Austin next month.”
“It’ll be 40 minutes (for Free Practice) and then Qualifying, so we just need to get those small steps and that little extra confidence to be able to fight for some nice positions in Quali.”
Focusing on race pace
Granada has enjoyed a positive first season so far, scoring points in five of the nine races, while taking her career-best result of P2 during the opening Reverse Grid Race at Shanghai. She currently sits P9 in the Drivers’ Standings as the fourth-highest-placed rookie, with Mathilda Paatz, Megan Bruce, and Payton Westcott ahead of her.
Asked what she hopes to improve following the 2026 F1 Academy in-season test at Navarra, Granada highlighted race pace.
“There are things I need to improve definitely, especially on the long runs we did this afternoon. Keep maximizing the new tyres, which has been something difficult for me during this season.”
“Just keep making small steps forward, improving, doing a lot of laps, and working with the team to see what we can do and how we can prepare best for next month,” she concluded.
