Academy Report: Jade makes F1 Academy debut in Shanghai

A weekend of learning and close racing as our young French racer makes her first F1 Academy appearance

Published

16 MAR 2026

Est. reading time

2 min

Jade Jacquet took her first competitive steps in F1 Academy this weekend as the championship opened its 2026 season at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Our 16-year-old French racer began her debut weekend with 13 laps in practice, with a best of 2:06.378 putting her P16 as she got up to speed around the 5.451km venue.

There was a clear step forward in qualifying later on Friday, improving steadily throughout the session and delivering a strong final lap to take P13 – her 2:05.325 was a little over a second off the pole time.

Saturday’s opening race saw Jade maintain her starting position through the early laps, before the Safety Car was deployed on lap 8.

Racing resumed one lap later, and Jade immediately seized an opportunity to move forward, passing Alba Larsen for P12.

On the grid ahead of her first race in the series

However, the position change was short-lived when Ella Stevens slipped back past later that same lap.

From there, she remained on the tail of a tightly contested midfield battle that stretched all the way up to fourth place, pulling away from those behind her.

Jade attempted a last-lap move on Megan Bruce at the turn 14 hairpin, but was unable to make it stick. She crossed the line P13, just seven seconds behind the podium finishers.

Sunday’s Race 2 unfortunately ended early for the Williams F1 Team Academy driver. An encouraging had seen her climb to P11 by the beginning of the second lap before Rachel Robertson executed a clean move at turn 11 to move ahead.

The battles continued throughout the tightly packed midfield, and Jade dropped to P14 at the hairpin on lap 3 as several cars traded positions in quick succession.

Jade’s race came to an end on lap 5 when she locked up under braking at the hairpin and collided with Esmee Kostermann.

Despite the setback, the Shanghai opener provided valuable experience for Jade as she began her first campaign in F1 Academy. The championship will return in May at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where Jade will look to build on the lessons from her debut weekend.

Jade joined the team in the garage Sunday's Grand Prix

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Academy Report: Jade makes F1 Academy debut in Shanghai

A weekend of learning and close racing as our young French racer makes her first F1 Academy appearance

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