America driver Ava Dobson secures American Express F1 Academy seat for 2026

American driver Ava Dobson will represent American Express in the 2026 F1 Academy season.

The 17-year-old driver will enter her rookie season of the all-female racing series with Hitech and American Express after taking part as the Miami Wild Card driver in 2025. 

“I am really excited to be going with F1 ACADEMY this year with American Express,” Dobson said.

”I’m truly super honoured to be chosen to race in the series and having an amazing partnership with American Express. I can’t wait to continue to build off of that throughout the whole year and work really hard with the team, and with American Express to be the best we can be.”

Dobson made her single-seater debut in the Formula 4 United States championship in 2023 after receiving the Parella Motorsport Holdings Powering Diversity Scholarship. She has also gained experience racing in the GB4 Championship with Velocity Racing Development in 2024 before moving to Arden Motorsport for the 2025 season, as well as in the USF Juniors series.

American Express became an official partner of F1 Academy in April 2024 and has previously backed drivers including Nicole Havrda and Jessica Edgar.

F1 Academy continues to build opportunities for young female drivers. Recent successes from the Susie Wolff-led series include 2025 champion Doriane Pin securing a development driver position with the Mercedes Formula 1 team and 2024 champion Abbi Pulling taking part in the Formula E rookie practice session at the Miami ePrix.

The 2026 season of the championship will begin on 13-15 March in Shanghai, as part of the F1 Chinese Grand Prix weekend. Similar to 2025, the 2026 F1 Academy season will comprise seven rounds. This year, it will race in China, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Britain, the Netherlands, Austin and Las Vegas.