Payton Westcott named as F1 Academy Wild Card for Las Vegas finale

F1 Academy has announced that 16-year-old American racer Payton Westcott will join the grid as the Wild Card entry for the 2025 season finale, held in support of the Formula 1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix on 20-22 November.

Photo credits: ACI Sport

F1 Academy has announced that 16-year-old American racer Payton Westcott will join the grid as the Wild Card entry for the 2025 season finale, held in support of the Formula 1 Heineken Las Vegas Grand Prix on 20-22 November.

Westcott's Hitech TGR entry will be backed by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (Visit Las Vegas), which partners with the series to promote the city as a global hub for sport and entertainment. Westcott will compete in a special Las Vegas-themed livery and race suit, reflecting the city’s vibrant image, as F1 Academy becomes the first single-seater support series to race on the Las Vegas Strip.

“I’m so proud to be racing as the F1 Academy Wild Card driver in Las Vegas — especially as an American,” said Payton. “It’s incredibly special to be part of this moment on home turf. I’m hugely grateful to F1 Academy and Visit Las Vegas for the opportunity. To be racing on the iconic Las Vegas Strip, under the lights, is a dream come true.”

The up-and-coming US American talent was selected in 2024 for the Champions of the Future Academy Program, supported by F1 Academy’s Discover Your Drive initiative, and impressed in the OK-N Senior category. Since then, she has made her single-seater debut in the Formula Winter Series, running competitively in a Van Amersfoort entry to seven top-20 finishes in a highly competitive grid. Her best result was a P13 at Motorland Aragon, where she achieved two top-15 results.

Competing in a multiple program, Westcott returned to the Dutch team for the uber-competitive Italian Formula 4 Chamionship. After a strong start with a top-20 on her first outing in Misano, Wetscott's season turned out to be more challenging, only returning to the top 20 in Imola in the penultimate round. She would finish second in the Female Trophy classification.

Her third 2025 racing program was the E4 Championship, the continental Formula 4 competition that saw Europe's top drivers competing in three rounds; Westcott claimed a personal best of 16th at Le Castellet in the third race, before equalling this result in Monza's finale.

Wrapping up a season of intense seat time for the Californian, she was invited to the inaugural F1 Academy Rookie Test earlier this year in Navarra, Spain, where she recorded the third fastest time of the day and led the afternoon session.

Westcott will aim to become F1 Academy's second wild card this year to score points, with Esmee Kosterman finishing seventh at Zandvoort. She is the series' second US American wild card this year, and the third in the series' history with Ava Dobson and Courtney Crone — who would later secure a full time seat — making their debuts at Miami.

“We’re honored to support Payton Westcott as the Las Vegas -sponsored Wild Card driver for the F1 Academy season finale and to have this milestone moment unfold in Las Vegas", commented Kate Wik, Chief Marketing Officer of Visit Las Vegas. "The energy and ambition of F1 Academy mirror the spirit of our city: bold, innovative, and unstoppable."