Hopping back into action to mark the beginning of the end of the 2026 F1 Academy season, the team returned to the Americas with a first stop in Austin, Texas, for the fifth penultimate round. Recapping MP Motorsport’s previous round in August, the team closed off an incredible weekend in Zandvoort where both Alba and Nina finished on the podium. Entering the United States of America, Nina sat in P3 and Alba not too far behind in P4, with the team in P3 overall. Nina started the weekend with a 17-point gap to Felbermayr in P2 and the team only 12 points behind Rodin Racing. Austin was a three-race weekend, providing plenty of opportunities to catch up in the points.
On Thursday at the Circuit of the Americas, the team took to the track for the first time of the weekend for Free Practice.
Both Nina and Alba had similar pace and timing in the session. During the opening segment, Nina snatched up the top time with a provisional best of 2:10.992, while Alba was close behind her with a provisional 2:11.294.
The battle for the top time continued to the end of the session, with Nina ending in P3 with her fastest time of 2:09.201, with a +0.2 gap to the fastest time, after completing a total of 15 laps during the session.
Following a solid push in the closing 15 minutes of the session, Alba finished in P6 with a +0.6 gap to the fastest with her fastest time of 2:09.612.
Finally, Esmee closed off the team's results, finishing with a fastest time of 2:09.957 to finish the practice session in P11.
Free Practice Results:
Following a promising practice session, Qualifying went underway not long after to determine the placements for Friday’s Opening race as well as Sunday’s Feature Race.
Thursday's Qualifying was fundamental for teams to secure the best conditions coming into the racing weekend. Track limits were a hot topic at the circuit, especially with both the first and second fastest lap times being crucial for both full-time races.
Due to being the first on-circuit race of the weekend, the conditions of the track were unfamiliar territory, due to no leftover rubber grip on track.
Starting off the session, the first couple of minutes were spent on banker laps. Once the drivers started their pushes, Alba jumped at the 21-minute mark to P2 and began chasing down championship leader Palmowski for the fastest time. Alba continued back and forth, producing competing lap times with Felbermayr before Westcott pushed her down the order.
However, coming out of the final five minutes, Alba had a great final set of laps to come out in P2 ahead of her teammate, initially. However, she dropped back to P4 with a fastest time of 2:08.348 behind her teammate before eventually qualifying P5.
Nina also had a good start and kept her fastest times throughout the session consistently in the top ten. She completed a fantastic final launch in the last couple of minutes and shot up to P2, before being overtaken by her teammate momentarily. To close qualifying, Nina came out with a flying lap of 2:08.229, which solidified a P3 finish for the session.
Finally, following a solid performance in the session, Esmee displayed improvement with a fastest produced time of 2:09.328 after completing 11 laps and finished Qualifying in P17.
With great pace and competitive nature in the early half of the weekend, the team looked in good shape for the races to come.
Qualifying Results:
To start, the Opening Race was determined by the second-fastest lap times from Qualifying, with Nina starting on row 2 in P3, Alba in P5, and Esmee in P14.
Both Nina and Alba's races were intertwined with the battle between the two for P2 and P3 persisting from lights to flags.
On the opening of the race, Nina attempted an overtake around the outside of Palmowski at the first corner; however, she stayed in P3, while Alba moved up to P4 ahead of Billard. Continuing, before the end of the first lap, Westcott in P2 dropped down the grid after going off track, which brought Nina to P2 and Alba to P3.
The following lap fell under the safety car after an incident between Robertson and Ferreira, with green-flagged racing recurring on lap 4.
Back to racing, Alba had a strong first sector and put Nina under pressure, where she pulled off a fantastic move around the outside and moved up to P2, while Nina dropped to P3.
Later on lap 6, Alba was fastest on track with a lap time of 2.08.771 and began closing in on Palmowski in the lead. The chase continued with Alba taking the tightest line on track and placing the leader under pressure to push her into a mistake.
Alba's overtake on her teammate earlier on in the race was under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. As a result, on lap 10 she was advised to give the position back to Nina.
Racing was delayed again after an incident involving Lloyd and Dobson, where a safety car remained out until the final lap.
On the restart, Alba let Nina through to P2. After giving the position back, Alba launched back into action and attempted to reclaim the position, pushing her teammate until the end of the race. However, Nina defended hard and finished in P2 with Alba in P3.
Esmee, on the other hand, started further down the grid in P14. On the launch, she jumped up three positions to P11, then on the following laps began chasing down Paatz and eventually snatched up P10 on lap 4. Following her climb, on the very next lap she attempted an overtake at turn 3 on Jacquet, which was initially unsuccessful but, after another attempt, she rose to claim P9. As the race continued, with two safety cars, Esmee displayed great strength on track and finished in P8.
Opening Race Results:
On the Saturday afternoon at the Circuit of the Americas, the Reverse Grid Race took place. The drivers took to the track for the second race of three of the penultimate weekend of F1 Academy.
For MP Motorsport, Alba started on row 2 in P4 with Nina behind her in P6 while Esmee started in P17.
Alba was aggressive on the start, eager and pushing for positions. She initially attempted an overtake on Billard, which did not come to fruition. However, Jacquet and Ferreira made contact, which aided Alba, who was on the ideal line to move up and snatch up the lead of the race. As a result of the incident, lap 2 fell under the safety car, with a restart held by Alba on lap 5. Alba had a phenomenal restart, immediately pulling away from Ferreira in P2. For the rest of the race, Alba was left unchallenged, only pulling away every lap, and even cleared a 3-second gap to Palmowski in P2 by lap 11.
Nina started in P6 and, by the safety car on lap 2, was able to move ahead of her championship rival, Felbermayr, to P5. Following the restart on lap 5, Nina and Felbermayr battled on track and experienced contact, which pushed Nina down to P8 behind both Felbermayr and Westcott. However, after Granada pitted on lap 7, Nina moved up to P7, overtook Westcott for P6, then, after Ferreira dropped to the back of the grid, moved back up to P5, where she finished the race.
Esmee started further back than her teammates, and following the incident out front involving Jacquet and Ferreira, which also took out Danielsson, Esmee moved up to P14. As the race progressed, when Granada pitted on lap 7, Esmee moved up to P13. Then, on the following lap, after an incident up front where Stevens drove off track, Esmee avoided the chaos and propelled up to P12. Finally, on the penultimate lap, Esmee pushed ahead of Ferreira to take P11, completing a solid 6-position climb for the Reverse Grid Race.
Reverse Grid Race Results:
Wrapping up the weekend of racing, the Final Feature Race went away on the Sunday with Nina in P3, Alba in P5, while Esmee started in P16.
Nina had a fantastic start and, in a phenomenal move, went around the outside at turn one, shot up ahead of the pack, and grabbed the lead of the race. Nina spent the rest of the race with a dominant lead and was practically left unchallenged, even pulling away immediately on a final-lap restart after a safety car, and crossed the line with another win under her belt.
On the other hand, Alba had phenomenal pace which was tragically interrupted by an incident. Alba on the start got her elbows out and launched to P4 in front of Granada. On the following lap, she pushed heavily and battled on track with Westcott to attempt to claim P3, and in the final sector of the lap, Alba was able to squeeze past Westcott and snatch up P3.
By lap 3, Alba was fastest on track and began to pick up incredible pace after she moved up to P3. She continued with her strong pace and attempted an overtake on Palmowski; however, she stayed in P3 but continued to push. By lap 8, Alba attempted again around the inside of Palmowski, and both battled and bumped wheel-to-wheel into lap 9, but Alba stayed in P3. On lap 10, Alba made an ambitious dive on the inside of Palmowski, where she was unable to overtake and, following the squabble, the two collided and damaged Alba's front left suspension, which unfortunately brought her incredible performance during the race to a premature end.
Esmee started near the back of the grid in P16 and was able to propel up two positions to P14 by the start of lap 2. Following, Esmee was then able to snatch up P13 off Ferreira before the end of the lap. She did not get much following action; however, after the incident involving Palmowski and Alba, she was promoted to P11. The safety car came in at the end of the 12th and penultimate lap, which allowed Esmee to pull off two overtakes, first on Stevens and later on Bruce, to finish the race in P9.
Feature Race Results:
The Austin weekend overall was a highlight for MP Motorsport, with both Nina and Alba on the podium for the Opening Race, followed by Alba taking her first-ever win in F1 Academy during the Reverse Grid Race, and concluding with Nina taking her third win in F1 Academy in the closing Feature Race.
With the performance produced by all the drivers during the weekend, MP Motorsport concluded the race at the Circuit of the Americas in contention to challenge for the teams' championship.
Following that, with her phenomenal drive, Nina pushed herself up to P2 in the drivers' championship ahead of the final race.
With only one more race to go, the F1 Academy season will conclude in Las Vegas for one showdown for the teams and second place in the drivers' championship in late November.
Drivers Standings after Round 5:
Team Standings after Round 5:
