Red Bull has locked in two of its Academy prospects for another year, with Alisha Palmowski and Rafaela Ferreira both re-signing for the 2026 F1 Academy season as the all-female series wraps up its 2025 campaign under the lights in Las Vegas.
It’s a neat bit of timing. While the F1 Academy title fight is set to go down to the wire on the Strip — with Mercedes junior Doriane Pin holding a slim edge over Ferrari-backed Maya Weug heading into the double-header — Red Bull’s junior arm has moved early to keep continuity with two rookies who’ve shown clear upward curves.
Palmowski, representing the Red Bull Racing Pepe Jeans Academy Programme, sits fifth in the championship after announcing herself with a punchy win in the season opener in Shanghai back in March. Ferreira, running under the Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Academy Programme banner, banked her best result in the same Chinese weekend with a fifth place and currently holds 12th in the standings. Both have had the kind of season where the datapoints matter as much as the points: plenty of pace flashes, better execution as the year’s gone on, and fewer rough edges than when they started.
“I’m really excited to continue my F1 Academy journey with Red Bull Racing,” said Palmowski. “I’ve loved being part of the team this last year and can’t wait to continue working hard next season.”
Red Bull team leadership sees plenty more to come. “We’re very excited that Alisha will be continuing her journey in F1 Academy with Red Bull Racing,” said Laurent Mekies. “She has had a very promising rookie season and is going from strength to strength. She embodies the Red Bull spirit and is a fantastic flagbearer for Red Bull Racing in F1 Academy.”
On the VCARB side, Ferreira’s renewal lands with the same intent: year one to learn, year two to deliver. “Returning for another season in F1 Academy will give me the chance to further develop my skills as a driver and I’m honoured to represent the VCARB family in the series,” she said.
“Everyone at VCARB is thrilled to have Rafa represent our team for another season,” added Racing Bulls CEO Peter Bayer. “She has become a big part of our family over the last year, and both Alan [Permane, team principal] and I are excited to see how she continues to develop going into her second season.”
There’s also a strategic subtext here. With the series racing exclusively on the F1 bill and the driver market around Red Bull’s two F1 teams humming for 2026, keeping Palmowski and Ferreira in-house firms up the ladder while the top of the pyramid is still being shuffled. Red Bull is expected to confirm its 2026 F1 line-ups before the Abu Dhabi finale, with only World Champion Max Verstappen a lock for the senior team as things stand. Paddock chatter continues to point toward Isack Hadjar earning a promotion alongside Verstappen at Red Bull Racing after a strong 2025, while rising star Arvid Lindblad is strongly linked to a seat at VCARB. If that happens, it would likely put Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson head-to-head for the final VCARB drive.
It’s a delicate equation, not least with Honda departing the Red Bull camp at the end of this season ahead of its new technical partnership with Aston Martin, and with Red Bull launching its own Powertrains project in collaboration with Ford from 2026. The Academy announcements don’t solve any of that, of course, but they do underline how closely the broader Red Bull system is knitting its junior pathways to its future engine and team structure.
“ As a team, we’re delighted to keep Alisha and Rafa on board for next year,” said Sarah Harrington, who manages the Red Bull Academy Programme. “We’ve enjoyed some great moments with both of them this season, particularly their debuts in Shanghai. Both have continued to progress as the year has gone on, and we’re eager to see their development as second-year drivers in 2026.”
Before any of that, there’s still business to settle in Vegas. Pin and Weug will start nose-to-tail in fourth and fifth for the first race, while Red Bull-backed Chloe Chambers stuck it on pole in Thursday qualifying — a timely reminder that, in this paddock, form can swing fast under pressure.
For Red Bull, the message is straightforward: keep the pipeline flowing, keep the options open, and keep the wins coming — whether that’s Verstappen on Sundays or Palmowski and Ferreira sharpening their craft on F1 Academy’s big stage. The junior ladder is where the next decade gets built. Red Bull just poured a little more concrete.
