Who is Payton Westcott?
- therookiereporters
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
After a 1.5-month-long wait, F1 Academy is finally reaching its season finale in Las Vegas. While everyone is waiting for an exciting last championship battle between Doriane Pin and Maya Weug, a young American driver is about to make her first impression in the F1 Academy grid. Let’s get to know Payton Westcott!
Westcott was born in March 2009 and started racing in karting at the early age of 6. She stepped into the competitive stage only 3 years ago and raced for Nash Motorsportz and Rolison Performance Group. Her impressive performance was noticed and she was chosen for the Champions of the Future Academy Programme in 2024. With the knowledge and experience she gained from that, she had a chance to compete in Europe and was rewarded with an F1 Academy Discover Your Drive scholarship in the OK-N Senior category. In the long years she spent in karting, she claimed 6 victories along with many podiums and pole positions, highlighting her talent.
In 2025, her career transitioned from karting to single-seater circuit racing when she joined the established Dutch team Van Amersfoort Racing (VAR). Under the VAR umbrella, she competed in the Formula Winter Series, E4 Championship and Italian F4 Championship with the car #94. In her own class, she scored 8 wins and 25 top 3 finishes in total this season.
2 months ago, she was one of the 18 drivers who took part in the first F1 Academy Rookie Test and she finished the test as the third fastest driver overall. The rookie test has already proven its significance with one of the test drivers having made a wild card entry and another one having stood in for the injured Aussie Avia Anagnostiadis. That’s why it’s not surprising to see Payton has been given a chance to make her debut on home soil as the seventh and last wild card entry of the season.
This weekend, she will be racing for Visit Las Vegas powered by Hitech TGR with the #15 car. She’ll drive alongside Nicole Havrda and Rachel Robertson, who is another other rookie test driver standing in for Avia Anagnostiadis. If things go her way on the Vegas streets and she continues to impress with this opportunity, this weekend may not be the last time we’ll see the 16-year-old American driver in the F1 Academy grid.
Article written by Emre Albas © Emre Albas 2025
