Alisha Palmowski takes opening F1 Academy pole of 2026 in Shanghai
- Vyas Ponnuri
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Alisha Palmowski set the tone in the opening qualifying of the 2026 F1 Academy season in Shanghai, bagging pole position and two championship points to begin her campaign. The Red Bull-backed Briton would start from pole for the Sunday race, ahead of Ferrari-backed Alba Larsen and Audi-backed Emma Felbermayr.
AS IT UNFOLDED - Qualifying in Shanghai
F1 Academy kicked off its first race weekend of 2026 in Shanghai, with Campos racer Palmowski topping the first free practice session of the year, ahead of Larsen and PREMA Racing's Payton Westcott.
The 2026 grid featured a mix of several drivers returning for a second season of F1 Academy, with Palmowski, Larsen, McLaren junior Ella Lloyd, Alpine junior Nina Gademan, and the likes of Felbermayr and Rafaela Ferreira set to make their case for their final shot at a championship.
The rookie class saw several unheralded names, such as Westcott, Aston Martin-backed Mathilda Paatz, Williams-backed Jade Jacquet, and several names such as Megan Bruce, Esmee Kosterman, Natalia Grenada and Haas-backed Kaylee Countryman looking to make a splash in their first full season.
Paatz was the first driver to set a competitive flying lap, setting a 2:05.592, before Felbermayr came through to beat this time by two tenths of a second from Palmowski's Red Bull-liveried Campos.
The much-fancied Briton became the first driver to breach the 2:04s, setting a new benchmark of 2:04.875 as the track began to ramp up. Larsen would set the timing screens alight once again, setting a 2:04.651 as she became the next name atop the timesheets.
Amongst the drivers making their way towards the top half of the leaderboard, Lisa Billard sat third, ahead of Gademan, Ferreira and Lloyd halfway into the 30-minute session.
Despite lighting up the second sector once again, Larsen opted to come into the pits, not completing her final lap on the first set of tyres.
Shanghai's wild card entrant Shi Wei looked to be much closer to the field this time around. Despite sitting in 18th and last on the classification, her time of 2:06.770 was much more representative and closer to the field compared to the 2025 round.
Just as the drivers returned to the track for their final set of flying laps, Haas junior Kaylee Countryman brought out the first interruption of the session, stopping on the side of the back straight. While she got going only moments later, her brief stoppage was enough to call a red flag, as just under 10 minutes were left on the clock.
The drivers returned to the track, eager to set their final flying laps and claim two championship points for gaining pole position.
Palmowski was the first to lay down her cards, setting a 2:04.637, just 14 milliseconds ahead of Larsen's session best. The timesheets began to light up once again, with all drivers on fresh tyres and the track getting grippier with more rubber laid down.
The Briton bettered her lap time by a massive margin, going a full 0.469 seconds quicker as she set a new best time of 2:04.182. PREMA Racing's Natalia Grenada jumped up into the top five on debut.
Despite making a minor improvement on her last lap, Larsen wouldn't dislodge Palmowski from the top spot, the margin still sitting at over four tenths of a second.
Further back, Felbermayr jumped up to third on the grid, with all three returning drivers taking their best results in F1 Academy. For the first race of the year, Gademan would start on reverse-grid pole, ahead of Grenada in seventh, with both drivers separated by only three milliseconds.
Classification - F1 Academy qualifying (Shanghai)
Alisha Palmowski - Campos Racing
Alba Larsen - MP Motorsport
Emma Felbermayr - Rodin Motorsport
Payton Westcott - PREMA Racing
Rafaela Ferreira - Campos Racing
Lisa Billard - ART Grand Prix
Natalia Grenada - PREMA Racing
Nina Gademan - PREMA Racing
Ava Dobson - Hitech
Ella Lloyd - Rodin Motorsport
Ella Stevens - Rodin Motorsport
Rachel Robertson - Hitech
Jade Jacquet - ART Grand Prix
Megan Bruce - Campos Racing
Esmee Kosterman - MP Motorsport
Mathilda Paatz - PREMA Racing
Kaylee Countryman - ART Grand Prix
18. Shi Wei (WCD) - Hitech TGR
Comments