Westcott takes first win as Palmowski takes fourth in F1 Academy Zandvoort race weekend

Round 4 of the F1 Academy season took place last weekend in Zandvoort, as part of the Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix support package. Alisha Palmowski took her fourth F1 Academy victory of the season in the Feature Race, with Payton Westcott taking the Reverse Grid Race win.

Round 4 of the 2026 F1 Academy season saw the 2026 drivers head to the iconic Zandvoort Circuit for the fourth and final time, with Romanian driver Zoe Florescu joining as the wild card.

Alisha Palmowski, Payton Westcott, Alba Larsen, Nina Gademan and Esmee Kosterman were the standout performers of the weekend. Kosterman scored her first points of the season with a fourth-place finish in the Reverse Grid Race and a seventh-place finish in the Future Race.

A special mention to Rachel Roberton, who finished in the points for the fourth consecutive race with a sixth- and seventh-place finish.

Palmowski fastest in Zandvoort qualifying session

Palmowski set the fastest lap of the qualifying session at the very last moment, with Larsen leading for the majority of the session. Palmowski put 0.864s between her and the Dane, after the wet-to-dry session saw drivers struggle with grip and finding space.

Megan Bruce initially qualified in P8, meaning she was on pole for the Reverse Grid Race; however, she was later promoted to P7 after Wild Card Zoe Florescu was disqualified for a breach of technical regulations. Westcott was promoted to P8 and started the Reverse Grid Race on pole position.

Palmowski on pole position

Westcott led from start to finish in the Reverse Grid Race

Starting from pole position for the Reverse Grid race, Westcott showed dominance from start to finish, holding off a charge from both Larsen and Gademan to take her first win in F1 Academy.

Westcott led all the way to the chequered flag, surviving two Safety Car restarts and a fast-paced Larsen behind her. Larsen finished in P2, Gademan in P3, and Kosterman claimed her first points of the season with a P4 finish. Ella Lloyd, Rachel Robertson, Megan Bruce and Ava Dobson rounded out the points-scoring positions, with Palmowski stalling off the start line and having to settle for 13th.

Westcott's first F1 Academy win

Palmowski took her fourth victory of the season in the Feature Race.

Palmowski dominated the Feature Race, taking her fourth win of the season, keeping Larsen behind her at the start and staying calm under pressure through the first half of the race. Palmowski crossed the line with a 2.765-second gap to Larsen, with Gademan a further 8.7 seconds behind her.

Palmowski's fourth win of the season

Larsen and Gademan make it a double podium

Larsen, who had been struggling in recent rounds, found pace immediately in qualifying, becoming the fastest in the wet conditions and missing out on pole by only a few seconds. She made a charge from seventh, finishing in second in the Reverse Grid Race and had to settle for second once again in the Feature Race.

Gademan, along with Larsen, featured on both podiums of the weekend, after finishing P3 in both races.

Gademan on the podium

Kosterman achieves first points at home

Round 4 was the fourth and final time F1 Academy raced around the Zandvoort Circuit, with the Dutch Grand Prix disappearing from the race calendar for both F1 and F1 Academy.

Dutch drivers Gademan and Kosterman were home favourites, with both receiving big cheers and full support from the Dutch fans.

Gademan gave something for home fans to cheer about with two P3 race finishes, and Kosterman, who has had some bad luck this season, scored her first points of the year with a fourth and tenth place finish.

F1 Academy Zandvoort Race Results

Qualifying: 1) Alisha Palmowski 1:40.911

2) Alba Larsen +0.864

3) Natalia Granada +1.099

Reverse Grid Race: 1) Payton Westcott

2) Alba Larsen +1.807

3) Nina Gademan +5.724

Feature Race: 1) Alisha Palmowski

2) Alba Larsen +2.765

3) Nina Gademan +11.527

2026 Season Standings After Round 4

1. Alisha Palmowski - 136 points

2. Emma Felbermayr - 88 points

3. Nina Gademan - 71 points

4. Alba Larsen - 50 points

5. Payton Westcott - 49 points

6. Megan Bruce - 49 points

7. Ella Lloyd - 47 points

8. Mathilda Paatz - 35 points

9. Natalia Granada - 35 points

10. Rafaela Ferreira - 27 points

11. Chiara Bättig (WCD) - 22 points

12. Rachel Robertson - 22 points

13. Lisa Billard - 15 points

14. Kaylee Countryman - 14 points

15. Ava Dobson - 8 points

16. Esmee Kosterman - 6 points

17. Ella Stevens - 4 points

18. Zoe Florescu (WCD)

19. Autumn Fisher

20. Jade Jacquet

21. Shi Wei (WCD)

F1 Academy is back for Round 5 in Austin (United States) on October 22-25, alongside the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix weekend.

All images are credited to F1 Academy Limited.