Chiara Battig made a sensational start to her debut weekend, making F1 ACADEMY history in Silverstone Qualifying by becoming the first Wild Card driver to earn pole position.
The Wella driver looked comfortable from the moment she first got out on track. After topping the early morning Practice session, the Red Bull Junior took a firm grip on the top of the timesheets with a 2:01.775 to become the series’ youngest polesitter.
Standings leader Alisha Palmowski was second, after steadily cutting Battig’s advantage down to 0.177s. Gatorade’s Lisa Billard delivered her best-ever Qualifying performance in third.
It was a day of career-best results, as Ava Dobson and Rachel Robertson ensured all three Hitech cars qualified inside the top five. Lloyd was unable to translate her testing pace onto the track and had to settle for sixth.
Nina Gademan finished in P7 ahead of Emma Felbermayr, ensuring an all-second year front row for Saturday’s Reverse Grid Race. Megan Bruce qualified in ninth, while Mercedes’ Payton Westcott rounded out the top 10.
The series’ Silverstone debut will get continue with the Reverse Grid Race, which is set to start at 18:05 local time on Saturday. Until then you can read a full report from today’s F1 ACADEMY Qualifying session in the official website here.
.webp?ssl=1 "All the stories that got the Silverstone paddock talking ahead of the 2026 Formula 1 British Grand Prix")
