Alisha Palmowski triumphs at Silverstone and extends championship lead. Campos Racing continues leading
F1 Academy’s visit to Silverstone proved extremely positive for the championship ambitions of Campos Racing and Alisha Palmowski in 2026. The British driver, representing the Red Bull Racing Academy Programme, truly lived up to the saying of being a prophet in her own land, taking victory in front of her home crowd and further strengthening her lead in the championship standings. The same applies to Campos Racing in the Teams’ Championship, with the Alzira-based squad entering the summer break at the top of both classifications.
Megan Bruce continued her run of points-scoring performances at the wheel of her TAG Heuer-liveried car, while Rafaela Ferreira was unable to do the same this weekend. The Brazilian driver, backed by the Visa Cash App RB Academy Programme, narrowly missed out on points on Saturday before being forced to retire from Sunday’s race.
Palmowski immediately demonstrated her pace during Friday’s free practice session by setting the second-fastest time with a lap of 2m02.848s. Among her teammates, Bruce posted a best effort of 2m03.788s, while Ferreira recorded a 2m04.369s lap.
Qualifying, held later that same afternoon, became a head-to-head battle for pole position between Palmowski and Chiara Bättig. Both drivers continuously improved their lap times and were the only two competitors capable of breaking into the 2m01s bracket. Palmowski’s final effort of 2m01.952s brought her tantalizingly close to pole, but she ultimately fell just over one tenth of a second short of Bättig’s benchmark. Nevertheless, second place on the grid represented a strong starting point for the remainder of the weekend. Further back, Bruce and Ferreira qualified ninth and fourteenth respectively. The British driver set a best lap of 2m02.541s, while the Brazilian stopped the clocks at 2m02.935s.
Saturday’s sprint race featured a reversed grid for the top eight positions, placing Palmowski seventh on the starting grid. With the race taking place in the afternoon and track temperatures remaining relatively high, tyre management was expected to play an important role. At the start, Palmowski immediately gained two positions to move into fifth place, while Bruce overtook Ava Dobson around the outside with an excellent move. The race developed as a tightly packed train, with virtually the entire field running nose-to-tail. Without DRS, however, overtaking opportunities were limited. Palmowski spent most of the race tucked in behind Rachel Robertson and, despite making several attempts to challenge, ultimately had to settle for fifth place at the chequered flag. Bruce finished ninth, while Ferreira crossed the line in eleventh.
Palmowski’s true test arrived on Sunday. Fully aware of how difficult overtaking would be, she knew that the start would be crucial to maximising her chances of victory. As soon as the lights went out, Palmowski launched perfectly and swept past Bättig within the opening metres. In a race that remained largely uninterrupted, the pair quickly appeared set to break away from the rest of the field. Ferreira, however, was eliminated from contention following contact with Ella Stevens, an incident that brought out the safety car for three laps. Although the Campos Racing driver managed to return to the pits, the damage sustained by her car prevented her from rejoining the race. At the front, Bättig applied relentless pressure to Palmowski throughout all thirteen laps, but the race and championship leader remained unfazed. After also setting the fastest lap and securing the additional point awarded for it, Palmowski crossed the finish line to claim her third victory of the 2026 season. Bruce, who enjoyed several intense battles throughout the race, including with Alba Larsen, ultimately secured ninth place and added further points to her tally.
At the halfway stage of the championship, Palmowski sits atop the standings with 108 points, carrying a thirty-point advantage over her nearest rival into the summer break. Bruce now occupies fourth position with 39 points, while Ferreira is ninth with 27. In the Teams’ Championship, as highlighted above, Campos Racing remains firmly in control with 174 points, giving the Spanish squad a healthy 53-point advantage over its closest competitor.
The championship now enters a brief pause before returning for the fourth round of the season at Zandvoort on 22-23 August.
