Paatz wins her first race but chaos was the real story: F1 Academy Reverse Race Montreal 2026

Paatz takes her maiden victory — but had to wait for the stewards to make it official

Rafaela Ferreira crossed the line first, but it was Mathilda Paatz who took the win. A jump-start penalty handed to the Brazilian Campos Racing driver gifted the victory to the Prema driver backed by Aston Martin. Her first win in F1 Academy history. What a way to get it.

For the Reverse Race, the format placed the top eight qualifiers in reversed order at the front of the field. Kaylee Countryman started from pole after qualifying eighth-fastest, with Rafaela Ferreira alongside her on the front row. Larsen and Paatz occupied the second row, with Felbermayr, Bruce, Westcott and Palmowski completing the reversed top eight. Palmowski, who had won the Opening Race that same morning by 10 seconds, started from P8. The whole point of the format is to artificially level the field. It didn’t quite work out that way.

At the start, Ferreira made a clean getaway and led into Turn 1 with Countryman and Paatz slotting in behind. Felbermayr tried to go around the outside of Larsen at Turn 4, the battle resumed at Turn 9, contact was made, and Felbermayr ended up spinning. All within the opening laps.

Dobson and Robertson came to a stop on track, triggering the first safety car of the race. That’s also when the investigation into Ferreira’s start began the one that would ultimately define the result.

The chaos kept coming. On lap 12, Paatz made a move at the final chicane to pass Countryman for second. Behind them, Bruce and Palmowski collided, and Gademan tried to take avoiding action but ended up in the barriers. Gademan: DNF. A second safety car came out, and the time limit expired before a full restart was possible.

At the chequered flag, Ferreira led the pack across the line but with the penalty applied, Paatz claimed the victory, Larsen inherited second and Countryman completed the podium.

One thing that stands out: Palmowski finished P12 in a race that should theoretically have given her more opportunities to recover. Front wing damage from early contact with Larsen hurt her pace all race long, and the collision with Bruce closed off any realistic chance of scoring points. The reverse grid format is meant to be unpredictable. For Palmowski, it was just a bad afternoon.

The penalty handed Paatz her maiden F1 Academy victory and delivered Aston Martin their first-ever win in the series. A small but real milestone for a team that’s had a very difficult season in F1 itself.

On the championship front, the race reshuffled points but didn’t change the big picture. Palmowski still leads, and Sunday’s Feature Race is where the championship will really move.

F1 ACADEMY REVERSE GRID RACE CANADIAN GP 2026

Rafaela Ferreira crossed the finish line in P1 but received a penalty for a premature start. Provisional results.

Does the reverse grid format work for F1 Academy, or does it create too much artificial chaos? And can anyone stop Palmowski in Sunday’s Feature Race? Let us know in the comments.

Sources: Pit Debrief, Dive-Bomb, F1Academy.com, Motorsport Week