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Palmowski credits Verstappen’s mindset for F1 Academy title growth
F1 Academy champion Alisha Palmowski says watching Max Verstappen taught her about resilience, aggression and extracting the most from a car.
Alisha Palmowski says observing Max Verstappen at work helped shape her approach during the season in which she secured the 2026 F1 Academy title.
The British driver, part of Red Bull’s junior programme and racing for Campos Racing, clinched the championship in Austin with a round still remaining. Access to Verstappen over race weekends gave her a chance to watch the four-time Formula 1 champion closely, and she told talkSPORT that his approach left a lasting impression.
Verstappen’s resilience stood out to Palmowski
Palmowski described racing as a sport with a heavy mental burden, and pointed to Verstappen’s mindset as the quality she most admired. She highlighted his aggression and determination, as well as his ability to keep extracting performance from the car even when a race can change unexpectedly.
She was careful to distinguish admiration from comparison: Palmowski said she does not consider herself to be on Verstappen’s level. Instead, she looks up to him and hopes one day to get closer to that standard.
The championship season followed two years of progression in F1 Academy. Palmowski made her debut as a wildcard entry in Qatar in 2024, then joined Campos full-time for 2025 as a Red Bull-supported driver. Both the team and Red Bull kept her for the following campaign. F1LivePulse has also followed her progress in earlier Palmowski coverage from Zandvoort.
Her next step remains unconfirmed
Palmowski has also competed in the Ginetta Junior Championship and GB4, and drove for Envision Racing in the 2024 Formula E women’s test. Her plans for 2027 have not yet been confirmed.
Before then, the F1 Academy season is due to conclude in Las Vegas as part of the Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend. Palmowski has already secured the title, but the final round will bring the campaign to its close. Her Austin qualifying performance was covered in F1LivePulse’s report on Palmowski’s poles at the circuit.
For now, Palmowski’s account of Verstappen’s influence is centred on habits rather than comparisons: maintaining a relentless mindset, responding to a race’s changing circumstances and making the most of the car available.