Payton Westcott seizes opportunity to take maiden F1 Academy win in Zandvoort
A slightly drier Saturday afternoon welcomed the first race of F1 Academy for the Dutch Grand Prix weekend. After a disqualification for Wildcard Zoe Florescu, Mercedes-backed Payton Westcott was promoted to eighth offering her an opportunity to secure a podium starting on reverse grid pole.
Westcott took full advantage of the opportunity coming home victorious to securing her maiden victory in F1 Academy. She was followed by Ferrari-backed Alba Larsen in second and Nina Gademan who finished her home race in third to round out the podium.
How it happened
Westcott held a strong start off the line taking full advantage of her pole position. Just behind her Megan Bruce held steady but suffered early pressure from Dutch-driver Gademan.
For the championship leader, however, it was a difficult start as she stalled on lights out.
As Lap 2 began, Gademan made an early move on Bruce through Turn 1 moving up to second position just before a yellow flag was called.
Advancing through the second lap a yellow flag was called after a brave attempt from Natalia Granada caused her to snap oversteer. The misjudgement signalled the end of her race as her Sephora livery found the barrier, fortunately she was unharmed.
As racing resumed, Bruce found herself falling down the order to seventh, losing the strong pace she showcased at the beginning of the race.
In Lap 5, Emma Felbermayr found impressive pace in fourth chasing down Rachael Robertson’s Puma livery, however toward the end of the lap she turned more defensive as Larsen began gaining quickly.
In Lap 6, Larsen made a late move on Felbermayr advancing her to fourth and trailing less than a second from Robertson ahead.
Larsen, who is no stranger to Zandvoort continued her hunt into Lap 8, moving up to third after another late and brave move saw her successfully overtake Robertson.
As the halfway point approached Bruce was still struggling, but remained steady in seventh, maintaining a small gap between herself and Ella Lloyd who sat in eighth.
In Lap 9, Alpine-backed Gademan found herself under pressure as Larsen was quickly gaining on her bright pink livery, under half a second between them.
In Lap 10, a second yellow flag was called and the safety car deployed after Jade Jaquet spun into the gravel.
Not long after it was initially called, the safety car ended as Lap 12 approached. Westcott had an impressive restart creating an advantageous gap between herself and the cars behind. Meanwhile, Gademan was late to react, leaving her vulnerable to Larsen behind. As the line was crossed marking the 12th lap, Larsen overtook Gademan to move into second.
It was a close battle for sixth between Lloyd, Bruce and Felbermayr as drivers went three-wide in a series of aggressive attempts to secure sixth position. However, it was Lloyd who earned the position.
As the final lap rolled around, Felbermayr was handed a 5-second time penalty for causing contact earlier in the race.
After a dominant race, Westcott secured a well-deserved Reverse Grid Race win, marking her maiden win in F1 Academy.
She was followed by Larsen who secured her best F1 Academy result so far, and Gademan who crossed the line third.
What’s next
The championship season will continue on Sunday for the Feature Race at 10:30AM with championship leader Alisha Palmowski on pole.
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