New Faces of the F1 Academy: The Prema Rookies
- therookiereporters
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
The new season brought so many new faces to the grid. However, there are so many of them that some teams need to be filled with the newbies. In today’s article, we’ll get to know the rookies of Prema Racing.
Prema started its feeder series journey in 1983, and since the 1990s, it has been associated with success. Some may consider Prema like the Ferrari of the feeder series: with a long history of success, stumbles sometimes, but a prestigious team nonetheless. Drivers such as Pierre Gasly, Charles Leclerc, Mick Schumacher, and Oscar Piastri have become champions and made their way to F1 through Prema. The Italian team was one of the founding constructors of the F1 Academy in 2023 and has since become the undefeated constructors’ champions of the series. In two of those three years, they also managed to crown drivers’ champions: Marta Garcia in the inaugural season and, most recently, Doriane Pin in the 2025 season. Coming into this year, Prema ended up changing their entire driver line-up and put their faith into 3 rookies. So, let me introduce you to their new faces!
Mathilda Paatz
17-year-old Mathilda Paatz began racing in 2019. In her first 3 years, she competed in different categories of ADAC Kart Masters. After 3rd place finishes in the Mini and OK Junior series, she has been crowned champion of the Ladies Cup. During those years, she has been given the opportunity to represent Germany in the FIA Motorsports Games of 2022. The German driver switched to single-seaters in 2024 and claimed her maiden podium in the Formula 4 CEZ Championship the next season. In 2025, she was also the wildcard entry of the fourth round of F1 Academy in Montreal. As the #8 Gatorade driver, she retired in 2 races and came very close to finishing in points in the other one. For the 2026 season of the F1 Academy, #8 Mathilda Paatz returned to the grid with Aston Martin, taking the place of departing Tina Hausmann. In her first race weekend as a full-time driver, Paatz finished the Reverse Grid Race in 14th and Race 2 in 11th, just behind Ava Dobson.
Payton Westcott
Payton Westcott’s career, just like every other colleague of hers, started with karting at an early age. However, unlike any other driver on the grid today, her karting life went through a very special path. After her decent performances in her early racing days, she took part in the “Champions of the Future Academy Program” in 2024 and ended up being rewarded with a “Discover Your Drive” scholarship. Today, she’s the first and only driver in the F1 Academy grid who graduated from that particular program. Such success in her karting years opened the gates of single-seater racing in 2025. She competed in many F4 series last season and collected many class wins and podiums. In addition to those, she also took an overall pole position and victory in the UAE Trophy series, becoming the first female race winner of the series. The 16-year-old American driver was also one of the 7 drivers on the grid that took part in the 2025 Rookie Test. She scored the third fastest lap of the tests, which eventually led to her wildcard debut on the season finale at Las Vegas. Westcott became one of the 2 wildcards that scored points last season, after finishing in P6 at Race 1. This year, Mercedes gave her some big footsteps to fill in with her number 9 car and replaced their reigning champion Doriane Pin with the American. Despite the possible pressure of her place and opportunity, Westcott impressed in her debut at the Chinese GP. She scored a P6 finish and a podium on her full-time F1 Academy debut. With this result, she is currently sitting 4th in the championship standings with 18 points.
Natalia Granada
Born into a family of motorsport lovers, she entered karting with her brother, and now she’s making her own way through motorsports. Natalia Granada made her karting debut at 11-years old and quickly pawed her way from local competitions to the international ones. Iron Dames, an established all-female racing team, invested in her talent in 2023, making her their youngest ever member. Alongside the ART GP rookie Lisa Billard she’s one of the two Iron Dames representatives in the F1 Academy grid today. The young Spaniard had a chance to be professionally mentored by 24 Heures Du Mans winner and Ferrari factory driver, Miguel Molina, as well. In 2024, Granada made her GT and racing debut by taking part in the Ligier European Series with the Iron Dames. In the same year, she also found chances to test F4 cars. Like her teammate Payton Westcott, she participated in the F1 Academy Rookie Test at the Circuito de Navarra. She set the 7th fastest lap of the morning session and 8th of the afternoon part. The 18-year-old Spanish driver completed the 2026 grid the day before the season began at Shanghai, driving the #19 Sephora-liveried car. Despite her first full-time racing experience in an F4 spec car, Granada brought home the second-place trophy in the Reverse Grid Race. However, her second race didn’t go as well as the first one, as she broke her front wing in the opening lap and finished the race in 14th place. The Spaniard is now standing in 7th place in the drivers’ championship with the 8 points she gained from her debut podium.
In conclusion, Prema chose to defend their constructors’ championship title in F1 Academy with 3 fresh faces. The team has already secured 2 podiums in the season opener, and now, they’re sitting in 4th place in the championship with 26 points, equal with MP Motorsport. We’ll see in the upcoming rounds if their newbies will help them enough to retain the title and fight for more podiums or wins.
Article written by Emre Albas © Emre Albas 2026
