Alisha Palmowski: GB4 runner up gets wildcard entry for Qatar round

Credit: Alastair Staley

​British driver Alisha Palmowski was announced as the sixth wildcard entry for the 2024 F1 Academy Championship for the sixth round of the championship in Losail Qatar - as was announced by the championship media on Wednesday.

Palmowski has spent the year competing in the 2024 GB4 Championship, while also in 2024 being part of the very first all-female test to take place in an FIA World Championship, she participated in the Formula E pre-season testing session at Madrid, Spain on November 8.

The 18-year old from Manchester is someone who is definitely making progress up the motorsport ladder and has been since she made her karting debut in August 2015 and since then she went on to compete in karting championships, and completed her karting journey at the end of 2021.

It was announced on November 20 that Palmowski will race in the F1 Academy round at Qatar as the wild card entry becoming the second British driver in two rounds to become the wildcard entry for a round of the 2024 F1 Academy season as she follows in the footsteps of Ella Lloyd.

Both Lloyd and Palmowski competed in the all-women test in the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship pre-season testing in Madrid on November 8 for NEOM McLaren and Envision respectively. Lloyd partnered current F1 Academy McLaren-backed racer of ART Grand Prix, Bianca Bustamante, whereas Palmowski partnered up with Alice Powell at Envision Racing.

Palmowski will be backed by the F1 Academy Discover your drive campaign and she will run the livery on her number six car across the weekend at the Lusail International Circuit. This is to highlight the global programme that has had success in increasing the talent pool of young women and girls that are attempting to get into motorsport.

On X, following the announcement, Alisha Palmowski quoted: "Super excited to have been selected as the F1 Academy wildcard for Qatar!

​"This is a dream come true for me to compete on the same weekend, as a support series, to Formula One and I cannot thank Susie Wolff enough & everyone at F1 Academy enough for this huge opportunity."

Her list of achievements consist of becoming the 2018 Birel ART UK series junior karting rookie champion, 2018 Kier Millar U13 driver of the year, 2021 Henry Surtees racer of the year, 2022 Ginetta Junior Scholarship champion and in 2024 she has become part of the British Women Racing Drivers Club (BWRDC).

For the majority of 2024, Palmowski made her debut and rookie season in the 2024 GB3 Championship partnered by the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) and she would go on to impress throughout the year as she would end runner up and second place in the standings - missing out on the title to Linus Granfors.

Palmowski would race for Elite Motorsport for the course of the season and would partner with fellow Brit Finn Harrison. On the road to finishing second in the standings, Palmowski would clinch three victories and 11 podiums combined across the championship and would finish in second overall - just 45 points behind Granfors who won the title and just one point ahead of Harry Bugoyne Jr.

It was a successful year for Palmowski who while finishing second in the standings also finished 131 points clear of teammate Harrison and did more than enough to earn herself the spot in the all-female driver test in Formula E as she partnered Powell and ended 16th in a disrupted session.

A great year of learning, development and progression for Palmowski will be concluded by her taking part in the F1 Academy round at Qatar from November 29-December 1 in the fourth car to be operated by Prema.

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal