Britain’s Alisha Palmowski has won the F1 Academy title at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, sealing the championship with a race to spare and calling the moment “a dream come true.” The 20-year-old finished second in Saturday’s reverse-grid race, a result that was enough to be crowned champion before Sunday’s feature race and the season finale in Las Vegas in November.
Alisha Palmowski F1 Academy title win makes her the youngest champion in the history of the all-female development series, and the second British driver to lift the trophy after Abbi Pulling in 2024. Palmowski drives for Campos Racing and is part of the Red Bull driver academy, and her season has been built on remarkable consistency at the front of the field.
Alisha Palmowski (Credits: BBC Sport)
Alisha Palmowski F1 Academy Title Sealed in Austin
Going into Saturday’s race, Austrian Emma Felbermayr was the only driver with a mathematical chance of overhauling Palmowski. That hope ended when Felbermayr finished fourth, not enough to keep the title fight alive. Denmark’s Alba Larsen took the chequered flag for her first F1 Academy victory, with 17-year-old Lisa Billard of France completing the podium in third, while Palmowski’s second place did all the championship maths she needed.
The Glossop-born driver has won five of the 11 races held so far this season, and she has finished outside the points only once — during the reverse-grid race at Zandvoort. That record tells the story of a campaign built not on one spectacular weekend, but on delivering points almost every time she has taken to the track.
Palmowski Dedicates F1 Academy Championship to Her Family
In an emotional post-race interview, Palmowski dedicated her championship win to her ill grandmother and thanked her family for the sacrifices behind her success. “It’s been a really special journey. I started racing when I was eight or nine years old, it was just me and my parents,” she said. “The sacrifices that they’ve made behind the scenes, they’ve really put their lives on pause to allow me to live my dream.”
That journey, from childhood karting with her parents to a championship in a Formula 1 support series, is exactly what F1 Academy was created to showcase. The series gives young female drivers a professional platform, competitive machinery and visibility on grand prix weekends, with the aim of building a clearer pathway toward higher levels of motorsport.
Palmowski’s place in the Red Bull driver academy adds another layer to her achievement. Academy backing brings structure, coaching and opportunity, but it also brings pressure, and Palmowski has handled both sides of that deal with a maturity that belies her age. Becoming the series’ youngest champion, ahead of a field that included race winners and experienced rivals, underlines how complete her season has been.
With the title already secured, Sunday’s feature race and the Las Vegas finale in November become a chance to race without championship pressure. For Palmowski, though, the history is already made: a British champion again in F1 Academy, a first title for a driver who started racing as an eight-year-old with her parents by her side, and a name that will now be watched closely as she looks to the next step in her career.
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Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
