The return of a three-race weekend format to F1 Academy saw Alisha Palmowski take the championship lead in Montréal and break the record for the largest winning margin twice, while Mathilda Paatz took her maiden win in the series in the reverse-grid race. Feeder Series reviews the action. 

By Kaylene Lau

Campos Racing’s Palmowski was dominant this weekend in Montréal, taking two pole positions and converting them both to victories. Prema Racing’s Paatz took her first win this weekend, and both she and Megan Bruce stood on the podium twice across the weekend asKaylee Countryman also took her first podium in the series. 

Practice and qualifying

Palmowski showed that she was the one to beat in the sole free practice session of the weekend. Her fastest lap time was a 1:38.371, 0.231 seconds faster than Emma Felbermayr’s. Bruce was third fastest with a 1:39.858. 

With the new three-race format this weekend, drivers had more to consider when it came to the qualifying session. The grid for the opening race would be set by the drivers’ second-fastest lap times, making it imperative for them to get two good laps in across the 30-minute session. 

Palmowski was fastest overall in qualifying, taking pole position for Sunday’s feature race with a 1:38.466. Payton Westcott, who scored a podium on her debut weekend, was second fastest with a time 0.390s behind Palmowski’s. Bruce once again rounded out the top three with a 1:38.944. Meanwhile, Kaylee Countryman qualified in eighth, awarding her pole position for the reverse-grid race on Sunday. 

Palmowski’s second-fastest lap was also the fastest out of the entire field, giving her pole for the opening race on Saturday. Bruce and Westcott flipped places within the top three, with Bruce’s second-best attempt only three thousandths slower than her fastest.  

Race 1

Starting from pole, Palmowski got a good launch off the start to lead Bruce and Westcott into Turn 1. A stall at the start for Felbermayr dropped her to the back of the field, while Ava Dobson received a puncture following contact with Esmee Kosterman at Turn 7. 

Rachel Robertson and Natalia Granada also made contact early on, with Robertson’s attempt to overtake Granada at Turn 2 on lap two sending the Spaniard spinning. Robertson was later given a five-second penalty for the contact. 

Those were just the beginning in an incident-filled race. Later on lap two, contact with Alba Larsen forced Lisa Billard, running seventh, to pit for repairs. A Kosterman also had to pit for repairs after sustaining a puncture and front wing damage on lap five, later receiving a penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

Westcott, chasing Bruce for second, likewise got a five-second penalty, in her case for going off the track at Turns 13 and 14 to gain a lasting advantage. The Mercedes junior’s race only unravelled from there. On lap nine, as Westcott tried to overtake Bruce around the outside of Turn 6, she went wide and into the grass, dropping her to sixth. All the while, Palmowski up ahead extended her gap to nearly seven seconds after nine laps.

On lap 10, Nina Gademan managed to overtake Westcott for the position heading into Turn 13, but by going off track, she was later handed a five-second penalty. Not long after, Countryman joined in on the battle, though a slight error from the Haas-backed driver opened the door for Ella Lloyd to slip through for eighth heading into Turn 6. Westcott was then overtaken by Lloyd, Countryman, Ella Stevens and Felbermayr in the space of one lap.

At the end of lap 12, Westcott headed into the pits as her trip through the grass had caused some of it to become stuck in the intake, causing it to overheat. Westcott did not, however, serve her five-second penalty when she pitted, and was handed another five-second penalty as a result.

Palmowski won the race comfortably, the Briton winning the race by a 10.119s margin, the largest in series history. Bruce came home second to take her first podium, while Paatz rounded out the top three. Rafaela Ferreira finished fourth, with Larsen in fifth. 

A strong recovery drive for Lloyd, who had started from the back of the field, put her sixth, with Countryman coming home seventh and Stevens eighth. Nina Gademan finished ninth following a five-second penalty for failing to follow race director’s instructions, while Felbermayr rounded out the points scorers after her stall. Wild card Autumn Fisher finished in 11th, the best result for a wild card driver so far in 2026. 

Race 2

A lightning-fast launch from Ferreira, who started second, saw her take the lead of the reverse-grid race heading into the first corner. Countryman slotted behind her, with Paatz in third. 

Felbermayr tried to overtake Larsen for fourth at Turn 8, but they collided on exit, which sent Felbermayr spinning. She got going again, but Robertson and Dobson were forced to retire from the race on the opening lap, both from separate incidents. The safety car was brought out as a result as the marshals went to retrieve Dobson’s and Robertson’s cars, while Fisher and Lloyd each received five-second penalties for causing their respective incidents.

At the safety car restart on the seventh lap, Ferreira maintained the lead, with Countryman still running in second and Paatz in third. Behind the top three, Larsen and Palmowski made contact at Turn 10, causing the race one winner to run wide . 

If race one was about incidents, race two was about penalties. First, Stevens was given a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for being out of position at the safety car line, which she served on lap nine. Then, Jade Jacquet received a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane– though the bigger drama was that race leader Ferreira was also noted for a false start.

With such tight gaps, Ferreira would have been vulnerable to any penalty, but a late safety car closed the grid up even more. Contact between Palmowski and Bruce at Turn 2 caused Palmowski to spin on lap 13, and Gademan, who was not far behind the Campos pair, hit Bruce’s rear and speared into the barriers. The second safety car was deployed as the marshals went to retrieve Gademan’s car. 

The safety car went back in with only one lap to go, but Ferreira, who had controlled the race since the beginning, was handed a penalty for a false start. Suddenly a move Paatz had made for second at the end of lap 12 became more significant, as she was in prime position to take her first win at the same circuit where she appeared as a wild card last year. The penalty for Ferreira dropped her to eighth.  

Larsen finally made the move on Countryman stick at Turn 12 for what seemed to be her first podium, but she was given a five-second penalty for the contact with Felbermayr earlier on in the race. This promoted Westcott to the podium, with Granada in fourth, Billard in fifth, Felbermayr in sixth and Bruce in seventh. Larsen dropped out of the points-scoring positions to be classified in 11th, one spot behind Palmowski. 

Race 3

The final race of the weekend took place under wet conditions, and polesitter Palmowski was able to lead heading into the first corner. Westcott held onto second, as Felbermayr put the pressure on Bruce up ahead for third. Behind them, Lloyd had gotten a great launch off the line to make up five positions, but she made contact with Billard in 10th at Turn 2, sending the French driver spinning on track. 

Heading down the straight into Turn 13, Bruce was able to overtake Westcott and maintain the position with a little help from Palmowski, who gave her a tow. On lap four, Gademan attempted to pass Larsen for sixth at the final corner but ran wide.  Palmowski went wide herself at Turn 10 but had enough of a gap to maintain the position. 

Gademan attempted the same move on Larsen on the following lap, and this time it was the Ferrari junior that ran wide at the final corner. This opened up the opportunity for Ferreira to pass her, and Lloyd then also overtook her approaching the first corner. Lloyd then began chasing Ferreira and overtook her at Turn 8, but Ferreira was able to retake the position kat the hairpin. Still, Larsen was not far behind, and as they headed down the Casino straight, the door was opened for Larsen to overtake Lloyd for eighth. The battle was far from over, though, as they went three-wide down the straight, and this time it was Lloyd who came out ahead, with Larsen running wide at the final chicane. Lloyd then ran wide and into the grass heading into Turn 6 on the next lap, dropping her to 10th.

Meanwhile, Palmowski had built up a gap of 5.2 seconds between her and her teammate Bruce by the eighth lap of 17. She was then chasing Ferreira and Granada, but a lockup from the former at Turn 10 allowed the latter to pass her with ease and for Lloyd to catch up to her and fight for ninth.

In the closing laps, Felbermayr was putting pressure on Westcott for the final slot on the podium. Westcott held firm until lap 14, when she ran wide at Turn 9 and allowed the Austrian driver through. From there, Felbermayr set her sights on Bruce up ahead, and she took the position on the last lap when Bruce touched the wall at the exit of Turn 4, giving Felbermayr the opportunity to overtake her heading to Turn 6.

There was yet more drama on the last lap, as Palmowski reported over the radio that she was losing power. Still, she was the first to cross the chequered flag and beat her very own record that she had just set the day before to win the race 10.955s ahead of Felbermayr. Despite having a car that was visibly crabbing on the last lap, Bruce completed the podium, just three tenths ahead of Westcott fourth and 0.840s ahead of Paatz in fifth. Larsen held on to sixth from Gademan, with Granada in eighth, Lloyd in ninth and Ferreira in 10th rounding out the points-scoring positions.

Palmowski now leads the drivers’ standings with 78 points, with Felbermayr in second with 53. After taking two podiums this weekend, Bruce leaps to third with 37 points. Palmowski and Bruce’s combined efforts, with some help from Ferreira, mean Campos lead the teams’ standings with 142 points, with Prema in second with 88 and Rodin in third with 80. 

The next round of F1 Academy will mark the series’ first trip to Silverstone, where they will also race with F2 and F3 in the same weekend for the first time since Barcelona in 2024.

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Alisha Palmowski, 1:38.466	Payton Westcott, +0.390s	Megan Bruce, +0.478s
Race 1 (17 laps)	Alisha Palmowski, 28:18.995	Megan Bruce, +10.119s	Mathilda Paatz, +10.827s
Race 2 (16 laps)	Mathilda Paatz, 32:33.104	Kaylee Countryman, +1.583s	Payton Westcott, +1.650s
Race 3 (17 laps)	Alisha Palmowski, 31:13.288	Emma Felbermayr, +10.955s	Megan Bruce, +12.912s

Standings	Drivers	Teams
P1	Alisha Palmowski, 78	Campos Racing, 142
P2	Emma Felbermayr, 53	Prema Racing, 88
P3	Megan Bruce, 37	Rodin Motorsport, 80
P4	Payton Westcott, 36	MP Motorsport, 53
P5	Mathilda Paatz, 35	ART Grand Prix, 26
P6	Nina Gademan, 30	Hitech, 1
P7	Rafaela Ferreira, 27
P8	Ella Lloyd, 23
P9	Alba Larsen, 23
P10	Natalia Granada, 17

Header photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool