Sephora-backed Natalia Granada rued a mixed 2026 F1 Academy Zandvoort round after retiring from the Reverse Grid Race and bouncing back to finish P4 in the Feature Race. Having qualified P3, the Spanish driver put herself in a prime position to secure a strong points haul. However, a mistake on Lap 2 of the Reverse Grid Race brought her race to a premature end after she found the barriers.
Although Granada missed out on the chance to claim her second F1 Academy podium in the Feature Race, she still walked away with valuable points to remain inside the top ten of the Drivers’ Standings.
Reflecting on her weekend, Granada said: “It was not an easy start. We struggled to get everything up to speed and we lost the position at the start, then time in the first opening laps, which were very difficult to recover.”
“Later on in the race we managed to recover maybe a little bit but not enough. Also, [we were] keeping Felbermayr behind during most of the race, so it’s not what we wanted.
“The lack of laps yesterday also limited us in knowledge and experience for today’s race, which is a shame from my side. I have to do better next time, so it’s a shame not to take a better result and more points from this weekend, but we are making steps forward.”
Granada: Silverstone marked “a big step forward”
While the fourth round of the season at Zandvoort did not quite match the highs of Granada’s debut in Shanghai, qualifying inside the top three marked another milestone for the Spanish driver.
“Right now, I’m just focused on what we can do better in testing in Navarra. Then what we can do in Austin. We can see that it’s a big step forward from Silverstone in terms of results and pace.”, Granada said as she looked ahead to the final rounds of the season.
She added: “We are really fighting for these positions during the season, so we just need to keep this momentum and learn everything we can. We are still analysing everything that happened and everything we want to improve on together as a team for next time. I need to do better and we will.”
“I’m very excited. I think it will be another big opportunity like it was here in Zandvoort, so I’m looking forward to it and grabbing it with two hands.”
Sitting 9th in the Drivers’ Standings with 35 points, Granada will hope to end her rookie campaign on a high when the 2026 F1 Academy season concludes with its final rounds in Austin and Las Vegas.
