F1 ACADEMY RETURNS FOR THE FOURTH ROUND OF THE SEASON AT ZANDVOORT
F1 Academy will contest its fourth round of the season this weekend at the Zandvoort circuit in the Netherlands. As the championship enters this second part of the season, Alisha Palmowski is comfortably leading the standings.
Alisha Palmowski leads by a comfortable margin
After a very strong start to the season, Red Bull driver Alisha Palmowski arrives at Zandvoort with a significant advantage over her rivals. The British driver is leading the championship and has a comfortable margin heading into this fourth round.
Behind her, Emma Felbermayr sits second in the championship. The Austrian is Palmowski’s main rival this season, with already 5 podiums, including 2 wins. It will be important for her to close the gap in the championship with the two rounds in the United States at the end of the season.
Nina Gademan currently completes the championship podium. The Dutch driver will be keen to put in strong performances at home this weekend in order to close the gap to Felbermayr and Palmowski.
As was the case at the Shanghai and Silverstone rounds, two races will be contested this weekend, including one reverse-grid race. With two races taking place over the same weekend, every result counts towards the championship. A driver who scores two podiums can make a huge gain in the championship, while a difficult weekend could prove very costly.
Although Palmowski currently has a comfortable lead, the season is still long and the gaps can quickly change. Emma Felbermayr and Nina Gademan will both be looking to reduce their deficit.
On Zandvoort’s fast and twisty layout, the drivers are set for a weekend where qualifying will be very important, with few overtaking opportunities during the races. The Dutch circuit is not completely unknown to the drivers, as testing took place at the same venue in July to help prepare them.
The July test was particularly useful for Palmowski. The Campos Racing driver topped both days of running and was fastest in both the morning and afternoon sessions on the second day. She set a 1:36.740 in the morning and a 1:37.620 in the afternoon. The test ended with Palmowski fastest overall.
The two-day test also gave the field a large amount of track time before the race weekend. Across the two days, the F1 Academy drivers completed 2,364 laps at Zandvoort. Five sets of dry tyres were available per car for the test, as well as two sets of wet-weather tyres if needed.
The current championship standings give Palmowski 108 points, with Felbermayr on 78 and Gademan on 50. Megan Bruce and Ella Lloyd are next on 39 points each, while several drivers are still within reach of the positions further down the table.
Zandvoort will also be an important home event for Gademan. The Dutch driver has 50 points after the first three rounds and will have the chance to race at a circuit where she already completed the recent F1 Academy test.
This is the fourth round of the 2026 season, with two more rounds still to come after Zandvoort. F1 Academy will travel to Austin in October before ending the season in Las Vegas in November, meaning there are still four races and a large number of points available after this weekend.
Palmowski therefore arrives at Zandvoort as the clear championship leader, but her rivals have two races to take points away from her. With the championship heading towards its final two rounds in the United States, the Dutch weekend could become an important moment in the title fight.
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