Kaylee Countryman reflects on a challenging Dutch Grand Prix
August 28, 2026
F1 Academy returned to track for the first time since the British Grand Prix, with TGR Haas F1 Team driver Kaylee Countryman eager for a solid weekend after a tough outing in Silverstone. The 16-year-old summarizes the Dutch Grand Prix in her own words, from managing changeable weather conditions, working on her mindset, while also sharing excitement for her next home race at COTA (Circuit of The Americas).
“Overall, it was an okay weekend – it was better than Silverstone – but still not as good as Montreal, so we're still trying to find out how to be as good as we were there. In free practice, it was not really a fair estimate of anybody's speed because I think we all had only four laps, and you’re still getting in the groove of things.
“Qualifying was very, very mixed conditions and we started on wets. We were the first to go to slicks, and immediately after, a red flag came out on my warm-up lap. We went out again, and another red flag, and on the last two laps, where the track was actually getting quite dry, I went wide at Turn 3 on the first lap, and on the second lap, I was impeded heavily. We were starting from P12, which obviously could’ve been better, but we also weren’t last, so I took positives from a very tricky session.
“The first race was okay, we moved up through the field and tried to stay out of the chaos. We struggled to find our overall pace in the second race, as in sector one it was really strong, but the aero wash was really difficult to manage, and it was really difficult to work around the situations that I was in. I got hit a little bit in Turn 3 one lap, and then lost momentum going up into Turn 7. There were other drivers just trying to slip through and it was really hard, even though I had better pace than the people in front of me, it was difficult to actually get around them, especially around Zandvoort.
“We can take the positives from the weekend, as even though we knew that there was more in it for sure, I think if we just had maybe more than four laps in free practice, then it could’ve been better. In this next break, we have the test at Navarra in Spain, which is for the F1 Academy rookie test, so I’m back home in the US prepping for that, doing some sim work. I will go over a few days early to go and do the sim in the UK because that's what works with my schedule, and then straight to Spain from there.
“I'm really making sure that my mindset is right for all these events. I’m always looking to be positive, not looking at things negatively, and that’s something for me that has become a work in progress. I'm excited for the last two home races of the year, especially COTA, which is the team’s home race, as I know there’s a lot of extra fun stuff taking place.”
Kaylee Countryman sits 14th in the 2026 F1 Academy standings with 14 points, highlighted by a second-place podium finish in Montreal.
Round 5 of the 2026 F1 Academy takes place at the home race of TGR Haas F1 Team, the United States Grand Prix, with three races packed into the weekend, on October 22 – 25.