The Spanish racecar driver tells PEOPLE about her “amazing” journey to the F1 Academy

For Natalia Granada, racing has always been a family affair.

As kids, she and her twin brother, Marc, would watch Formula 1 races with their parents at home. And with a go-karting track just six minutes from their house in La Garriga, Spain, the Granada twins’ introduction seemed inevitable.

“My parents were both F1 fans since forever,” Granada, 18, tells PEOPLE. “And I remember this moment, when my brother one day asked my dad, ‘How did Fernando Alonso, a very known Spanish F1 driver, start? How did he get to Formula 1?’ And so we started investigating.” 

The Granada twins discovered Alonso first got into go-karting. “From there, we just figured out the closest track,” Granada laughs. “I went there and started driving, and from there just one thing led to the next, and here we are.”

As one of 15 full-time drivers in the all-women’s F1 Academy racing series, Granada is one of the sport’s brightest up-and-comers. In the final stretch of her debut season, Granada sits in ninth place as the series arrives in the United States to finish the year with two events in Austin, Texas, and Las Vegas over the next month.

“It’s been amazing,” Granada says. “It’s just been such a big opportunity to make the jump from go-karts to single-seaters. It’s such a big step in my career, such a big opportunity in every aspect racing-wise, visibility-wise, for my future. I just think it’s been one of the best platforms so far for me to keep developing in my racing and my career.”

It hasn’t been easy, though. Granada and the other teenage drivers in the F1 Academy — who come from all over the world to race in the series — must learn to navigate the balance of school, family and a social life, all while trying to compete at the highest level in hopes of one day making it to the top Formula 1 level.

“Online school has helped me a lot to balance everything around my tight schedule,” Granada says. Outside of class and honing her skills on the racecourse, Granada says she takes her pressure off by cooking and spending time with her family.

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“I love cooking,” Granada smiles, sharing her love for paella and sushi. “And I love being able to go back home and see my family and friends, just to try and balance everything as much as possible so I can feel good when I have to get in the car.”

Granada has appeared calm and collected behind the wheel this season, her first with the two-year driving program. In the most recent stage in Zandvoort, Netherlands, the Sephora-sponsored racer finished in fourth, just off the podium — an exemplary finish for a driver on the cusp of breaking through in her sport.

The Spanish driver credits her improvement on the track to her team, the Iron Dames — a Swiss-Italian women’s racing group that’s helped more than two dozen women enter the sport since 2019, including Katherine Legge, who competed in this year’s Indy 500.

“They’ve been such a big help for me, especially at this very young age,” Granada says, with her hopes set on becoming the next Iron Dames member to graduate beyond the F1 Academy. 

“This year, I’m working more based on how I’m feeling and what I’ve learned over the past years, and I’m managing quite well,” Granada reflects. “We always say in racing, you want to be very prepared for what you’re racing now and be ready to make the next step.”