PRACTICE 1: Palmowski makes fast start in opening Zandvoort session

Alisha Palmowski had an ideal beginning to Round 5, topping the timesheets in Friday morning’s first Free Practice session at the Circuit Zandvoort.

One of the drivers who opted to leave it late to head out, the Red Bull Racing driver waited until track conditions had improved slightly to complete a 1:38.196. Her effort would remain unbeatable after a Red Flag appearance in the final eight minutes meant the session was not resumed.

Maya Weug narrowly missed out on the top spot by 0.005s, whilst Chloe Chambers rounded out the top three ahead of Standings leader Doriane Pin.

Although it has been 11 weeks since the previous round, the most of the field were in no rush to head out. Ella Lloyd was the first to get a lap on the board, sweeping around the dusty track on a 1:53.308.

Rodin Motorsport teammate Emma Felbermayr immediately eclipsed the McLaren driver’s effort by eight tenths. Making her F1 ACADEMY debut, Wild Card entry Esmee Kosterman was next to go fastest as she steadily lowered the time to beat down to 1:40.316.

Charlotte Tilbury’s Chloe Chong was the first driver to break into the 1:39s, taking the P1 spot by seven tenths. Spins for Kosterman and Nicole Havrda at Turn 11 brought out two brief Yellow Flag appearances, with only eight representative times on the board by the halfway mark.

The pace quickly picked up as the remaining drivers headed out. Palmowski hit the front on a 1:39.086, but the Briton was instantly demoted to third as Chambers and Chong lowered the time to beat to a 1:39.065.

Palmowski pushed on, improving to a 1:38196 on her next attempt. Chambers slotted into second until Weug narrowly missed out on setting the time to beat, going 0.005s slower than Palmowski’s best effort.

That would prove to be the final flying lap for the Ferrari driver as her MP Motorsport teammate Joanne Ciconte locked up and found the barriers at Turn 8. With just under eight minutes remaining, the Red Flags were waved and as the clocked ticked down, the session was not resumed.

Two and a half tenths covered the top three of Palmowski, Weug and Chambers. Pin wound up in fourth ahead of Chong and Alba Larsen. Home hero Nina Gademan was seventh, finishing in front of Lia Block and Rafaela Ferreira, as Aston Martin’s Tina Hausmann completed the top 10.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The grid will have a chance to assess their data before returning to the track for Free Practice 2 at 17:30 local time (UTC+2).