Williams have develop into the newest crew to substantiate their 2026 F1 ACADEMY driver, with the crew signing 16-year-old Jade Jacquet for subsequent season.
Jacquet began out in worldwide karting in 2023, earlier than competing within the French Junior Karting Championship the subsequent yr. Stepping as much as single-seaters at 15, she scored a number of top-20 finishes throughout the 2025 French F4 season, together with a P11 end on the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans. As well as, she claimed the Feminine Trophy on the Dijon-Prenois circuit.
The French racer additionally participated within the inaugural F1 ACADEMY Rookie Test, clocking within the seventh-fastest time of the afternoon. Competing with ART Grand Prix subsequent yr, Jacquet can even be a part of the Williams Racing Driver Academy, working carefully with the crew at Grove with entry to the total spectrum of Academy assist.
“I’m tremendous excited to be becoming a member of the Williams Racing Driver Academy and F1 ACADEMY for the 2026 season,” stated Jacquet. “The crew has been very welcoming and I’m trying ahead to working with them to study as a lot as I can all through my debut season. Thanks to Atlassian Williams Racing for believing in me and I can’t wait to get on monitor.”
Sven Smeets, Sporting Director at Atlassian Williams Racing, added: “We’re proud to welcome Jade to our crew as our Atlassian Williams Racing driver in F1 ACADEMY. Jade has made speedy progress in her motorsport profession and has sturdy potential for the long run, already demonstrating her potential to study and adapt in her transition to single seaters.
“As a member of the Williams Racing Driver Academy, we’ll be working carefully along with her to nurture her growth each on and off the monitor. As a crew, we proceed to assist Formulation 1 and F1 ACADEMY’s shared mission to advance feminine illustration in motorsport and sit up for seeing Jade begin her 2026 marketing campaign.”
