Shanghai – Qualifying: Alisha Palmowski dominates, Lisa Billard close behind the Top 5

On the sidelines of the Chinese Grand Prix, the F1 Academy makes its return this weekend in Shanghai. The grid is different from the 2025 version, and there are many interesting events to note during this first round of the season. Alisha Palmowski and Alba Larsen, favorites due to their experience in the category and their speed last year, engaged in an anticipated duel for pole position. Ultimately, it was the driver supported by Red Bull who quite clearly dominated his counterpart wearing the colors of Classic Ferrari for saleWith an absolute best time of 2:04.182, Alisha Palmowski beat her closest pursuer by almost half a second.

Third, Emma Felbermayr also confirmed her status as a repeat competitor, setting a time close to that of her Danish predecessor. However, the first minor surprise of this session remains... Mercedes BenzPayton Westcott, the American chosen by the star-branded company to succeed Dorian Pin, managed to achieve the fourth fastest time of the session, nine thousandths of a second behind a Felbermayr that was much sharper in these F4s.

Lisa Billard is in the mix, Jade Jacquet is finding her feet

Highly anticipated by the French public, Lisa Billard and Jade Jacquet appear to have made a successful debut. For Billard, who will be competing as a wildcard entry on the Singapore grid in 2025, the F1 Academy wasn't entirely new territory in Shanghai. However, she set the sixth fastest time in the session, placing her ideally for the two races this weekend. Indeed, the first of the two races will have its starting grid reversed by swapping the positions of the top eight cars, meaning she could score points twice this weekend, if things go as she hopes.

For her part, Jade Jacquet, for whom this environment was completely new, has no reason to be ashamed of her performance. The Frenchwoman, supported by [unclear], finished 13th. Williams She was only one second off pole position and remained unfazed by the various events of the session. Notably, her ART Grand Prix teammate, American Kaylee Countryman, was disappointed, forced to abandon her final track runs. This caused a brief red flag with ten minutes remaining in the session. The driver, supported by Haas seemed to be experiencing a mechanical problem on its car. Now, tune in at 6:30 am (French time) this Saturday to watch the first Sprint of the year in F1 Academy, where Lisa Billard will start from third position.

F1 Academy – Shanghai (China)
The qualification ranking