On F1 Academy’s first time around Silverstone, Alisha Palmowski won the feature race to extend her championship lead ahead of Emma Felbermayr. Wild card Chiara Bättig, however, made headlines and history by taking pole position and Hitech’s first podium on Sunday. Feeder Series reviews the action. 

By Kaylene Lau

F1 Academy’s first trip to Silverstone delivered a home victory for Alisha Palmowski in the feature race on Sunday ahead of wild card Chiara Bättig. The Red Bull junior set the pace in practice and qualifying, becoming the first wild card driver to take pole position. Bättig scored points in both races, while in the reverse-grid race, Emma Felbermayr led the race from start to finish to take her second win of the year. 

Practice and qualifying

Wild card Bättig impressed in practice by being the fastest driver in the session, setting a 2:02.640, 0.208 seconds ahead of championship leader Palmowski. Nina Gademan rounded out the top three with a 2:02.881. 

Bättig followed up on her strong performance in practice by taking pole position later that day, becoming the first wild card driver in F1 Academy history to do so. Bättig’s pole time of 2:01.775 was 0.177s faster than Palmowski’s best lap. The Swiss driver’s second-best time, a 2:01.929, would still have placed her atop the session.

Lisa Billard achieved her best qualifying result by finishing third in the session with a 2:02.180. Bättig’s Hitech teammates Ava Dobson and Rachel Robertson also took their best qualifying results with Dobson in fourth and Robertson in fifth. Emma Felbermayr qualified eighth with a 2:02.459, awarding her reverse-grid pole for Saturday’s race. 

Race 1

At the start, while Jade Jacquet and Esmee Kosterman stalled at the back, polesitter Felbermayr led the field heading into the first corner.. Ella Lloyd began putting pressure on Gademan up ahead for second, with Robertson behind the pair in fourth. A good opening sector for Palmowski elevated her from seventh to fifth by the Loop.

Meanwhile, wild card Bättig had a difficult start and fell into the clutches of Alba Larsen, who started 13th. The Ferrari-backed driver made up four positions on the first lap, taking the final one from Bättig at Club. Just in front of them, Dobson had also fallen down the order to eighth and had to fend off Megan Bruce, who had started from ninth. Bruce and Dobson went side by side in spectacular fashion heading into Maggots and Becketts, with the Campos driver getting the move for seventh done at Chapel. 

By the third lap, race leader Felbermayr had already built a gap of more than a second over Gademan. Though Bättig had been overtaken by Larsen earlier on, the Red Bull junior was still close behind and putting the pressure on the Dane to regain ninth. She attempted to overtake Larsen at Stowe on the fifth lap but had to back out. On the next lap, however, she made the move stick with a lunge down the inside at Brooklands. 

On lap eight, Bättig was now chasing Dobson for eighth after setting the fastest lap. However, Dobson had her sights set on Bruce, with whom she had been battling throughout the race. The Hitech driver got the overtake for seventh done as they exited Maggots and Becketts on lap nine, but not without making slight contact. Bruce didn’t give up and continued to fight with Dobson, but the battle ahead opened the door for Bättig to close in and overtake Bruce for eighth on the Hangar Straight for the final points-scoring position. 

On lap 10, Robertson was chasing down Lloyd for the final spot on the podium, but Palmowski was closing in behind. The battle between Robertson and Palmowski for fourth enabled Lloyd to open the gap to secure third, and Robertson defended well to hold onto fourth. 

Felbermayr was the first to see the chequered flag, taking her second win of the season with a 2.002s gap over Gademan in second. Lloyd completed the podium while Robertson secured her best finish in the series with fourth. Palmowski finished fifth with Billard in sixth, Dobson in seventh and Bättig rounding out the points. 

Payton Westcott received a five-second penalty for a false start and dropped from 11th to 14th. Natalia Granada also received a five-second penalty to track limits and dropped to 15th after originally finishing in 12th. 

Race 2

Starting from second, Palmowski got the better launch off the grid than polesitter Bättig, overtaking the wild card driver at the first corner. Lloyd had a brilliant start from sixth, coming out ahead in a battle with Robertson for third at Turn 4. 

Saturday’s winner Felbermayr also had a strong start from eighth, later overtaking Robertson as well at Copse for fourth on the first lap. Billard, who had taken her best qualifying position in her F1 Academy career on Friday, stalled at the start and fell to the rear. 

The safety car was brought out on the second lap following contact between Rafaela Ferreira and Ella Stevens at the start-finish straight. Stevens’ car was beached in the grass, while Ferreira was able to make her way back to the pit lane, where she retired. Ferreira was later given a five-place grid penalty to be served in her next race for causing the collision. 

The safety car period ended at the end of lap four, with Palmowski getting away well to maintain her lead in front of Bättig. A charging Felbermayr lunged down the inside of Lloyd to try to take third heading into Brooklands, but the McLaren junior defended strongly to keep her at bay. Felbermayr made the move stick with a brave move down at Copse, with Lloyd running wide and ceding a position to Gademan as she rejoined with her momentum disrupted. 

Behind them, Larsen and Granada were battling for eighth, with the Ferrari junior overtaking Granada for the position exiting Vale. The Spaniard retook the place with a move down the inside heading into Brooklands on the next lap, and Larsen then dropped to 11th after going wide and into the grass on lap seven through the Arena section, forcing her to defend from Kosterman. 

Bruce, who was under pressure from Westcott for ninth, was racing with a damaged front wing after making contact with the rear of Larsen’s car at the safety car restart. Westcott tried to take the position around the outside at Brooklands on lap nine but went wide. The mistake did not cost the Mercedes junior any positions, but she fell behind Larsen and out of the points on the penultimate lap.

Out front, having led comfortably for all 13 laps, Palmowski crossed the flag first to win on home soil ahead of fellow Red Bull–affiliated driver Bättig. The 16-year-old’s second-place finish marked her and Hitech’s first podium in the series and saw her become the first wild card driver to stand on the podium. Felbermayr rounded out the top three, finishing 8.5## seconds behind Bättig.

Gademan crossed the line in fourth, with Lloyd in fifth and Robertson in sixth. Granada finished seventh, Dobson in eighth and Bruce in ninth, with Larsen completing the top 10. Kosterman was given a five-second penalty for a safety car infringement and dropped from 12th to 15th. 

Palmowski continues to lead the championship standings with 108 points ahead of Felbermayr with 78. Gademan’s strong performances this weekend have promoted her to third overall with 50 points. Campos also continue to lead the teams’ standings with 174 points, with Rodin in second with 121 and Prema in third with 94. Hitech, who came into the weekend with only one point, leave Silverstone with a massive 41-point haul. The team based down the road from the circuit are now fifth in the standings with 42 points, having leapfrogged ART Grand Prix. 

The next round of F1 Academy will take the drivers to Zandvoort for the fourth season in a row, with Spanish F4 driver Zoe Florescu already named the wild card entry. 

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Chiara Bättig, 2:01.775	Alisha Palmowski, +0.177s	Lisa Billard, +0.405s
Race 1 (13 laps)	Emma Felbermayr, 26:51.794	Nina Gademan, +2.002s	Ella Lloyd, +2.859s
Race 2 (13 laps)	Alisha Palmowski, 28:55.866	Chiara Bättig, +0.619s	Emma Felbermayr, +9.174s

Standings	Drivers	Teams
P1	Alisha Palmowski, 108	Campos Racing, 174
P2	Emma Felbermayr, 78	Rodin Motorsport, 121
P3	Nina Gademan, 50	Prema Racing, 94
P4	Megan Bruce, 39	MP Motorsport, 74
P5	Ella Lloyd, 39	Hitech, 42
P6	Payton Westcott, 36	ART Grand Prix, 29
P7	Mathilda Paatz, 35
P8	Rafaela Ferreira, 27
P9	Alba Larsen, 24
P10	Natalia Granada, 23

Header photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool