Every junior single-seater driver wants to reach the top of the pyramid: Formula 1. Those who are part of driver academies have a much greater chance of doing so. This series explores the performances of driver academy members in 2025. Today, Feeder Series spotlights the Aston Martin Driver Academy and the Sauber Academy. 

By Kaylene Lau

Aston Martin officially launched their driver academy in June, with Mari Boya being their first signing. Jak Crawford and Tina Hausmann maintained their affiliations with the team this year, though they were part of separate programmes. The team’s most recent signing is Mathilda Paatz, who will replace Hausmann in Aston Martin’s colours next year in F1 Academy.

Sauber’s sole academy member, Emma Felbermayr, stepped up to single-seaters this year, finishing 10th in the F1 Academy championship. 

• Aston Martin Driver Academy 
  • Jak Crawford (F2, P2) 
  • Mari Boya (F3, P3) 
  • Tina Hausmann (F1 Academy, P8) 
• Sauber Academy
  • Emma Felbermayr (F1 Academy, P10; Eurocup-4, P27; Spanish F4, P29; British F4, P30*)   

Aston Martin Driver Academy 

Jak Crawford (F2, P2) 

Crawford remained with DAMS for his third season in the F2 championship, aiming to challenge for the title after achieving a fifth-place finish in 2024.

The American driver took his first podium of the season in the feature race at Jeddah and his first win in the sprint race at Imola one round later. Additional wins in Monaco, Silverstone and Baku alongside three further podiums helped Crawford stay in the title fight until the penultimate round at Lusail, where Leonardo Fornaroli secured the title. 

Heading into the season finale at Abu Dhabi, Crawford was in a three-way battle with Richard Verschoor and Luke Browning for second in the championship. Crawford secured second in the standings by finishing sixth in the sprint race and 10th in the feature race as Verschoor and Browning failed to score points. He ended the season with 175 points. 

Crawford participated in two FP1 sessions with Aston Martin this year at Mexico City and Yas Marina. He also drove for the team in the post-season Young Driver Test, again at Yas Marina. 

He is set to replace Felipe Drugovich, who is now racing in Formula E with Andretti, as Aston Martin’s test and reserve driver for the 2025–26 season. Crawford himself recently revealed that he turned down a Formula E seat for this season in the hope of securing an F1 race seat, though that has not yet materialised. 

Mari Boya (F3, P3) 

Boya joined the driver academy as a founding member late last year, though the announcement of the programme was only unveiled midway through 2025. By that point, the Spaniard was already well into his third season in the series and his second with Campos Racing. 

Although Boya started slowly, he found a rich vein of form when the series hit Europe. He took his first podium this season in the feature race at Monaco in round four. Another podium in the feature race at Austria followed by a stellar weekend at Silverstone, where he won the feature race, saw him climb up the standings to fourth. 

Boya finished in the top 10 in four of the last five races, with a second-place finish in Hungary the highlight of that period. Though he lost his title fight with Rafael Câmara in that race, he still ended the year with 116 points and a career-best third in the standings. He and teammates Nikola Tsolov and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak also helped Campos secure their first teams’ championship title in F3. 

Boya also raced in the FR World Cup in Macau this year with KCMG by Pinnacle Motorsport, finishing second in both the qualifying race and the main race. 

Next year, Boya will step up to F2 with Prema Racing, aided by a €200,000 scholarship from F3 for finishing third. 

Tina Hausmann (F1 Academy, P8) 

Hausmann remained with Prema for her second year in F1 Academy, partnering Doriane Pin and Nina Gademan. 

The Swiss driver scored her first points of the season in Jeddah, with sixth-place finishes in both the reverse-grid race and the feature race. Hausmann’s best weekend was at Montréal, where she took points finishes in every race. In particular, she finished fourth in the third race of that round, which marked her best finish of the season. 

She closed out the season with an eighth-place finish in Las Vegas in the final race, having failed to start the reverse-grid race the day before following a collision with Maya Weug on the formation lap. Hausmann finished eighth overall in the championship with 50 points. 

Hausmann departed F1 Academy following the conclusion of her second season, and it is unclear if she will remain with Aston Martin. Her plans for 2026 are currently unknown. 

Sauber Academy

Emma Felbermayr (F1 Academy, P10; Eurocup-4, P27; Spanish F4, P29; British F4, P30*)   

Felbermayr, the Sauber Academy’s only junior driver, contested her first year in single-seaters with Rodin Motorsport.

On her F1 Academy debut at Shanghai, she qualified seventh and lined up on the front row for the reverse-grid race but ultimately finished 11th after a collision with Hausmann. She scored her first points in the series in Sunday’s race, finishing fifth, before taking her maiden single-seater win in the second race at Montréal with a dramatic last-lap overtake on Gademan. The Austrian driver finished 10th overall in the standings.

Before her main F1 Academy campaign began, Felbermayr raced in the first two rounds of the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship. Her best finish was 13th in the third race at Jerez. That warmed her up for a season in Spanish F4, in which she finished 29th in the overall standings with a best finish of 13th at the final round in Barcelona.

She also raced in one round of British F4 this year at Zandvoort with Virtuosi Racing, with her best finish being 15th in the second race. 

Felbermayr’s plans for 2026 are currently unknown, but she is expected to continue in F1 Academy.

* Partial season

Header photo credit: Andy Hone / LAT Images