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Wildcard Palmowski makes successful F1 Academy debut
Glossop’s Alisha Palmowski took an impressive top five finish in the weekend’s first F1 Academy race at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar.
18-year-old Palmowski – a wildcard entry marking her first start in the series – quickly settled into her new surroundings, qualifying her Prema car sixth for her first race in the all-woman competition.
2024 GB4 runner-up Palmowski improved from her grid slot and bagged 12 points for finishing fifth, maintaining her position after a first lap overtake of ART’s Lia Block. While unable to challenge Hamda Al Qubaisi ahead of her, she kept Block at bay for the remainder of the race.
READ MORE: F1 Academy: Jessica Edgar’s Singapore struggles
Tomorrow’s event could hold even more promise for the teenager, who will start her second race on the second row in P4. Palmowski will hope to at least emulate fellow wild cards Nina Gademan and Ella Lloyd with a double points finish – with Gademan’s fourth place at Zaandvort currently the best result for a wild card this year.
Edgar edges up the standings with points finish
Cumbrian driver Jess Edgar returned to the points with a seventh place finish – with the six points gained her first in six races. Six points gained here sees her leapfrog Carrie Schreiner into ninth place in the Driver’s Championship.
After starting tenth, Ennerdale’s Edgar finished eighth on the road – but Chloe Chambers’ five second penalty for a false start promoted the Rodin driver one spot higher – and dropped her American counterpart out of the points altogether.
Edgar finished ahead of the three drivers who started in front of her – overtaking Aurelia Nobels early on, with Bianca Bustamente dropping to last following an off road excursion. Nerea Martí was the big loser in a three way battle between herself, Edgar and Chambers in the closing stages.
This is the penultimate race weekend of her F1 Academy career, due to the competition’s two season limit for drivers. The 19-year-old has four podium finishes to her name to date, with one victory in the final event of the 2023 season at COTA, USA.
Edgar qualified in 13th place for the second race, and will need a strong drive if she’s to achieve a double points finish this weekend.
How sweet it is 😊@AbbiPulling is our 2024 champion!#F1Academy #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/42p2pURMsS
— F1 Academy (@f1academy) November 30, 2024
Pulling seals title as Pin handles race
At the front, Prema’s Doriane Pin completed a lights to flag victory to continue her dominance this weekend, but Abbi Pulling’s second place finish was enough for her to seal the Driver’s Championship with three races to spare.
The Lincolnshire driver knew scoring 16 points would be enough to seal the title, regardless of second place in the standings Pin’s result. Pulling started third, but overtook Maya Weug on the opening lap, and held her ground when the German driver attempted to regain the position.
With second place scoring 18 points, Pulling knew she needn’t take any unnecessary risks – while in any case Pin looked to have her number this weekend, finishing a cool 6.7 seconds up the road and setting the fastest lap of 1:54.996.
F1 Academy Race 1 points scorers – Lusail, Qatar
France’s Pin has topped the timesheets in every session this weekend and will once again start on pole position for tomorrow’s second race of the weekend. Weug completed the podium, with Red Bull-backed Hamda Al Qubaisi, Palmowski and Williams driver Block completing the top six.
The points positions were completed by Edgar, Marti, Nobels and Emely de Heus – with the demoted Chambers finishing 11th.
Tomorrow’s second race sees a repeat in the top three positions – with Pin, Weug and Pulling lining up in that order. Palmowski, Hamda Al Qubaisi and Martí complete the first three rows.
Edgar shares row 7 with de Heus, with her path to the points currently blocked by Nobels, Amna Al Qubaisi and Tina Hausmann.
The series concludes alongside the F1 season next weekend at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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