After a 2 month-long break in the calendar, following the cancellation of the Saudia Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah, F1 Academy returned to action at Canada for Round 2 of the 2026 Championship.
Ella Stevens would make her debut at the circuit, being one of 6 Rookie’s who have never experience on-track action at this famously unforgiving circuit.
The McLaren Oxagon and Rodin Motorsport driver settled into things during Free Practice, finishing just outside the Top-10 in the only practice session they would get all weekend, before the first of three races.
Qualifying saw Ella once again regularly feature on the cusp of the Top-10, ultimately setting the 14th fastest time in Qualifying 1, just 0.3s off a top-ten spot. Her second fastest time was good enough for P12 – setting her grid positions for the two main races.
Race 1 on Saturday saw Ella start from P12 and made a great start, despite having to navigate around the almost stalled car of teammate Emma Felbermayer.
She would end the opening lap in P10 and immediately in the fight for the points.
Two laps later, Ella had moved herself into P9 and was straight onto the tail of the points-paying positions of the Top-8, before taking the P8 spot shortly after on Lap 4.
The battle would see Ella drop back down to P10, but she would give chase to her fellow McLaren teammate Ella Lloyd throughout the second half of the race.
Lap 12 saw Ella take advantage of the struggling Peyton Wescott infront, to move herself back into P9 – which she held to the chequered flag.
A penalty for a driver ahead later elevated Ella to P8, securing her maiden points finish in F1 Academy – in her second race weekend of the season.
Race 2 was the partially reversed-grid race, where Ella started from P14. She would hold position throughout the opening lap, before moving up to P13 one lap later – before the Safety Car was deployed.
Racing resumed on Lap 7, however Ella was under investigated for a Safety Car infringement – which sadly resulted in a stop-go penalty, taking her out of contention for the points after she emerged in P16 on lap 10.
A late-race second Safety Car did allow Ella to get back on the tail of the pack for a two-lap shootout, however she ran out of laps to advance further – crossing the finish line in P15.
The third and final race of the weekend, the Feature Race – took place under tricky wet conditions, with Ella starting from P14.
However she had a difficult start, hitting anti-stall which dropped her to tail of the field on the opening lap.
She immediately gained two places back, moving into P16 before the end of the opening lap- as everyone navigated into the unknown during their first laps in the wet around the circuit.
By half-distance as conditions began to form a dry-line, Ella has recovered back to P14 and was continuing the haul in her rivals infront.
She gained another position with 4 laps to go, eventually recovering to P12 at the chequered flag to round off the Montreal weekend.
Following the highs of her first points in F1 Academy, Ella heads to Silverstone for her ‘Home Race’ on the 3-5 July and the next round of the 2026 F1 Academy Championship.
