Red Bull-backed racer Alisha Palmowski has been crowned F1 Academy champion after another commanding performance at the Circuit of the Americas, securing the title ahead of the weekend’s final feature race and the season-ending round in Las Vegas in November.
The 20-year-old British racer claimed victory from pole position in the first of three races in Texas before finishing second in the reverse-grid contest. The points haul from those two showdowns proved sufficient to put the championship beyond reach of her closest rivals, capping a season in which Palmowski has consistently demonstrated her pace and racecraft.
Palmowski becomes the second British driver to win the all-female development series, following Abbi Pulling’s triumph in 2024. She also makes history as the youngest driver to claim the F1 Academy crown.
Her title-winning campaign has been built on remarkable speed and consistency. Palmowski has won five of the 11 races contested so far this season and has finished outside the points just once, in the reverse-grid race at Zandvoort.
The achievement carried particular significance for Palmowski, who paid an emotional tribute to her family in a post-race interview, recognising the sacrifices they had made to support her motorsport ambitions.
“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.”
Palmowski’s journey towards that dream began in karting in 2018, where she quickly established herself as a competitive prospect. She went on to secure second place among the Juniors in the Daniel Ricciardo Series in both 2020 and 2021, laying the foundations for her progression into car racing.
Her transition proved equally successful. In the Ginetta Junior Championship, she recorded an impressive 10 podium finishes before continuing her development in single-seater competition.
Named a BRDC Rising Star in 2024, Palmowski made an immediate impact in the GB4 Championship. She recorded three victories, two pole positions and 11 podium finishes — the highest tally in the field — to finish runner-up in the standings.
That performance paved the way for her first appearance in F1 Academy. Competing as a Wild Card entry at Lusail, Palmowski made a strong debut, qualifying sixth and fourth before securing fifth place in Race 1.
She joined the Red Bull Racing Academy Programme and Campos Racing for her first full F1 Academy campaign in 2025. Alisha made an immediate statement by winning in Shanghai and went on to challenge for the top rookie honours, ultimately finishing fifth overall.
That experience provided a platform for her subsequent title-winning campaign, as she translated her early promise into sustained success at the highest level of the series.
Her championship also adds another chapter to Britain’s growing record in women’s single-seater racing. Following Pulling’s 2024 F1 Academy success and Jamie Chadwick’s multiple titles in the W Series, Palmowski’s latest achievement further highlights the stellar contribution that British drivers are making to the development of global female motorsport talent.