Jade Jacquet is entering her first season in F1 Academy this year as the new Williams-backed driver in the series. Ahead of the upcoming round at Silverstone, Jacquet sat down with Feeder Series to discuss how her season has gone so far, getting support from Williams, and the rookie test in September of last year that helped her score a seat on the grid.

By Kaylene Lau

After starting her single-seater career in French F4 last year, Jade Jacquet made the move to race in F1 Academy as one of the 11 rookies on this year’s grid. The 16-year-old Frenchwoman participated in the F1 Academy rookie test last September at the Circuito de Navarra, where her results helped her earn a place on this year’s grid. 

In her debut weekend at Shanghai, the ART Grand Prix driver finished 13th in the first race and retired from the second race after making contact with Esmee Kosterman on lap five. 

“In Shanghai, I was very stressed by all the things around [me]. Everything was new for me, and in quali I was tense,” she said to Feeder Series. “Although the weekend was not perfect, it was my first weekend in F1 Academy, so we didn’t expect anything. Now in Montréal, it was much better. I progressed a lot in the driving parts, and the result didn’t show all of the best the pace was, but I think [we] will progress a lot in Silverstone.” 

Jacquet described the Montréal weekend as ‘a good weekend of learning’. She finished 12th in both races one and two and took 13th in race three. 

“The quali was not that good, but the start was pretty good. My race two was very strong, but I took a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane,” the Williams junior reflected. “So very frustrating, but it’s okay. Race three was under the rain, and the start was very good. I think I won four positions at the start. Montréal was a very good weekend of learning.” 

The weekend at Montréal also saw the introduction of the opening race, an additional race held before the reverse-grid race on weekends with three races instead of two. This format will also be applied for the round in Austin later this year. Its introduction was due to the cancellation of the round at Jeddah, and the additional races will restore the calendar to 14 races. 

“It was so cool because it’s a lot of track time,” Jacquet said about the three-race format. “And it’s an insane track. So it was very cool, and just the thing was that the first race was at nine and the second race was at six, so it was a bit long between both races, but the format was really interesting.” 

In Montréal and Austin, the grid for the opening race is set by the drivers’ second-fastest times in qualifying, which on other weekends do not affect any race’s grid. For Montréal, however, Jacquet was carrying a five-place grid penalty from Shanghai, so the format twist didn’t influence her and the team’s approach to qualifying. 

“We were like, you only have to do one lap, because the first race would be to learn about how to manage the race or where you can overtake to prepare for race two and race three,” she said. Jacquet set the 15th-fastest second-best lap and started the opening race last with her penalty. 

Jacquet has also returned for a second season of French F4 this year alongside her F1 Academy campaign. Since the French championship doesn’t allow dual campaigns, she’s participating as a guest driver, ineligible to score points. 

To start the season, she finished 12th in the first race at Nogaro and retired from races two and three. In the second round at Dijon, she crossed the line 12th in the first race, 19th in the second and 20th in the third. 

“The quali was a bit tough because it was raining and the track was drying and the lap was made in the last two laps because we had a red flag,” Jacquet said about her qualifying in Dijon. “I didn’t manage all the traffic and I didn’t do a good job.

“I was starting P22 I think in all the races. I don’t remember every race, but I did a good job in the battles, and I did a lot of good overtakes, good starts, and that was really a good experience for the battles in F1 Academy.” (Jacquet started 27th in the third race and made up seven places.)

In French F4, the series uses the Mygale M21-F4 chassis, while F1 Academy uses the Tatuus F4-T421. Jacquet noted that she preferred the Tatuus but added that there wasn’t much difference in terms of the racing experience.

“The difference between the Mygale and the Tatuus is that the Mygale is much more understeery,” Jacquet noted. “For my driving, it’s better to have more oversteering, so I prefer to race with the Tatuus. But it’s an F4 car, so it doesn’t really change, and to do the French F4 it was very interesting. I’ve learnt a lot because we have a lot of track time.”

Jacquet was 24th in French F4 last year and the second-highest-placed female driver, behind her current teammate and compatriot Lisa Billard. Her results helped her become one of the 18 drivers selected to take part in the rookie test at the Circuito de Navarra last September. The test was run along with the official in-season test for the F1 Academy grid, and while there, Jacquet received advice from Lia Block, the 2024 and 2025 Williams-backed driver, over the two days. In the morning session, Jacquet was 11th fastest, and in the afternoon session, she was seventh fastest. 

“The rookie test was very good because I didn’t know the track, and the day was pretty cool because we only raced. I had Lia to give me advice and the engineer from ART, so it was a very good day,” Jacquet said. 

“I’ve learned a lot and I did a good job, so Williams wanted to choose to do the season with me. I think it’s a very good opportunity if you’re a driver and you want to show your driving.” 

Jacquet replaced Block as the Williams-backed driver after the American completed her two seasons in F1 Academy and returned to rallying. Jacquet said that she was ‘so happy’ to be part of the Williams F1 Team Driver Academy, overseen by Sven Smeets. She’ll compete at the team’s home round next weekend at Silverstone, where F1 Academy makes its first visit.

“It’s so cool because I can chat with people that have so much experience,” she said. “They combine me on the physical side, on the psychologist’s side, and I do a lot of things also with the engineers at Williams, and that’s very interesting for me because it’s developed my personality. I’m so happy to be with them.” 

Header photo credit courtesy of Atlassian Williams F1 Team