Clara Stiebleichinger: from alpine skier to Audi’s F1 Academy rookie test
Clara Stiebleichinger was an alpine ski racer until 2024. Less than two years after her first laps in a racing car, the Austrian drove for Audi at the 2026 F1 Academy Rookie Test, one of the steps towards a seat on the F1 Academy grid.
#ThroughHerEyes
Clara Stiebleichinger: Fast Facts
- Nationality: Austrian
- Age: 21 (at the September 2026 rookie test)
- Programme: Audi Revolut F1 Team driver development programme
- Series in 2026: French F4
- Racing debut: Indian F4 Championship, 2025
- Before motorsport: professional alpine ski racer
From the ski slopes straight into a racing car
Stiebleichinger’s route into single-seaters is unusual. She raced skis professionally in Austria and had no karting or sim-racing background when she entered the Feed Racing shootout in France in 2024.
She first drove Formula 4 machinery at the start of 2025 and made her racing debut in the Indian F4 Championship later that year. She finished 11th of 21 drivers, with a best result of fourth, and was the highest-placed woman in the championship.
Points in French F4 in her second season
In 2026 she moved up to French F4. According to Audi’s announcement of the rookie test, her best qualifying result this season is fourth, she is only the second woman to score points in the championship, and she is in the fight for its women’s title.
Tenth at the F1 Academy Rookie Test in Navarra
On 11 September 2026 she drove an Audi-liveried F1 Academy car, run by Rodin Motorsport, at the Circuito de Navarra. She was 14th in the morning with a 1:48.220 and improved to 1:48.054 in the afternoon over 40 laps, the tenth-fastest time of the session. Victoria Farfus topped the day with a 1:46.988, according to the official F1 Academy report. Alexia Danielsson, who was second fastest, turned her test into the F1 Academy wild card in Austin.
Allan McNish, director of the Audi Driver Development Programme, said when the test was announced: “Clara has already shown her potential in the short time she has been racing.”
Full story: Clara Stiebleichinger goes from ski slopes to the F1 Academy Rookie Test with Audi.
An Audi seat in F1 Academy is already taken by Felbermayr
Audi already has a driver on the F1 Academy grid in 2026: Emma Felbermayr, also Austrian, in a car run by Rodin Motorsport. Whether the rookie test leads to an F1 Academy seat for Stiebleichinger in 2027 is not yet known.
How the series works: F1 Academy explained. Current table: F1 Academy standings 2026. More F1 Academy driver profiles: Nina Gademan, Alisha Palmowski, Esmee Kosterman and Alexia Danielsson.
Sources: official F1 Academy report on the 2026 Rookie Test; Audi Revolut F1 Team announcement of the test.