Alisha Palmowski wins F1 Academy title in Austin
Briton Alisha Palmowski secured the 2026 F1 Academy championship ahead of schedule with three races left.
Alisha Palmowski became the youngest F1 Academy champion and the second British winner after finishing second in Saturday’s reverse-grid race. BBC Sport and UA.News reported the title was sealed before Sunday’s feature race.
Key takeaways
- Alisha Palmowski won the 2026 F1 Academy title ahead of schedule in Austin
- She finished second in Saturday’s reverse-grid race, enough to clinch the championship early
- She is the youngest champion and second British winner after Abbi Pulling in 2024
- She drives for Campos Racing and is part of the Red Bull driver academy
- She won five of 11 races and started from pole six times this season
Briton Alisha Palmowski has won the F1 Academy title ahead of schedule in Austin, United States, BBC Sport reported. The 20-year-old finished second in Saturday’s reverse-grid race, which secured the championship before Sunday’s feature race and the season finale in Las Vegas in November. Sky Sports News, via UA.News, said she clinched the 2026 title ahead of schedule with three races remaining after building an insurmountable lead in the overall standings. After two races in Austin, Palmowski led her closest pursuer, Austria’s Emma Felbermayr, by 70 points, while a maximum of 67 points remained available in the final three races.
Why it matters
Palmowski becomes the youngest champion of the all-female development series and the second British driver to win the title after Abbi Pulling in 2024, according to BBC Sport. UA.News added that she won five of the 11 races held so far this season and started from pole position six times. She has been backed by Red Bull since the beginning of last year, following second place in the 2024 GB4 championship. The title was won in her second full season in the series; in her debut 2025 campaign, she won the opening round of the season and finished on the podium four more times. Denmark’s Alba Larsen took the chequered flag in Saturday’s reverse-grid race to secure her first F1 Academy victory, with 17-year-old Lisa Billard of France completing the podium in third. Felbermayr was the only driver with a mathematical chance of overhauling Palmowski before Saturday’s race, but fourth place was not enough to keep her hopes alive. Palmowski only finished outside of the points once during the season, at the reverse-grid race at Zandvoort. In an emotional post-race interview, she dedicated her championship win to her ill grandmother and thanked her family, saying it had been a special journey that began when she was eight or nine years old.
What happens next
The season finale takes place in Las Vegas in November, BBC Sport said. UA.News reported that Palmowski thanked Campos Racing, Red Bull Racing, her family and her engineer Diego for their work throughout the season, and that she aims to climb as high as possible through the open-wheel racing series ladder.
Key season figures for Alisha Palmowski
Measure | Detail |
|---|---|
Age | 20 years old |
Races won | 5 of 11 |
Pole positions | 6 |
Points lead over Felbermayr | 70 points |
Points remaining | 67 points |
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