After a strong weekend at Silverstone, Alisha Palmowski continued on her run of consistent form into the 2026 F1 Academy in-season test at Zandvoort, dominating the first day by topping both the morning and afternoon sessions. With a 1:37.146 in the morning and a 1:37.200 in the afternoon, the championship leader remained unbeaten. Here’s what happened on the first day of the 2026 F1 Academy in-season test at Zandvoort.
Morning session
The opening stages of the morning session were relatively quiet, with only several drivers completing reconnaissance laps during the first hour. Palmowski was the first to raise the pace, setting the initial benchmark with a 1:40.241 before improving over her next four laps to a 1:37.146—two tenths clear of Ferrari-backed Alba Larsen.
Wild Card entrant Zoe Florescu brought out the first red flag of the day after stopping at pit entry. Once the session resumed, drivers continued to log more laps, but no one could challenge Palmowski at the top of the timings.
Three subsequent red flags disrupted the morning session during the third hour of running. Rafaela Ferreira found the barriers at Turn 9, Esmee Kosterman stopped at the exit of Turn 10, and Florescu brought out another red flag after stopping at Turn 3 with just three minutes remaining. As a result, the session was not resumed.
An impressive early effort from Palmowski proved enough to keep her at the top of the timesheets, with Larsen, Ella Lloyd, Lisa Billard, Emma Felbermayr, Rachel Robertson, Nina Gademan, Ferreira, Kosterman and Natalia Granada completing the top ten.
Afternoon session
McLaren-backed Lloyd wasted no time setting the pace in the afternoon session, opening with a 1:43.869 before quickly improving into the 1:39s. Felbermayr soon displaced the McLaren driver at the top of the timesheets with a 1:38.901, before Billard showcased her impressive adaptation to Zandvoort. Despite it being her first time tackling the circuit, the French driver lowered the benchmark further to a 1:38.111, going three tenths clear of Palmowski at that stage.
After topping the morning session, Palmowski brought out the red flags after making a trip through the gravel traps. Once the session resumed, Kosterman moved into the top three by slotting into P2, before Gademan closed the gap to Billard to just 0.014s during the second hour of running.
Setting a 1:37.805, Lloyd found her way back to the top. However, her improvement triggered a flurry of personal best lap times from the rest of the field, with Felbermayr briefly moving to the top of the timesheets with a 1:37.726 before Palmowski responded by pulling five tenths over the Audi driver with a 1:37.200.
The closing stages of the afternoon session saw one final red flag after Jade Jacquet found the barriers at Turn 9. Palmowski’s lap remained untouchable as Felbermayr, Lloyd, Robertson, Granada, Gademan, Billard, Kosterman, Larsen and Payton Westcott completed the top ten as the opening day of running came to a close.
