Rafaela Ferreira

Rafaela Ferreira races single-seaters in Brazil. She began her senior career in 2023, after several years in karting and some tests in F3 and F4 cars. She had been active in karting since the age of eight, inspired by her father who raced and built karts.

After a couple of races in Formula Inter in the States, which uses the same car as US F4, she took away two fourth places, and was ready to tackle Brazilian F4.

Her first race at Interlagos in Brazilian F4 led to an 11th place, then a sixth and a ninth. At the time, she was the first female driver to race in the championship.

In 2023, she gradually improved over the season, taking her first podium in December with third at Interlagos. She was thirteenth in the championship.

She entered the 2024 F4 Brazil series a stronger driver. The first race of the season ended in a third place for her at Velo Citta, followed by a seventh and then a second. A couple of indifferent races at Interlagos followed, but when the championship returned to Velo Citta, she scored her first win. She won again at the away round in Buenos Aires, as well as picking up a second place, one of nine podiums during the year. Inerlagos had always been something of a bogey track for her, but by the end of the season, she even managed a second there. She was fourth in the championship.

At the end of 2024, she was signed by Racing Bulls for their 2025 F1 Academy entry, driving for the Campos team. F1 Academy was her chief focus for the year, but she began by getting some seat time in the Formula Winter Series, held in Spain. Campos entered her for two of the four meetings, the same as her future team-mates, Chloe Chambers and Alisha Palmowski. It wasn't her best run in any series, and her best finish from six races was twelfth at Aragon.

She started well enough in F1 Academy with a fifth and eighth place at Shanghai, but then her season became inconsistent, not helped by a series of penalties and getting caught up in others' blunders. She was normally in the lower reaches of the top ten and was twelfth in the championship.

She did much better in the non-championship Brazilian F4 races that supported the Brazilian Grand Prix. After fifth place in Race 1, she won race 2 in front of her home F1 crowd. She was then fourth in Race 3.

(Image from Brazilian F4)