Alisha Palmowski and Rafaela Ferreira, who both return from last year, will be joined by Britain’s Megan Bruce, the most recent addition to the Alzira-based outfit for the new season of the all-female championship
Campos Racing is pleased to announce the trio of drivers with which it will tackle the 2026 F1 Academy season, which gets underway this very weekend in China. Two drivers will continue with the team, Alisha Palmowski and Rafaela Ferreira, while the main new addition is Megan Bruce, who is preparing for what will be her first full season in the world’s leading all-female single-seater category.
Palmowski, born nineteen years ago in the English town of Glossop, will line up for a second consecutive season with Campos Racing. Palmowski will once again carry the colours of the Red Bull Racing Academy Programme and will start the year as one of the favourites for the title. The British driver began last season in spectacular fashion by winning one of the races held in Shanghai, and throughout the year she also secured three second-place finishes and one third. Those results allowed her to finish fifth in the drivers’ standings
Ferreira, meanwhile, is twenty years old and will also embark on her second campaign in F1 Academy. The driver from Santa Catarina, who will race with the colours of the Visa Cash App RB Academy on her car, showed strong progress towards the end of last season by consistently finishing in the points in the closing rounds, doing so in four of the final five races. She also recorded a top-five finish as the best result of her rookie campaign.
As mentioned, Bruce will be the new face in the Campos Racing driver line-up. Born in West Grinstead, in the heart of Britain’s West Sussex, she had her first taste of F1 Academy when she made an appearance in Singapore last year. The twenty-one-year-old will have the support of the prestigious watchmaker TAG Heuer, whose branding will feature on her car. Now entering her third year in single-seater competition, Bruce is also aiming for major achievements in 2026.
The season will begin this weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit as part of the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, followed by six further rounds: Jeddah (April 18–19), Montreal (May 23–24), Silverstone (July 4–5), Zandvoort (August 22–23), Austin (October 24–25) and the grand finale in Las Vegas (November 20–21).
Campos Racing’s objective will be to improve even further on the results achieved in 2025, when the team secured third and fifth place in the drivers’ standings and finished runner-up in the teams’ championship.
The Shanghai International Circuit, inaugurated in 2004, is one of the most important motorsport facilities in Asia. With a capacity for 200,000 spectators, it hosted the Chinese Grand Prix from 2004 to 2019 and again continuously from 2024 onwards. The 5.451-kilometre layout features sixteen corners, including some iconic sections such as the endless right-hander at the end of the main straight, as well as Turns 7 and 8, which put drivers’ physical condition to the test due to the high G-forces. In addition, the back straight from Turn 13 to Turn 14 is one of the longest on the calendar, comfortably exceeding one kilometre in length.
Due to the time difference with Europe, free practice will begin in the early hours of Friday at 02:10, with qualifying scheduled for 07:05. The first race will take place on Saturday at 06:45, while the second will start on Sunday at 03:40.
Adrián Campos (Team Principal of Campos Racing): “We are pleased to continue with Alisha and Rafaela in our team for the new F1 Academy season. At the same time, I would like to welcome Megan. She will be entering her third year in single-seaters and has a very bright future ahead in the category. Our goal is to be fighting for the titles again, and there is no better place to start than Shanghai, a circuit where we achieved a one-two finish in the first race last year and another podium in the second. We will try to continue along the same path in 2026 with the foundation we have, although we know that our rivals will once again be of an extremely high level.”
Rafaela Ferreira (Campos Racing F1 Academy Driver): “I have high expectations for my F1 Academy round in China. I feel ready and will be focused on doing a good job throughout the week. The idea is to make the most of every session to keep improving and fight for my first podium in the category.”
