Nina Gademan wins F1 Academy Race 1 in Shanghai

Nina Gademan charged to victory from reverse-grid pole as Natalia Granada crossed the line in second on her F1 Academy debut, while Emma Felbermayr bagged third place after an intense battle for the final podium spot.

Credit: F1 Academy

As it Happened

The first reverse-grid race of the season began with Nina Gademan on pole, much like last year’s season-opening race at the same venue. As the lights went out, Gademan had a rapid launch off the grid, while rookie Natalia Granada held on to second place in her first ever single-seater race.

Meanwhile, Lisa Billard who had started in third dropped down the order, a slow start leading her to fall behind Alisha Palmowski in seventh. Elsewhere, McLaren’s Ella Lloyd went on the defence against Ava Dobson and Megan Bruce, the more experienced driver hanging on to ninth. 

Ahead of Lloyd and Billard in eighth, Palmowski had begun to chase down Ferrari’s Alba Larsen for sixth. Another battle on the track was gaining steam, this one between Dobson, Rachel Robertson and Jade Jaquet — Robertson’s race engineer prompting her to “not play nice” over the radio.

Larsen and Palmowski continued to go wheel-to-wheel, the Ferrari driver going elbows out against the championship leader. On Lap 5, the top five was occupied by Gademan in the lead, followed by Granada, Rafaela Ferreira, Payton Westcott and Emma Felbermayr.

Ferreira and Westcott were now trading blows for the final podium spot, while further down, Lloyd began chasing Billard for eighth, the final points-scoring position.

Down in the pits, Mathilda Paatz had to come in for a front-wing change after a tussle with Wild Card Driver Shi Wei, a disappointing run for the Aston Martin driver after issues in qualifying too.

Ahead in sixth, Larsen had a dicey moment with Felbermayr as she attempted to pass the Audi driver, leaving her front-wing clipped which eventually broke off — prompting a Safety Car as Larsen dropped down to ninth.

Larsen elected to stay out on track without the front-wing, as the Safety Car pulled in on Lap 8. Gademan had a tidy restart, while further behind, Larsen skidded through the gravel and lost more positions on track, and was eventually called into the pits for damage repair.

Gademan was now facing pressure from rookie driver Granada for the win, while just behind the top two, Ferreira, Felbermayr and Westcott were engaged in a fierce battle to decide the podium order.

Westcott however went in too deep while attempting to pass Felbermayr, going wide and dropping down to sixth. 

Another three-car battle was being fought between Robertson, Dobson and Ella Stevens, Robertson and Dobson continuing to pass and re-pass each other all the way through.

In the lead, Granada had cooled down her chase for the win, allowing Gademan some room to breathe as she cruised nine tenths ahead of the Sephora-backed driver. Now on the penultimate lap, Ferreira held on to third from Felbermayr but the following lap, the Audi driver swiftly passed the Racing Bulls driver for the final podium spot.

Ferreira now fell into the clutches of Palmowski, a heart-in-mouth moment coming on late in the race as Palmowski almost jammed into Ferreira after a lock-up. 

The final lap saw Gademan cruise to her second F1 Academy victory, following a home Race 1 win last year in Zandvoort, as Granada finished second on her series debut followed by Felbermayr.

Ferreira and Palmowski completed the top five, while Westcott, Lloyd and Billard rounded out the top eight points-scorers.

Looking Ahead

Sunday's Race 2 will begin at 02:40 GMT, with Palmowski starting from her maiden F1 Academy pole, joined by Alba Larsen on the front row. Larsen will have another chance to score points this weekend after a disappointing Race 1, while Felbermayr lining up third will be eyeing a second podium in Shanghai.