F1 ACADEMY: Gademan in full control to take Race 1 victory in Shanghai

Nina Gademan dominated the opening race of the 2026 F1 ACADEMY season, leading every lap from reverse grid pole to take her second win in the all-female series.

The Alpine driver pulled off a comfortable drive, keeping a steady one second buffer throughout the opening stages and was untroubled by a Safety Car restart with four laps remaining on her way to victory.

It was a debut to remember for Natalia Granada, as the Sephora driver pulled off a mature drive to finish second in her first single-seater race.

Emma Felbermayr made two late overtakes, dispatching Payton Westcott and Rafaela Ferreira to take Audi’s first podium in P3.

The Austrian driver narrowly avoided an early end to her race after Ferrari’s Alba Larsen clipped the back of Felbermayr’s car in an overly optimistic move at Turn 3 for fifth. While Felbermayr avoided damage, Larsen was left with a broken front wing and eventually had to pit, dropping her to last place.

Ferreira delivered a career-best finish in fourth ahead of Alisha Palmowski. Westcott, Ella Lloyd and Lisa Billard rounded out the top eight points scorers.

Palmowski will line up on pole for the first time on Sunday, with Race 2 getting underway at 1040 local time (UTC+8). For an in-depth report of Race 1 in Shanghai, you can head to the official F1 ACADEMY website here.