GB4 Vice-Champion Alisha Palmowski will join the Red Bull Academy Programme for a full-time F1 Academy season in 2025 with Campos Racing, following her impressive debut as a Wild Card entry in Qatar and a standout rookie formula season.
After an impressive F1 Academy debut in Qatar two weeks ago, where she scored a top five on her first race and was on course to fight for a podium in the then-cancelled second race, Alisha Palmowski is set to join the grid for a full-time season in 2025, joining the ranks of the Red Bull Academy Programme.
The 18-year old British racer will share the Campos Racing garage - the team that will operate the Red Bull-sponsored cars - with F1 Academy race winner Chloe Chambers (Red Bull Ford) and Brazilian F4 race winner and F1 Academy rookie Rafaela Ferreira (Visa CashApp RB).
“I am incredibly excited and honoured to be joining the Red Bull Racing Pepe Jeans Programme in F1 Academy for 2025", Palmowski commented. "Oracle Red Bull Racing is one of the best teams on the grid, and to see the talent they have brought through the doors and to get to be a part of that next generation is something that I could never have imagined."
"The Team has been incredibly supportive so far, and I can’t wait to get fully underway with them in 2025 with the ultimate goal of winning the championship", she continued, as the Brit will aim to build momentum after her impressive 2024 season. "I have already been working in the sim and with the Team to get a jumpstart on next year and have full focus on performing and delivering results.”
Alisha started karting in 2018 in the Daniel Ricciardo Series, and was Junior Vice Champion in both 2020 and 2021. Having graduated from the highly-competitive Ginetta Junior Championship, where she claimed 10 podium finishes in 2023, Palmowski demonstrated immediate speed right from her first tests in F4 machinery - and went on to claim a spectacular victory at Oulton Park, in her first-ever formula race in the GB4 Championship.
Palmowski’s rookie season in formulas ultimately ended with three victories, two pole positions, 11 podiums, and 16 top-five finishes in 20 races, in one of the most exciting debuts in recent years. She sealed the Vice-Champion title in the highly-competitive GB4 series, was the highest-finishing female driver and therefore also earned a €30,000 prize fund from MSV toward a F1 Academy seat in 2025.
At the end of the year, Alisha also had the opportunity to drive the new-gen Formula E car as she joined Envision Racing in the all-female Formula E team at the Jarama Circuit, Spain.
She was also selected as one of the 10 finalists for the 2024 Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award.
At the Qatar GP, Palmowski made her first appearance on the F1 Academy grid as the Wild Card entry, turning heads with top-five pace across the weekend. She becomes the fourth Wild Card from the 2024 season to be announced for a full-time season in 2025, highlighting the programme's merits in giving young talents opportunities in the all-female series.
“Alisha impressed us from the start and has already proved herself on the F1 Academy grid as a Wild Card entrant in Qatar", said Sarah Harrington, Red Bull Academy Programme Manager. "We are very excited to welcome her to the Red Bull Academy Programme for 2025, and she is a great addition to complete our line-up as we look to next season. We’ve taken a lot of key learnings from our first year in F1 Academy and are looking forward to building and pushing harder with a fresh challenge.”
Palmowski succeeds Hamda Al Qubaisi in the Red Bull Racing-supported entry, as the Emirati reached her two-year limit in the series. She secured 10 pdiums and 4 wins over her two years, at MP Motorsport. The Red Bull entries are now set to move to Campos Racing, extending a cooperation that also includes FIA F3 and FIA F2 Red Bull-backed drivers.
Eight drivers have already been officially announced, as the series will expand its grid from 15 to 18 cars with the addition of Hitech GP.
The 2025 F1 Academy calendar will again feature seven double headers, with the first round scheduled for 22-23 March in Shanghai, China.
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