Jade Jacquet discusses rookie F1 Academy season

Credit: F1

Ahead of F1 Academy’s debut at Silverstone, DIVEBOMB’S Teagan Crump sat down with Williams Academy driver Jade Jacquet to discuss the young racer’s career.

Jacquet first started karting in 2023 competing in rental karts; however it was her 2024 season that helped her to garner attention. She competed in the 2024 French Junior Karting Championship, and from there began the shift to single seaters. 

In 2025, the French driver stepped into the French F4 Championship where she achieved 12 top-20 finishes and claimed the Female Trophy at the Dijon-Prenois Circuit. Additionally, Jacquet had a best result of eleventh at the Circuit des 24 Heures.

At the end of 2025, Jacquet was chosen for the F1 Academy Rookie Test at Circuito de Navarra in Spain. She was seventh-fastest in the afternoon session and was announced as Williams’ selection for the all-female series.

This season, Jacquet is also racing in French F4 as a guest driver and has also participated in one round of F4 CEZ (Central and Eastern Europe) at the Red Bull Ring. 

Round 1 of F1 Academy saw the young rookie qualify in 13th position and finish the Reverse Grid Race 13th. In the Feature Race, Jacquet suffered from a non-finish after contact on Lap 6.

Jacquet qualified in 13th and 15th for Round 2 in Canada, which featured an extra race due to other race’s cancellations. In the Opening Race, she finished in 12th, she also finished 12th in the Reverse Grid Race and finished 13th in the Feature Race.

Since joining Williams, Jacquet has had invaluable opportunities. “I do a lot in the sim with Williams,” Jacquet said. “They have helped me a lot. I have grown up as a driver so much now.”

When asked what her average day working with Williams and ART GP was like, Jacquet said: “I do a lot of sim with Michael, my engineer. I also do a lot of sim with ART, my team in F1 Academy. I think before a race I do four or three days of sim to really prepare and to know the track and to have my reference points and be consistent also on track.”

The young French driver also opened up about her awe of the Shanghai F1 Academy media duties stating that she was “a bit impressed” due to the difference from karting and French F4.

“The most difficult part is to switch on - okay you need to focus on the driving and after you need to smile to the camera even if you had a bad session. To focus on driving then media and then refocus on driving. That was, in Shanghai, the most difficult thing for me.” Jacquet went on to say that she believed she was much more prepared ahead of Montréal.

DIVEBOMB was interested to learn how Jacquet trained mentally and physically for her maiden F1 Academy season. Jacquet shared her methods:

“I prepare a lot, I think I do sport everyday to train and with my psychologist I do a lot of preparation to be ready because I think the hardest part for me is the mental side, because you can be the best driver in the world but if you don’t have [the] mentality it’s complicated.”

Credit: AFP

“I think Race Two in Montréal was really frustrating.” Jacquet said when sharing a moment that she felt was frustrating from this season. The French driver was handed a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane. Prior to the penalty, she was in sixth place but was dropped down to 12th at the finish. 

“Those moments are frustrating because the results don’t show the pace that you had,” The Williams driver added. “But you just have to keep your head down and just focus on the next one because you work everyday and it’s okay to have ones like this.”

When asked about figures who have mentored her, Jacquet said:

“Jamie [Chadwick] helped me a lot.” Chadwick is an ambassador at Williams as well as a highly decorated racing driver, having won the W Series title three times. 

Looking to the future, Jacquet shared that she hoped to win a race. She also shared that this F1 Academy season was about learning ahead of a potential title fight in the 2027 season.