F1 Academy Round 4 Review
- therookiereporters
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
The race weekend in Zandvoort just wrapped up. Here’s your summary of all the things that happened.
The Weekend Setup
F1 Academy has been racing at Zandvoort for the third year in a row now. The 4.359 km (2.708 mi) long Circuit, famous for its steep banks, hosted 17 laps in both races, which is a distance of 72.403 km (44.989 mi). The fastest lap around the dunes is a 1:35.926 and has been driven by Hamda Al Quabaisi in 2023. The drivers championship led by Alisha Palmowski and the Constructors Championship led by Campos Racing.
The Wildcard for the weekend is the 17-year old Zoe Florescu from Romania racing for Dirt is Good.
Free Practice & Qualifying
At the start of the session the track was pretty cold and still wet from earlier rain. All the drivers struggled to get up to speed with those conditions, eventually Emma Felbermayer set a fast lap followed by Ella Lloyd and Lisa Billard, all three setting laps in the 1:39 range. The first driver in the 1:38 was Alba Larsen. Shortly after Larsen set the Lap, Ava Dobson ran wide and made contact with the barrier making the Session come to a halt.
After the red flag the conditions quickly improved and the fast laps began again. Ferreira quickly set the fastest lap, but then got topped by home hero Nina Gademan, the Zandvoort Wildcard Entry from 2024. With 5 minutes remaining french driver Jade Jaquet suffered with a snap of oversteer and spun out. By hairs length she didn’t crash into fellow french driver Lisa Billard. The session got red flagged and didn’t resume. Therefore the timesheet was topped by Gademan, Ferreira and Larsen.
After the short cut practice session all eyes were on qualifying. Another rain cloud over the track made the asphalt wet and cold, there was almost no grip. Multiple drivers had lock-ups and other struggles at Turn 11. Eventually Billard ran into the gravel at Turn 2, after losing the rear of the car bringing out a red flag. Not long after Ferreira Locked up in the same section bringing out yet another red flag.
At the end of qualifying Palmowski got pole position with a lap in the 1:40s. Larsen only tenths behind her and Granada in third place. After qualifying every car got checked and Zoe Florescu’s car did not meet the Technical Regulations which disqualified her from her P7 Qualifying result and set her to P17 on the grid.
Reverse Grid Race
Payton Westcott started on Pole for the first time after Florescu was disqualified. She made the best of it and got a good gap between herself and Megan Bruce right at the start. Homehero Gademan got a good start as well, quickly gaining places and overtaking Bruce for 2nd place. At the back of the Grid Palmowski stalled and Mathilda Paatz had an issue as well. Both got off the line and joined the race safely.
During lap two Granada tried to overtake Felbermayr and hit the wall which brought out the safety car. At the Restart Westcott held on to her lead chaos unfolding behind her, as Larsen, Bruce and Felbermayr went into a three-way battle for P3 at turn 1. Eventually the fight resulted in Bruce losing a few places.
On Lap 9, the teammates backed by Williams and Gatorade had a collision leaving Jaquet in the gravel. Bringing out a brief second Safety car period. Payton Westcott mastered the second restart as well while Larsen had a lock-up into Turn 1, but managed blocking Gademan from overtaking. The Ferrari backed Dane challenged the Mercedes backed American for P1, but Westcott managed to hold Larsen behind herself. Lloyd moved through the GId and secured P5 while Kosterman got P4 and her first points of the season.
On the Podium stood Westcott, Larsen and Homehero Gademan, who was just in front of the other Homehero Kosterman. The rest of the points went to Lloyd, Robertson and Bruce. Emma Felbermayr originally finished P8, but got a 5-second penalty for contact with Robertson, which set her back to P13 and promoted Dobson to P8.
Feature Race
Championship leader Palmowski started on pole. Her start in the Reverse Grid wasn’t amazing and she tried her best not to repeat that. She didn’t get off the line well, but managed to hold Larsen behind her. Larsen then got into a battle with Granada, but stayed ahead chasing Palmowski on track. Gademan and Lloyd had a great launch off the line and both made their way through the grid.
Felbermayr and Granada battled and made slight contact. At the front Larsen was chasing the RedBull backed driver, but couldn’t get past. Further Behind LLoyd managed to get P8 as she overtook Westcott. Bruce and Robertson battled, but both held on to their positions.
This race was far less crazy as Palmowski led every lap and there were no safety car periods. On the Podium were the Briton, the Dane and the Dutch. Followed by Granada, Felbermayr, Bruce, Robertson, Lloyd, Westcott and Kosterman bringing home points.
What’s Next?
Alisha Palmowski further built her Championship lead to 48 points and Campos Racing Gained good points as well, still leading the Constructors Championship. The next Round is on the 22.- 25 October held at Circuit of the Americas (COTA).
Article Written by Yael Bächler © Yael Bächler 2026
