Alisha Palmowski dominates Montreal qualifying to secure double F1 Academy pole, as Countryman claims reverse-grid pole

After setting the pace in the morning’s sole free practice session, Alisha Palmowski continued her dominant form in qualifying at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, securing a commanding double pole position for the second round of the 2026 F1 Academy season, while Payton Westcott and Megan Bruce completed the top three.

Photo credits: Red Bull Content Pool

After setting the pace in the morning’s sole free practice session, Alisha Palmowski continued her dominant form in qualifying at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, securing a commanding double pole position for the second round of the 2026 F1 Academy season.

The British driver proved untouchable throughout the 30-minute session and ultimately locked out pole for both Race 1 and Race 3, while Payton Westcott and impressive rookie Megan Bruce completed the top three - with the latter securing the front row for Race 1. Further down the order, Kaylee Countryman produced her best performance to date to finish eighth fastest and therefore claimed her maiden reverse-grid pole position for Race 2.

After a 69-day break following the season opener in Shanghai, the 2026 F1 Academy season resumed at Montreal on Friday with a 40 minute practice session ahead of the championship’s first triple-header weekend. Alisha Palmowski had emerged fastest on the rapidly evolving and dusty Montreal street circuit with a benchmark 1:39.797 lap, finishing ahead of championship leader Emma Felbermayr and impressive rookie Megan Bruce, who had explored some setup changes that proved successful.

Qualifying then carried particular importance this weekend due to the expanded triple-header format introduced following the cancellation of the Saudi Arabian round earlier in the season. Drivers not only needed one quick lap, but two, as the grid for Race 1 would be determined by each driver’s second-fastest lap, while the fastest lap times would set the grid for Race 3 and award two championship points to the pole sitter. Race 2 would then feature a reversed top-eight grid.

Palmowski immediately established herself at the top of the timing sheets in the opening stages of the session. The Red Bull Racing-backed driver first posted a representative 1:40.4 benchmark, before Ella Lloyd briefly moved ahead with a 1:40.3. Once again, rookies Megan Bruce and Lisa Billard immediately looked competitive after their strong practice performances earlier in the day, both featuring inside the top four during the early runs.

Palmowski however quickly responded, setting a 1:39.395 to reclaim the top spot. Rafaela Ferreira then slotted into second, also dipping below the 1:40 barrier, as all three Campos Racing cars featured prominently inside the top four, with Bruce holding fourth position.

Alba Larsen looked set for a strong lap as well but ran too deep into the final chicane and cut across the runoff area, resulting in the lap being deleted. The Danish driver immediately recovered on the next attempt however, improving to a 1:39.7 to move into second place.

As the circuit continued evolving rapidly, times kept falling. Around the 10-minute mark, Kaylee Countryman delivered another very competitive lap to place the Haas F1 Team representative fifth fastest, ahead of Rachel Robertson, further confirming the strong pace both drivers had already displayed during free practice earlier in the day.

Robertson however then brushed the wall with side contact, and had to pit.

Drivers then briefly returned to the pits around the midpoint of the session to prepare for the decisive final push runs.

Local wildcard Autumn Fisher also impressed during the second half of qualifying. Competing in one of her first F4 weekends after limited appearances in French F4 and a one-off outing in British F4 to gain experience ahead of her F1 Academy wildcard opportunity, Fisher improved to eleventh place with a very encouraging run in front of her home crowd.

Bruce then produced a superb lap with a purple final sector to jump into second with a 1:39.622. Palmowski however immediately answered with another improvement, finding almost half a second and lowering the benchmark to 1:38.806. Ferreira also improved again to climb back to second ahead of Campos teammate Bruce.

The final ten minutes brought yet another wave of improvements across the field. Mercedes-backed Payton Westcott surged into second with a 1:39.370, while Countryman again dipped below the 1:40 barrier to reclaim fifth place ahead of Larsen.

Ferreira’s excellent session continued as the Brazilian driver clocked a 1:39.216 to demote Westcott back to third. No one however could truly challenge Palmowski. The British driver improved once more and consistently maintained a gap of roughly half a second to the rest of the field throughout the closing stages.

Bruce became the second driver to break into the 1:38 range with a 1:38.947, before Westcott responded with a 1:38.856 to reclaim second place.

There was late drama for Ella Lloyd, who suffered a major moment after her Rodin Motorsport-run McLaren-liveried car picked up right-rear suspension issues. Lloyd made an impressive save while completely sideways but was ultimately forced to return to the pits, ending her session prematurely.

Jade Jacquet and Esmee Kosterman both had brief trips across the grass but managed to continue.

Larsen found further improvements late in the session to climb back into fifth, while championship leader Emma Felbermayr also found crucial late improvements: the Austrian clocked a 1:39.038 to move into fourth in the final minute and, after crossing the line just before the chequered flag, still had one final attempt remaining. Felbermayr improved again in the final sector to secure third on second-best laps for the opening race.

Palmowski ultimately ended qualifying unchallenged, securing pole position for both Race 1 and Race 3 in dominant fashion.

A mistake for Westcott on her final lap at Turn 1 prevented the American from improving her second-fastest lap, allowing Megan Bruce to secure a front-row start for the opening race while also qualifying third for the feature race.

Felbermayr will line up fourth for Race 3 and third for the opening contest, while 2025 wildcard Mathilda Paatz delivered an excellent late improvement to secure fifth. Larsen qualified sixth ahead of Ferreira, while Kaylee Countryman completed one of the strongest sessions to date by securing eighth position and therefore reverse-grid pole for Race 2, narrowly denying Nina Gademan a second reverse-grid pole of the season. Gademan ultimately finished ninth ahead of Lisa Billard, who was unable to capitalize on her early-session pace during the final runs after featuring among the frontrunners throughout most of qualifying.

Natalia Granada finished eleventh ahead of Ava Dobson, Jade Jacquet, Ella Stevens and Rachel Robertson. Following her suspension issues, Lloyd was classified sixteenth and will start ahead of Autumn Fisher in seventeenth, while Esmee Kosterman rounded out the field in eighteenth position. Remarkably, all cars were covered by less than 1.9 seconds around the fast and unforgiving Montreal street circuit.

Attention now turns to Saturday morning’s opening race, scheduled for 9:45 local time, where an extremely tight field promises intense battles both at the front and throughout the points-paying positions.

Photo credits: F1 Academy Ltd