Payton Westcott has established herself as a standout rookie on the 2026 F1 Academy grid, with her maiden win at Zandvoort marking a significant milestone in her debut season.
The PREMA Racing driver sits fifth in the Drivers’ Standings with 49 points, making her the highest-ranked rookie heading into the final two rounds. Westcott has so far secured podium finishes in Shanghai and Montreal before enduring a difficult weekend at Silverstone. However, she bounced back in the Netherlands, converting reverse-grid pole into a special victory.
In the second part of an exclusive interview with Pit Debrief, Westcott reflected on her rookie season, the lessons she’s learned, and her ambitions for the upcoming rounds in Austin and Las Vegas.
Westcott on her maiden 2026 F1 Academy victory
Speaking about her Zandvoort Reverse Grid Race win, the 17-year-old shared: “It was incredible. That win was really spectacular, and it gave me such a confidence boost.”
Westcott was promoted to reverse-grid pole following the post-qualifying disqualification of Wild Card Zoe Florescu. At lights out, she made a strong start to lead into Turn 1 before navigating two Safety Car periods. She resisted further pressure in the closing laps, holding off Alba Larsen to claim a long-awaited victory.
Despite her composed performance on track, Westcott revealed that a conversation with a Mercedes representative before the race had changed her mindset.
“Going into the race, I had just actually had a conversation with one of the people at Mercedes who I value very highly, and it had given me a lot of perspective, and this was another massive lesson learned that I took away from this event. It was definitely one of those pivotal moments, as we were talking about earlier, where I learned a ton.”
“He and I had a conversation that kind of made me a bit mad, and I really channeled that, and I took that, and I learned, and I approached that race in a different mindset than I would have if I hadn’t had that conversation. So it was incredible because I was able to apply that and really learn, and then I learned another lesson and achieved my first one, which is such a relieving feeling.”
“It just feels like you’re light again”: The feeling behind Westcott’s win
For Westcott, the victory was particularly meaningful because of how difficult it can be to reach the top step in motorsport.
“Winning is just… in a sport where you can go years without winning, whereas a team sport, okay, if you play football, then you can go, maybe you don’t perform your best, but then your team will still win, and you can win maybe every other game,” she explained.
“But you can go years in racing without winning. So in a sport where you can do that, to win is just such a big relief, and it feels almost like the anticipation is building and building and building on those final last laps, and then when you win it all, it’s so exciting, and it just feels like you’re light again, and it’s such an incredible feeling that it’s difficult to even describe.”
Westcott became the season’s fifth different race winner and the second rookie to claim victory, following Mathilda Paatz’s Montreal Reverse Grid Race win.
Setting sights on further progress
When Pit Debrief asked Westcott how she felt about her performance so far this season and whether she had exceeded her initial expectations, the Mercedes-backed driver expressed pride in her progress while remaining keen to improve.
“I’m quite proud. I would still like to move forward. I think that we are very close within all the rookies and then also the driver in front of me in the championship, so I think that’s definitely a possibility,” she began, with Larsen just one point ahead of her in the standings.
“Compared to my expectations at the beginning of the year, where I mostly wanted to learn, I think I’ve done a lot of learning. Definitely Zandvoort was a major learning point for me, so I think I’ve done quite well at that, and I want to continue taking that into Austin and Vegas, where I think, first of all, home races, so I’m super excited for that, but where I think I can continue to learn and grow as a driver and then hopefully carry that into the following season.”
Patience as a key to growth
After impressing during the 2025 F1 Academy Rookie Test, Westcott made her series debut as a Wild Card at the Las Vegas season finale. She finished P6 in Race 1 before retiring from Race 2.
Since her 2025 Las Vegas debut, Westcott believes one of her biggest areas of growth has been her patience.
“I would say my biggest growth factor would probably be patience. You can’t rush growth, so I think this is going to be a bit complicated to say, but one of the biggest ways that I’ve grown is by being more relaxed in my growth.”
Asked what advice she would give her younger self, the American driver continued: “Like I said earlier, you need to work towards your growth, but you can’t rush it, so I think one of the biggest things that I would tell my younger self is that I can be a bit more patient because the growth will come and you can’t rush it, otherwise, you don’t get the maximum value of the lesson.
“So I think that younger me, if she could calm down a little bit and really focus on the present moment, would be very helpful.”
Racing on home soil
With the final two rounds of the 2026 F1 Academy season taking place in the United States, Westcott is looking forward to racing in front of her home crowd.
“I’m super excited to be back on home soil. As I live in Italy also, it is so special to me to have home races where I get to first of all go home, but then be surrounded by all the other Americans, and it’s super exciting.”
Westcott is particularly looking forward to the upcoming Austin round, as she has never raced at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA). F1 Academy last raced at COTA in 2023, meaning most of the 2026 grid will tackle it for the first time, though some drivers have gained experience through testing.
“I’m super excited actually to be in Austin because I think none of us have ever been there. I know that some of the girls have tested there, but personally I’ve never raced there. So I think it’s going to be a really, really exciting race, especially since F1 Academy is coming back and they haven’t been there in a few years.”
She added: “And then Las Vegas, obviously having raced there last year, is going to be super exciting and giving me an advantage a bit because I have a step up on the rookies, so I think that that can definitely help me secure extra points.”
More than just results
Reflecting on her 2026 F1 Academy rookie season so far, Westcott emphasized the importance of learning from both her successes and setbacks.
“Looking back at my season so far in the past, I think I’ve done a lot of learning. There are some mistakes that I’ve made that I’m not proud of. There are some that I am, and I think that’s all part of the process,” she told Pit Debrief.
“I think that racing has the highest highs and the lowest lows, and just to learn from all of that is what it’s all about, and then you can continue to make those steps forward and progress, and I think that I’ve done a good job at that this year, and I would like to take all those lessons and keep working towards them on the end of the year just to solidify them so that I can carry them into the next year.”
