Alisha Palmowski entered the 2025 F1 Academy season with a weighty badge on her overalls: Red Bull Racing. Lined up with Campos Racing, she didn’t arrive as a curiosity, but as part of a talent pipeline that expects results.
She delivered early. In Shanghai, the opening round of the year, Palmowski converted opportunity into a maiden victory. It wasn’t a win gifted by chaos. It was built on disciplined race pace and the composure to manage pressure in the closing laps. For a driver in her first season at this level, it sent a clear signal: she belonged at the sharp end.
From that moment, she rarely drifted from the spotlight. Even when outright pace wasn’t enough for victory, she placed herself in the mix, banking points and staying close to the championship frontrunners.
A Rookie Learning Fast
As the F1 Academy calendar moved through street circuits, high-speed sweeps and technical layouts, Palmowski’s driving took on a recurring pattern. Solid qualifying, measured starts, and a tendency to grow stronger as races developed. She didn’t always nail the first lap, but she often ended races further forward than she began them.
Podium finishes on multiple weekends underlined that her Shanghai win was no one-off. She showed strong speed in both free practice and qualifying at tracks like Zandvoort and Montreal, frequently placing the Campos car inside the top group. When conditions changed or the grip fell away late in races, she usually handled it with maturity beyond her experience.
There were, inevitably, rough edges. A couple of scrappy races and one costly non-score reminded everyone that she was still in her rookie year. But the bigger picture told a different story, Palmowski adapted quickly, cut out repeat mistakes, and rarely let a bad Saturday turn into a lost F1 Academy weekend.
By mid-season, she had established herself as the leading newcomer in the field. The established names still set the pace over a full campaign, but Palmowski slotted in just behind them, often acting as the benchmark for the next wave of talent.
Vegas Drama and the Final Tally
The season finale in Las Vegas summed up the fine margins of her year. On Saturday, a strong result vanished after her car failed post-race checks, leaving her disqualified and stripped of points. It was a brutal outcome on paper, and it threatened to drag down an otherwise consistent campaign.
Her response on Sunday mattered more than the penalty. Palmowski came back aggressively, fought her way into clear air, and finished second behind her teammate. It was a podium that did more than patch up the points table; it reinforced a narrative that had followed her all season: when knocked back, she hit back harder.
When the final standings came into focus, Palmowski sat fifth in the drivers’ championship. For a first-year driver in a series increasingly stacked with experienced returnees and major-team support, that position carried weight. She ended the season with one victory, multiple podiums, and a reputation for consistency that many of her rivals would happily have borrowed.
A Foundation for Something Bigger
Strip away the branding and the colour of her overalls, and Palmowski’s 2025 season still reads like a genuine step forward for a young single-seater driver. She showed she could win, she showed she could grind out points on difficult days, and she showed she could absorb the noise that comes with carrying a major team’s logo.
With Red Bull and Campos in her corner, her path now depends on whether she can turn this strong rookie campaign into a sustained title push or a promotion further up the ladder. On the evidence of 2025, she has the raw material: speed, resilience, and an ability to learn quickly.
In a championship designed to spotlight emerging talent, Alisha Palmowski didn’t just appear. She imposed herself. And as the F1 Academy paddock turns its attention to next season, Palmowski’s name now sits in a different category, not just one to watch, but one expected to fight for much more.
