Feeder Series Weekly Recap: Injury replacements, women’s tests and more
- DIVEBOMB Motorsport
- Nov 5
- 4 min read
Written by Meghana Sree and Vyas Ponnuri
Welcome to Feeder Series Weekly Recap, a series bringing you all the news from the world of junior racing series. From F1 Academy completing its final in-season testing to an injury replacement announced, DIVEBOMB takes you through all the latest from the world of Feeder Series in the last week.
Aiva Anagnostiadis ruled out of Vegas round, replacement announced
After undergoing surgery on her left foot, F1 Academy TAG Heuer driver Aiva Anagnostiadis will be missing the final round of the season in Las Vegas.
Anagnostiadis did not participate in the Singapore round either, and at Las Vegas, the Australian driver will be replaced by 18-year-old Rachel Robertson in the Hitech TGR-operated car.
Robertson will make her F1 Academy debut at the last stop on the calendar, previously having been part of the F1 Academy Rookie Test back in September at the Circuito de Navarra.
The Scottish driver began her racing career only three years ago, but has rapidly climbed up the ranks, recently finishing third overall at the 2025 Radical Cup UK campaign.
F1 Academy completes in-season testing at Bahrain
F1 Academy’s in-season testing continued at the Bahrain International Circuit ahead of the 2025 season’s final round in Las Vegas, with championship contender Maya Weug going fastest during all six sessions spread across three days, from 28th to 30th October.
Setting an opening benchmark on Day 1 of 2:04.930, Weug chipped away and found more pace as the testing continued, recording a 2:04.150 on the final day.
No other driver came close to pipping Weug’s electric lap times, with current championship leader Doriane Pin adrift by two tenths on the opening day and giving up P2 to Alba Larsen on both Day 2 and 3.
As in-season testing concludes, drivers will be gearing up for the final showdown in Las Vegas, with both championship titles on the line.
Weug is currently just nine points behind Drivers’ standings leader Pin, and looks to be in the form of her life – having back-to-back Race 2 victories and the upper hand throughout the latest in-season testing.
The Dutch driver will be keen on carrying this momentum over to the final round, in hopes of challenging Pin for the title to round out both drivers’ final year in F1 Academy.
Feeder Series stars impress during women’s test in Valencia
Formula E recently concluded its second running of the all-women Formula E test, with drivers receiving a day’s worth of testing, up from just one session from pre-season testing at the Circuito del Jarama in 2024.
A total of 14 drivers took to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo on Friday, 31 October, for two sessions spanning three hours each. Several drivers from junior series across the world took part in this test, including F1 Academy’s Chloe Chambers (Mahindra Racing), Ella Lloyd (Envision Racing).
GB3 racers, and former F1 Academy champions Abbi Pulling and Marta García too returned to the Formula E test for their second year running, with Pulling turning up in her fourth test outing for Nissan. García took part in the test for Lola Yamaha ABT for the second year running.
Former F1 Academy racers such as Bianca Bustamante too drove in the test session for Cupra Kiro, while Nerea Martí took part in her second consecutive Formula E test for Andretti, and Jess Edgar returned to the testing scene with DS Penske.
Lindsay Brewer returned to open-wheel single-seaters for the first time since her Indy NXT exit in 2023, slotting in alongside Edgar at DS Penske, while young Japanese hotshot Juju Noda too joined Jamie Chadwick at Jaguar, turning eyeballs during the day’s testing.
The Formula E grid for the women’s test had shrunk from 19 drivers in 2024 to 14 in 2025, following the departure of McLaren from the championship, while the clash with F1 Academy’s in-season test at Bahrain also prevented several names from joining the all-electric racing series.
The day’s running saw several drivers banking in the laps, with the top spot closely contested between Chambers and Pulling. The former topped both Women’s Test sessions on the day, only solidifying Mahindra’s position towards the top of the testing ladder.
Lloyd too put in a solid day for Envision Racing, taking fifth in both sessions of running during the day, and setting 73 laps around Valencia along the way. The overall leader on laps would be Citroën Racing’s Tatiana Calderón, with 97 laps to her name, closely followed by Chadwick for Jaguar, on 92 laps.
The Colombian racer would have a brief off during the day’s running, though, scampering across the gravel on her morning session laps.
Envision Racing’s Development Driver Alice Powell would be the only driver to lose track time during the test, when a battery issue brought out a red flag, and led to a curtailed test session for Powell. She emerged on track during the final stages of the session, though, finishing fourth in the afternoon.
