After four rounds of the 2026 F1 Academy season, Alisha Palmowski leads the 2026 F1 Academy drivers’ championship with a commanding 48-point advantage. Looking ahead to round five in Austin next month, Palmowski has a clear shot of clinching the title – but before she heads there, the British driver sat down with the Feeder Series Podcast to reflect on her growth in the series and what it meant to win on home ground.

By Shermaine Wong

In her rookie season, Palmowski finished fifth in the 2025 F1 Academy drivers’ championship, winning her debut race in Shanghai and going on to clinch multiple podium finishes. Regardless, it was a middling campaign by the standards the 19-year-old set for herself, and the leap from occasional contender to championship leader has been anything but automatic. 

“We all learnt so much as a team last year. It was a big learning curve for me, obviously, being my rookie season,” she told the Feeder Series Podcast.

“There was a lot for me to learn, a lot for the team to learn as well.  But I think mutually, between us all, we’ve just grown so much through the mistakes that I made personally, through some of the mistakes the team made last year. We’re just overall a much stronger outfit now this year.”

Following her masterclass weekend in Zandvoort, where she took a lights-to-flag win in the feature, the Campos driver now has a total of four race wins to her name and one further podium, bringing her total points tally in the standings to a commanding 136. The Briton also broke the record for the largest margin of victory twice in Montreal, winning race one by 10.119 seconds and race two by 10.955 seconds. 

Given how commanding her campaign has looked from the outside, it would be easy to assume Palmowski has settled comfortably into the position of leading the championship. However, speaking to the Feeder Series Podcast, she was quick to emphasise the volatility and unpredictability of motorsport.

“Coming into this season, I wanted to be champion,” Palmowski said. “I still want to be champion. The job’s not finished yet. I’m totally aware in motorsport how quickly things can fall in your favour and equally against you. Everything can change in a split second, so I’ve not achieved it yet at all. But to have the buffer that I do have, to have taken the wins that I’ve taken, the pole positions, it’s been a very successful year.”

Not only does Palmowski race in F1 Academy under Campos Racing, but she is also backed by the Red Bull Academy Programme. While different from the highly successful Red Bull Junior Team that has produced five grand prix winners as well as two four-time world champions in Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, the programme shares a commitment to results and growth. 

Those resources from Red Bull are proving to be vital to Palmowski’s racecraft. 

“The support network that they provide is incredible,” Palmowski reflected. “The support that we get [is] completely equal to the full Red Bull Juniors on the programme. So the access to the simulator in the factory in Milton Keynes, fitness support, nutrition support, media support, absolutely every aspect of being a racing driver.

“That learning process is really never-ending in motorsport. So I learn every time I’m in the simulator, in the factory, talking to the engineers and the guys. Today, definitely, I’m a completely different driver and person through the support from Red Bull.”

Another highlight from Palmowski’s breakout season is her incredible weekend in Silverstone, where she won the feature race. Starting from second on the grid, Palmowski capitalised on a strong launch to take the lead at Turn 1 from wildcard polesitter Chiara Bättig, then withstood relentless pressure from the Swiss driver after the safety car restart to secure the victory. It was the Glossop native’s third triumph of the season, and with the 30-point haul from the weekend, she solidified her lead in the championship. 

Winning on home soil also meant her core support system was able to celebrate with her in person at the very same track where she attended her first grand prix in 2015.

“Honestly, I can’t stop smiling even as soon as you mentioned it,” Palmowski shared when asked about her weekend in Silverstone. “It’s a strange one because I want to win every race that I enter this year. Of course, everybody does. We’re all there to win.

“We put equal amounts of effort into every single race that we enter. The same points are on offer as well, whether it’s Shanghai, Las Vegas or Silverstone. But having said that, if I could only win one race this season, it would have been Silverstone, naturally the home grand prix. I had lots of family support there, lots of friends, sponsors.

“Myself, I’ve been there so many times throughout my life, just as a fan, watching F1 – 2015 being the first time, when I was about eight years old, the first time I experienced F1 cars in person. It’s really where my passion for motorsport was unlocked there. So to have won, stood on that podium that I’ve seen all my heroes stand on, it’s a memory that I’ll never forget.

“To have the British national anthem playing – it was emotional but amazing. And definitely a bucket list moment ticked off that I didn’t even think would be on my bucket list because I never considered that I could be racing on that weekend.”

While Palmowski has achieved her goal of standing on the top step at Silverstone, she is far from finished with her 2026 goals, with the F1 Academy championship title within her reach. She can clinch it a round early if she leaves the Austin round, which runs from 22 to 25 October, with a lead of 40 or more points. 

To hear more from Palmowski on her racing career and her journey in F1 Academy thus far, check out the latest episode of the Feeder Series Podcast, available now on all major podcast platforms. 

Header photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool