Alisha Palmowski bounces back to win Zandvoort feature race holding off Larsen
- RACERS
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Alisha Palmowski responded to the disappointment of Saturday, converting pole position into a fourth victory of her F1 Academy campaign in Sunday's Zandvoort feature race, resisting sustained pressure Alba Larsen throughout the opening stages to take maximum points with pole, victory and fastest lap.
Alisha Palmowski responded to the disappointment of Saturday's reverse-grid race at Zandvoort, converting pole position into a fourth victory of her 2026 F1 Academy campaign in Sunday's feature race.
The championship leader resisted sustained pressure from Ferrari representative Alba Larsen throughout the opening stages before managing the gap in the closing laps, taking maximum points with pole, victory and fastest lap. Larsen followed up her maiden F1 Academy podium in Race 1 with another runner-up finish, while home favourite Nina Gademan completed the podium for the second consecutive day.
The result further strengthened Palmowski's position at the top of the championship standings, with the British driver extending her advantage over Emma Felbermayr to 48 points with two rounds remaining.
Following a chaotic reverse-grid race on Saturday, which saw Mercedes-backed Payton Westcott take her maiden F1 Academy victory from eighth on the grid, the feature race presented a very different challenge. Palmowski had started Saturday's race from eighth after initially qualifying ninth, but a grid-stalling issue dropped her to the back before she recovered to 12th and outside the points. She therefore returned to pole on Sunday determined to make the most of her qualifying advantage.
Lining up alongside Larsen, who had produced the best result of her F1 Academy career with second place on Saturday, Palmowski had Natalia Granada and Felbermayr behind her on the second row, while Gademan started fifth in front of her home crowd.
The championship leader did not enjoy a perfect getaway once again, allowing Larsen to immediately challenge for the lead as Granada attempted to go three-wide into the opening corner. Palmowski however held the inside line and managed to retain first place, while Gademan made an excellent start of her own, moving past Granada to take third at the exit of Turn 1. Felbermayr and Megan Bruce followed closely behind as the field settled into the opening lap.
At the front, however, it quickly became clear that Palmowski and Larsen had the pace to pull away and become the protagonists of the race. Larsen immediately applied pressure to the leader, while Palmowski was forced to defend carefully through the opening sequence of corners, with Gademan initially remaining close enough to keep the leading pair within reach.
Larsen's Ferrari-backed car appeared particularly strong through the technical sections of the Zandvoort layout, allowing her to remain glued to Palmowski's rear wing. She set the first fastest lap of the race with a 1:38.041 before improving again to 1:38.007, demonstrating that she had genuine front-running pace.
Gademan, meanwhile, was beginning to lose contact with the two leaders, eventually falling around two seconds behind, although the Dutch driver continued to produce competitive sector times and remained comfortably clear of the fight behind her.
The battle for fourth became increasingly intense, with Granada having to defend from Felbermayr. The two came close to contact at Turn 1 as Felbermayr attempted to position her Audi-supported machine alongside the Prema-run car, but Granada was able to retain fourth place.
At the front, Larsen continued searching for an opportunity. She became the first driver to break the 1:38 barrier, setting a 1:37.843, but Palmowski later responded with a 1:37.805 of her own. The championship leader was therefore able to maintain her advantage while covering the Ferrari driver's attacks, repeatedly positioning her car to deny Larsen an opportunity to complete a move.
The battle further down the field was similarly intense, although the nature of the Zandvoort circuit made overtaking particularly difficult. Lisa Billard produced one of the more decisive moves of the race when she attacked Ava Dobson into Turn 1, making contact in the process but completing the pass for 12th place.
A long train developed behind Bruce, with Rachel Robertson, Ella Lloyd, Payton Westcott, Esmee Kosterman and Jade Jacquet running nose-to-tail in the fight for sixth. Despite repeatedly closing onto the cars ahead, the drivers struggled to create enough space to complete an overtake, with Westcott making an attempt at Turn 1 on Lloyd only for the Welsh driver to cover the move.
A second group experienced much the same problem further back, with Ava Dobson, Ella Stevens, Rafaela Ferreira, Kaylee Countryman, Mathilda Paatz and wild card Zoe Florescu all running closely together but unable to turn their pace into significant changes of position.
At the front, Larsen's prolonged time in Palmowski's aero wash eventually began to cost her momentum. Despite remaining within striking distance for much of the race, she was unable to find a sufficiently strong opportunity to challenge the championship leader, allowing Palmowski to control the final stages.
Palmowski thus crossed the finish line to secure her fourth victory of the season, completing a perfect points haul with pole position, the fastest lap and the race win. More importantly, the result represented an ideal response to Saturday's difficult race and further strengthened her championship campaign.
Larsen finished second for the second consecutive day, completing a remarkable weekend that represented by far her strongest in F1 Academy. After taking her maiden podium in Race 1, the Ferrari representative backed it up with another runner-up finish on Sunday, while she had also previously enjoyed a strong British F4 result at Zandvoort earlier in the season. Her pace throughout the weekend, combined with the guidance of 2025 F1 Academy runner-up Maya Weug, highlighted a significant step forward in her campaign.
Gademan completed the podium in third, finishing around eight seconds behind the leaders. Although the home driver was unable to match Palmowski and Larsen's pace over the full distance, she maximised her opportunity with another podium finish, completing a highly successful home weekend with two top-three results.
Granada held fourth throughout the race despite sustained pressure from Felbermayr. The Audi-supported Austrian repeatedly attempted to put the Prema driver under pressure but could not find a way through, eventually settling for fifth. Megan Bruce finished sixth, ahead of Robertson and Lloyd, while Saturday winner Westcott finished ninth.
Kosterman completed the top ten, returning to the points after scoring her first points of the season in Saturday's reverse-grid race. Jacquet finished 11th, recording her strongest F1 Academy weekend to date, while Billard completed a strong recovery from 17th on the grid to finish 12th - the only driver able to make significant progress in Race 2.
Dobson was 13th, followed by Stevens, Ferreira, Countryman and Paatz. Florescu brought up the order in 18th, her promising weekend ultimately undone by the team's technical mistake that resulted in her Saturday qualifying disqualification and forced her to start both races from the back.
With the Zandvoort weekend now complete, Palmowski leaves the Netherlands with a 48-point advantage over Felbermayr, putting her in an increasingly strong position with only two rounds remaining. Gademan consolidates third in the championship, while Larsen's outstanding weekend lifts her from eighth to fourth in the standings.
The championship now faces another extended break before returning to the United States for the final two rounds of the season. The next stop will be the Circuit of The Americas on October 24–25, where three races are scheduled following the cancellation of the Jeddah round, setting up a decisive final phase to the 2026 F1 Academy campaign.
