This weekend, F1 Academy made history at Silverstone. The all-female series visited the iconic British circuit for the first time and Chiara Bättig proved to be the most successful Wildcard that F1 Academy has seen.
Free Practice and Qualifying
There was one main story from both Free Practice snd Qualifying: Chiara Bättig going fastest in both sessions, becoming the first ever Wildcard and youngest driver to ever do so.
Whilst Bättig was seemingly untouchable at the top of the times in Practice, Alisha Palmowksi and Nina Gademan came close towards the end of the session.
Halfway through the F1 Academy Qualifying session, Bättig set a time of 2:01.775 which skyrocketed her to the top of the times by 0.177 seconds. Alisha Palmowski managed to shrink the gap but had to accept second place. Lisa Billard was able to score her career-best qualifying of third place.
Reverse Grid Race
Emma Felbermayr started on Reverse Grid pole position after qualifying in eighth place. As soon as the lights went out, the Audi driver was able to pull out a gap.
Two drivers, Jade Jacquet and Esmee Kosterman, failed to get away at the start. However, they were able to get going.
Lap 1 saw a thrilling battle between Megan Bruce and Ava Dobson, who were jostling for position until Lap 9. Meanwhile, Alba Larsen and Bättig were also battling before the Wildcard was able to join Dobson and Bruce’s battle.
On Lap 13, Felbermayr crossed the line to win with Nina Gademan and Ella Lloyd joining her on the podium.
Feature Race
Bättig started the Feature Race from pole, but it was Palmowski who was able to capitalise on the race start and take the lead. Billard was unable to get going initially, however, she soon joined the back of the pack.
As soon as the race began, Gademan and Rachel Robertson engaged in a thrilling battle which was ended prematurely due to a Safety Car being called.
The reason for the Safety Car was a collision between Ella Stevens and Rafaela Ferreira on Lap 2 on the start/ finish straight.
When racing resumed, Lloyd, Felbermayr and Gademan all began to battle for position. Prior to the green flag flying, Megan Bruce misjudged her breaking and hit Larsen from behind. Further back in the field, Larsen went off track whilst fighting Kosterman.
On Lap 13, Palmowski won the race with Bättig in second and Felbermayr in third.
F1 Academy will next be racing from the 21st until the 23rd August when they visit Zandvoort in The Netherlands.