Campos Racing’s Alisha Palmowski found her rhythm in wet conditions, dominating the second and final day of F1 Academy’s in-season test at Silverstone. On the opening day, however, it was Ella Lloyd who set the pace, topping the timesheets with an early benchmark she laid down during the morning session. As grey skies and rain hung over Silverstone, Palmowski’s pace proved untouchable across both sessions of the day.
Morning session
With a wet track greeting the drivers early in the morning, the majority of the field first opted to head out on wet tyres, as Palmowski and her teammate Megan Bruce left the pits for their warm-up laps. However, within the first ten minutes of the session, Rafaela Ferreira triggered the first red flag of the day after the Brazilian found the gravel traps at Stowe.
Once the session got back underway, Lloyd set a benchmark and crossed the line with a 2:18.225. Despite another red flag interruption, lap times continued to fall over the next hour as drivers acclimatised to the wet conditions.
Ferrari-backed Alba Larsen became the first driver of the day to break into the 2:15s, but was soon displaced by Palmowski, who delivered three personal best laps to move 1.027s clear of Larsen and take control at the top of the timesheets. While Nina Gademan briefly moved up to the top, Larsen and Palmowski went head-to-head, trading off fastest laps.
As the morning session came to a close, times were starting to jump. Lloyd found pace on a drying track, breaking into the sub-2:09s before Kaylee Countryman brought out the third red flag of the session after the American found herself in the gravel at Club.
Although several drivers looked competitive at the end of the session, it was Palmowski who ultimately came out on top with a 2:02.861 on her final attempt.
Afternoon session
Hitech’s Rachel Robertson wasted no time and went to the top of the timings with an early benchmark of 2:04.525. However, it wasn’t long before Palmowski carried her momentum from the morning session, with the Briton going over a second quicker than Robertston with a 2:03.268.
Across her next two laps, Palmowski managed to find further improvements and cemented her position at the top with a 2:02.319, as Robertson managed to close the gap to 0.458s behind her. Red flags were waved once again as Ava Dobson became the next driver to find the gravel traps at Luffield. However, on the restart, Palmowski was quick and improved with a 2:01.945. Following behind, Bruce crossed the line to finish just 0.077s off Palmowski’s lap.
As the final day of testing came to an end, drivers weren’t able to find improvements as Payton Westcott finished P3 ahead of Lloyd and Dobson. Current championship leader Emma Felbermayr finished in P6, as Robertson, Mathilda Paatz, Gademan and Larsen rounded up the top ten.
