American rookie Kaylee Countryman managed finishes of P17 and P16 across two races at Silverstone Circuit during Round 3 of the 2026 F1 Academy season, leaving the 16-year-old TGR Haas F1 Team driver 13th in the championship standings as she searches for a breakthrough.
Countryman opened the weekend P16 in the sole practice session with a best time of 2:04.316. Qualifying proved frustrating for the American, who briefly improved to P9 after pitting for fresh tires midway through the session but ultimately slipped to P17 as track conditions evolved and rivals found more pace. Her best qualifying lap was a 2:03.171.
“It was definitely a tough weekend and not what we were looking for,” Countryman said in a statement released by the Haas F1 Team. “From free practice it looked like the pace was okay. We were the first cars on track, so the circuit hadn’t been rubbered in, and I was struggling with oversteer throughout the session.”
In Saturday’s reverse grid race, Countryman showed sharp reflexes by avoiding the stalled car of MP Motorsport’s Esmee Kosterman on the grid and immediately gained a position. Kosterman fought back past the American on lap 4, however, and Countryman spent the remainder of the race unable to close the gap to the car ahead, finishing P17.
Sunday’s feature race followed a similar pattern. Countryman again avoided a stalled car on the grid, this time ART Grand Prix teammate Lisa Billard, and gained a spot at the start before dropping to P17 by the end of the opening lap. She climbed to P15 on lap 2 after navigating past an incident involving Rodin Motorsport’s Ella Stevens and Campos Racing’s Rafael Ferreria, but a safety car period halted her momentum. When racing resumed three laps later, Billard passed Countryman on the restart, pushing her back to P16 where she remained until the checkered flag.
“Qualifying was much later in the day after lots of cars had been on track, so the extra rubber on the track changed the conditions and created a clear peak in the tires,” Countryman explained. “My second run briefly put us P9, but we completed the lap a little too early in the session and gradually slipped down the order. But then, the tires were already past their peak, so I wasn’t able to improve after that.”
Countryman identified qualifying performance as the critical area for improvement heading into the second half of the season. “As we learned in Shanghai, qualifying is definitely the key area for us to focus on, and that’s what we’ll be looking into before the next round,” she said. “I’m looking forward to Zandvoort. The team has experience there and I’ll be doing plenty of preparation on the simulator ahead of the weekend.”
ART Grand Prix sits sixth in the teams’ standings after the Silverstone round. The F1 Academy season resumes at Zandvoort in the Netherlands for Round 4, scheduled for Aug. 21-23.