Ava Dobson reflects on GB4 experience and looks ahead to maiden F1 Academy season

By Teagan Crump

Prioir to the start of the 2026 F1 Academy season, I sat down with Ava Dobson to discuss her upcoimiung season, as well as her previous career highlights. Dobson, who is just 18 years old, is this year's American Express (AMEX) entry in the F1 Academy championship.

Previously, the young American has also raced in GB4, American F4 and USF Juniors.

📸: F1 Academy

5When asked about potential challenges ahead of the season, Dobson said:

"Some challenges I feel like on my face might be just like track experience and like obviously experience in general because I feel like obviously there's like second year drivers there and obviously they're going to be going for the championship. So I think it would just be like a huge like learning curve for me personally."

Moving up from GB4 to F1 Academy, Dobson will have had to adapt- not only do they race on vastly different circuits but there are several other challenges. When asked, the American said:

"I think there's a huge difference. It's a completely different car. GB4 is really, it's way more physical like just steering wheel wise and obviously has a diferential which means you have to, you can push it a lot more. Like I feel like in F1 Academy and F4, like British F4 or something like that, you don't really need to like do too much, but in GB4 you really need to like actually hustle the car. Kind of like a FRECA or something in that kind of nature. And in F4 like the steering is obviously much lighter than GB4 because I think it's just like a wheel to weight ratio or something. And then another thing for me would be braking. I feel like in the F1 Academy car you have to brake a lot like more than GB4. Like GB4 you just kind of like on and off like that's it because there's a diff in the car and then obviously in F4 you can't really do that because you just you won't get away with it and it's just not fast. So yeah there's definitely like big key factors when it comes to that. "

Dobson gained her first F1 Academy experience as the Wildcard entry in Miami in 2025 with Morgan Stanley. When I asked about her experience she said:

"I did feel like I learned a lot. I've never been to like an F1 like weekend like that or like even like racing with them. So I think that was really cool to like experience for the first time especially going into this year like not being so like shocked by it but more just being like oh okay I'm here to race it's not like oh my gosh like it's all you know it's exciting. In Miami obviously it was a rough weekend for me. I had just some mechanical failures that was no one's fault and just some really bad luck like running and qualifying on the second lap the race two being cancelled. So in that aspect it was like oh I wish I had more time but overall I feel like it was a really good experience especially to like experience a car and experience an F1 track and racing with F1 in Miami was cool."

In 2026, Dobson said that she is most looking forward to the round at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas as she has previously raced there.

When asked how GB4 and US Formula 4 have helped her to prepare for the future, Dobson said:

"I would say like the USF4 really prepared me just like that was like my learning couple races because I only did two races in that and then obviously I did I did four USF races so the American F4 thing I did was really just like it was like my first time ever like actually racing in like F4 so it was just like learning and like going from there and stuff.

📸: USF Juniors

 I feel like GB4 really prepared me just to like it was like my first full year so I actually got to like do a full year in F4 and I feel like that really helped me to like develop into where I am now. Obviously like I won the I got a podium and at the end of the week at the end of the year and I got the 50,000 euro to help my progression into F1 Academy so I think it's just all about like learning and growing as a driver because obviously if you can't do that then I don't know what you're gonna do so."

Dobson is American Express' F1 Academy entry and I was curious to know how the sponsorship came about- did she approach AMEX or was it pre-decided?

 Yeah so they [AMEX] actually approached me when it came to the driver decision and it was obviously like a really big deal for me because I was in Miami I was with Morgan Stanley which is ironic why I have another bank sponsor but I think it made sense because like I'm American, American Express so I kind of like I feel like it aligned really nicely so yeah.:

"I have two," Dobson said when asked about her most memorable race. "My most memorable one I would say was my last race in Donington with GB4 because or race two I should say because I got a podium and I got the money in that same race and so yeah I would say race two and then the rest of the weekend I just got to like fight and like be competitive and not have to like worry about all that extra pressure trying to win that money."

My next question was one that I like to ask all interviewees: can you describe how the GB4 car feels when you're on the edge and pushing it? Dobson's response was:

"It's really like you'll feel it like move a lot which is a good thing um I personally like that. There's a lot of drivers who do not like when the car moves a lot- it just means it's rotating long story short a lot of people don't like that some people do. Personally I think to be fast in GB4 like you really need to like hustle you need to really know like you need to it's so specific because obviously you're a racing driver like you have to know that extra break you need to push the braking points you need to push the entries you need to get on throttle sooner you know what I mean it's like it's all those things especially on new tyre runs when there's more grip you need to push that even further you need to keep pushing the limit and obviously it's all just about learning where that is because that's what we're all trying to find out at the end of the day like where's the limit for us and overall."

GB4 and F1 Academy are both very competitive series and to prepare, Dobson shared that she visited the team's factory a lot, prepared using the simulaor as worked out five or six days per week.

GB4 has been gaining popularity, in part because of the lower price tag in comparison to British F4 or other European F4 series and also because it offers some incredible opportunities for progression.

"I just felt GB4 was the best place for me at the time," Dobson said when asked why she opted to pursue GB4. "I had very little experience in F4 at that time and honestly I I had done two GB4 races a year prior right after my big USF crash and so I went and did a little bit testing didn't do that much and then we showed up pre-season and I had in talks with my old team VRD that I was with and with Arden because they were obviously connected at the time and it was just like someone knew someone and it was a connection and I really felt my manager and I, my dad we all thought it was a really good fit for me and just to do it.

"The prize money obviously helps a lot because you know what I mean so um and it was a really competitive field last year generally it was really competitive and that's what we love to see, we love to see competitive F4 field and that really helps me grow a lot even in like the pre-season when we saw everyone was being announced we were like well we have to do it like we can't and just like let not do it and like honestly like the end goal wasn't F1 academy it was to just see wherever it placed me but obviously the 50 000 Euros obviously helps you go to F1 academy and or whatever part of your career you want to go to."

If Dobson could tell her younger self one piece of advivce, she would have liked for it to be:

"Just do it and just be really confident um and push limits as much as you can." She went on to add: "I feel like I definitely struggled with that a lot yeah and to keep pushing even when things get really difficult."

📸: JPR Photos

Looking to the future, Dobson said:

"I want to go as far as I can in single-seaters but obviously if anything switches and it just is what it is I will go to sports cars I really don't mind as long as I get to race professionally. It's my main goal at the end of the day but I think my main overall goal is obviously F1. IndyCar as well just because obviously I've grown up around IndyCar my whole life and I just love it and I feel like it's not a realistic goal for me but it's just somewhere I've always wanted to be but obviously if everyone calls my name one day then I won't deny the opportunity but obviously if that doesn't work out IndyCar is definitely like yeah I'll go over there and do that because I also love it and it's also like a really cool like single-seaters racing."

She also shared that she aims to win her first F1 Academy race this season.

Many drivers have superstitions that they have to do before a session, for the AMEX driver, she has to get in the car on the left hand side (right hand side to everyone else) as well as putting her right glove on first.

Racing drivers will always have moments that do not go as they intend for them to but what matters is how they overcome them. For Dobson, one frustrating moment that she successfully overcame in 2025 was at Snetterton.

"I would say some frustrating moments would be just like that learning like that breaking point when you're trying to like develop. Obviously I'm developing as my first year in GB4 but I think I had some difficulties at certain tracks um my worst track personally I feel like was Snetterton and I think it was just like the high grip level I'm just trying to get used to that because I've never been in that situation before. Adapting to certain conditions like Oulton Park where it was raining and dry raining and dry and people were going like on slicks and some people were going on wets. It was just chaos so I think the difficult thing for me was trying to adapt to those situations because I've that I've never been in and everyone else has been obviously as an American driver it doesn't really rain that much in America at least when we're racing so I think that was big for me but I feel like I definitely like did better with that as it went on because obviously like you learn and you go through it."

Dobson will be racing this weekend at Silverstone as F1 Academy makes its debut at the home of British Motorsport.