Tommy Hilfiger’s Alba Larsen delivered an impressive performance in the final Qualifying session of the 2025 F1 Academy season, securing 3rd for the first time since the opening round in Shanghai. In her rookie campaign, the 16 year-old has stunned many with her speed, finishing inside the top five on six occasions this year. While Larsen continues her hunt for a maiden podium, Red Bull F1 Academy drivers Chloe Chambers and Alisha Palmowski denied the Dane from claiming her first pole position.
From the get-go, the 16 year-old evidently had the pace and finished 4th in Free Practice. However, after Qualifying, when asked if she’d expected an impressively competitive performance from her, Larsen responded: “I don’t know. I finished P4 in Practice as well, so I was up there and I knew I’d done a lot of prep and I felt ready.”
“I felt good, but obviously you can’t really expect anything until you’re on track. It was a bit tricky in the beginning but I found my space and found a good flow, so I ended up doing some really good laps in the end – that helped me get to P3 which I’m really happy about. It’s hard to say that I expected it, but I’m really happy to be here.”
The secret behind success is teamwork
On a circuit dominated by long straights, the advantage of a tow plays a crucial role in extracting maximum speed, especially during Qualifying. Larsen explained how teamwork played a key role at MP Motorsport when maximising their speed. Whilst their initial attempt at a tow was unsuccessful, the Dane said: “I think it’s quite hard when you’re on track to do that stuff without talking about it before, obviously we’re a team and we want to help each other, especially with Maya [Weug] as a title contender.”
“We talked about it before because we knew it was going to be a massive thing here with such a long straight. I ended up giving Maya a really good tow and she gave me one back so it was good.”
The 16 year-old hopes to fight through the field and take away lessons from Race 1. With her sights set on maximising points this weekend, Larsen recognises a prime opportunity to claim her maiden F1 Academy podium.
Larsen said: “I think there will be a lot of fighting, and hopefully I’ll be able to do some overtakes and fight my way through the grid, Race 1 is going to be a way to measure stuff so that we’re ready for Race 2 on Saturday. It’s going to be the main race and there are lots of points to play for. Starting up here, it’s going to be really important so that I’ll hopefully be able to finish where I’m starting.”
