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On F1 Academy’s last outing at Zandvoort for the foreseeable future, Alisha Palmowski maintained the championship lead with another win in Sunday’s race, while Payton Westcott took a lights-to-flag victory to score her maiden win in the series. Feeder Series recaps the action. By Kaylene Lau This weekend, F1 Academy bid farewell to Zandvoort, a track that has been on the series’ calendar since its inception. Payton Westcott was the one to watch on Saturday, taking her first win in the series after starting from reverse-grid pole. Alisha Palmowski took her fourth win of the season in Sunday’s race, widening the points gap between her and Emma Felbermayr. Meanwhile, Alba Larsen took to the podium for the first time in her F1 Academy career, securing two second-place finishes. Practice and qualifying Last year’s reverse-grid race winner Nina Gademan was the fastest in practice, setting a 1:38.729, 0.111 seconds ahead of Rafaela Ferreira. Larsen completed the top three. Friday’s practice session was brought to a halt twice, with the first red flag caused by Ava Dobson, who hit the barrier at Turn 9 with 20 minutes left in the session. The second stoppage, after Jade Jacquet ran wide at the exit of Turn 7 and beached her car in the gravel, brought the session to an end. A damp track on Saturday morning saw all the drivers initially go out for qualifying with wet tyres fitted. The first red flag of the session was caused by Lisa Billard with 10 minutes left in the session as she lost the car in Turn 2. As the track continued to dry under the red flag, a few drivers took the opportunity to switch to slick tyres. The session would be brought to a halt once again with only five minutes to go after Ferreira crashed into the wall at Turn 3. Before the red flag, Ella Lloyd had set the fastest time on wet tyres, but she didn’t make the switch to slicks when the session resumed. She eventually qualified 11th. After the next resumption, the drivers on slicks took control. Palmowski topped qualifying for the third time this season with a 1:40.911, 0.864s ahead of Larsen. Natalia Granada rounded out the top three, setting a 1:42.010. Wild card Zoe Florescu initially qualified in seventh, but she was later disqualified as the engine lubricant of her car did not meet the specifications required by the championship’s engine manual. Megan Bruce was promoted one spot to start seventh on Sunday’s race, while Westcott moved up to eighth and was awarded reverse-grid pole for Saturday’s race. Race 1 Westcott got a good launch off the line from pole position at the start to cover off Bruce, maintaining the lead as they headed through Turn 1. Behind the pair, Gademan made a move down the inside of Rachel Robertson’s car to take third. Sunday’s polesitter Palmowski stalled at the start, dropping to the back of the grid from eighth. On the second lap, home hero Gademan saw an opportunity to overtake Bruce for second place, doing so at the first corner. Robertson and Granada fought for fourth behind them, with Felbermayr joining in on the battle. As Granada made an attempt to defend her position from Felbermayr at Turn 3, she made a small mistake that caused her to hit the wall and brought out the first safety car of the race. Up the road, Robertson made a move on Bruce for third just before the safety car was brought out. When the safety car period ended at the end of on lap three, Westcott made a great restart to hold position ahead of Gademan and Robertson. Bruce couldn’t manage the same, losing positions to Felbermayr, Larsen and Kosterman in quick succession through the first few corners. Felbermayr was closing in on Robertson down the start-finish straight on lap five, but the Scottish driver managed to defend her position. Just behind Felbermayr, a determined Larsen was looking for the right opportunity to make the move for fourth. Her chance came on lap six heading into Turn 1, where she overtook Felbermayr for the position down the inside. The Danish driver then set her sights up ahead on Robertson while Bruce and Lloyd battled for seventh behind her. Larsen saw an opportunity to overtake Robertson for the final place on the podium on lap eight, making the move at Turn 1 once again – around the outside this time. Just as she began to close in on Gademan, a collision between Jacquet and her ART teammate Billard left the Williams junior stranded in the gravel at Turn 9, bringing out the second safety car. The safety car period ended at the end of lap 11, and while race leader Westcott got away well, Gademan had a poor restart and faced pressure from Larsen. Heading into the first corner, Larsen made a dive down the inside of Gademan and just managed to take second place from the Dutch driver despite locking up. Behind them, Robertson was also facing pressure from Felbermayr and Kosterman close behind. Felbermayr attempted a brave dive down the inside of Robertson at Turn 11 but made contact with the rear of her car, allowing Kosterman to slip through into fourth. The contact dropped Felbermayr down to eighth, and she was later given a five-second time penalty. Westcott, who had maintained a comfortable lead throughout the race, crossed the line first to take her maiden F1 Academy victory. In doing so, she also became the youngest driver to win an F1 Academy race. Larsen came home second, making up five positions to take her first podium in the series. Gademan rounded out the top three, taking another podium on home soil after her victory last year. Kosterman finished fourth to take her best result in the series yet at her home race, with Lloyd finishing fifth after making a last-lap pass on Robertson, who finished sixth, at Turn 3. Bruce took the flag in seventh, with Dobson in eighth rounding out the points scorers. After her penalty, Felbermayr finished 13th. Race 2 Starting from pole, Palmowski was looking for redemption after a difficult race on Saturday. The Campos driver did not get the best launch off the line but managed to hold position ahead of Larsen and Granada as they headed into the first corner. Gademan, eager to finish on the podium twice during her home race weekend, made a move down the inside of Granada at Turn 2 for third. On the second lap, Larsen tried to pass Palmowski around the outside of Turn 1, but the Briton held onto her position. Further behind, Felbermayr was chasing Granada down for fourth after her disappointing Saturday. The Austrian saw an opportunity to make a late lunge down the inside at Turn 1 on lap four, the pair touching wheels, but Granada defended well to hold on. Meanwhile, yesterday’s race winner Westcott had her sights set on Lloyd for eighth. Larsen continued to stay close to Palmowski, putting the pressure on the Briton. Palmowski began to pull away by lap 11, however, building a gap of one second between her and Larsen. Behind them, Robertson was trying to overtake Bruce for sixth, with Lloyd also joining in on the action. Robertson made moves to defend from Lloyd, allowing Bruce to escape from the Scottish driver’s grasp. Running in ninth, Westcott was right behind Lloyd as they headed down the start-finish straight on lap 14, but Lloyd defended staunchly heading into the first corner to keep her position. Palmowski crossed the flag first to take her fourth win from the season, finishing 2.765s ahead of a charging Larsen. Like Larsen, Gademan took another podium by finishing third. Granada held onto fourth from Felbermayr, who tried to snatch the position away from her on the last lap but had to settle for fifth. Bruce finished in sixth, Robertson in seventh, and Lloyd in eighth. Saturday’s race winner Westcott came home in ninth as Kosterman completed the top 10. Palmowski leads the standings with 136 points, 48 points ahead of Felbermayr, who has 88. Gademan sits in third with 71 points, while Larsen’s two podium finishes in Zandvoort have lifted her to fourth with 50 points. Campos lead the teams’ championship with 212 points, followed by Rodin with 139 and MP with 127. The next round of F1 Academy will see the drivers return to Austin for the first time since 2023. The round at Austin will feature three races. | Results | P1 | P2 | P3 | | Qualifying | Alisha Palmowski, 1:40.911 | Alba Larsen, +0.864s | Natalia Granada, +1.099s | | Race 1 (17 laps) | Payton Westcott, 30:43.482 | Alba Larsen, +1.807s | Nina Gademan, +5.724s | | Race 2 (17 laps) | Alisha Palmowski, 27:51.988 | Alba Larsen, +2.765s | Nina Gademan, +11.527s | | Standings | Drivers | Teams | | P1 | Alisha Palmowski, 136 | Campos Racing, 212 | | P2 | Emma Felbermayr, 88 | Rodin Motorsport, 139 | | P3 | Nina Gademan, 71 | MP Motorsport, 127 | | P4 | Alba Larsen, 50 | Prema Racing, 119 | | P5 | Payton Westcott, 49 | Hitech, 52 | | P6 | Megan Bruce, 49 | ART Grand Prix, 29 | | P7 | Ella Lloyd, 47 | | | P8 | Mathilda Paatz, 35 | | | P9 | Natalia Granada, 35 | | | P10 | Rafaela Ferreira, 27 | Header photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool Make a one-time donation Make a monthly donation Make a yearly donation Choose an amount Or enter a custom amount Your contribution is appreciated. 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