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Here's the thing: the summer break is finally over, and F1 Academy is crashing right back into action at the not-so sunny seaside of Zandvoort. With the 2026 campaign pushing past its halfway mark, the stakes are simply massive. We have three rounds down and three to go, leaving a maximum of 143 points still up for grabs. Nobody's spot in the standings is safe as the calendar marches toward October's trip to Austin and the season finale under the bright lights of Las Vegas.
Now, let's talk about the newest Wild Card stepping into the fray. Zoe Florescu takes on the challenge in the #15 Dirt Is Good car. The Romanian driver beat out the likes of now full-time drivers Lisa Billard and Mathilda Paatz to win the 2022 FIA Girls on Track - Rising Stars junior shoot-out, scored top-10 times in the inaugural F1 ACADEMY Rookie Test last year, and stepped up to Spanish F4 this year with a best finish of P13. While Chiara Battig set a wildly high benchmark at Silverstone by becoming the series' youngest polesitter and first Wild Card to finish on the podium, Florescu is diving straight in without the prior circuit experience Battig enjoyed. If she breaks into the points here, it is a job well done.
Meanwhile, Alba Larsen desperately needs to end her podium drought. Touted as a pre-season title contender, the 17-year-old Ferrari Driver Academy racer is 22 races into her F1 ACADEMY journey without a single podium finish to show for it. She actually crossed the line third in the Reverse Grid Race in Montreal, but a post-race penalty for contact with Emma Felbermayr on the opening lap dropped her down to 11th. Sitting ninth in the standings and 84 points behind leader Alisha Palmowski is a tough pill to swallow. Thankfully, Zandvoort might just be her best chance at redemption. She achieved her first British F4 podium at the Dutch circuit and clocked the second-fastest time in two of the four sessions during in-season testing, giving her MP Motorsport team a fighting chance at their home venue.
At the sharp end of the championship, Emma Felbermayr and Nina Gademan are hunting down leader Alisha Palmowski. With seven races to go, the Red Bull-supported Palmowski sits on 108 points with a 30-point advantage over Felbermayr, while Gademan trails a further 28 points back. Palmowski already has three wins to her name and comfortably swept in-season testing. But Felbermayr represents a genuine threat as the only driver on the grid to finish inside the points in every single race so far, backed by Audi. Gademan also knows this track well, having become the first Wild Card to score points at Zandvoort in 2024 before delivering her first single-seater victory on home turf last season.
Qualifying will dictate everything. Six of the seven F1 ACADEMY races at Zandvoort have been won by the driver starting from the P1 spot. With the distinct likelihood of rain thrown into the mix, the sheer unpredictability of the weekend could blow the championship wide open and put Palmowski's lead on shaky ground.
