Interview
‘A rollercoaster of emotions’ - Palmowski reflects on dramatic final lap in Austin Qualifying
Alisha Palmowski was beaming after securing her fifth and sixth pole positions of the season in Austin Qualifying, putting the Drivers' title within reach.
Palmowski started off strong in Qualifying, setting a benchmark lap time early in the session. However, with two minutes to go, Payton Westcott took provisional pole by 0.143s, leaving the Briton with only one chance to reclaim pole.
It all came down to the final lap. Palmowski left it all on the line and took pole position with a 2:07.714, just 0.098s ahead of Westcott.
However, officials initially deleted the Red Bull Racing driver’s lap time due to track limits at Turn 20. The lap time was laterr reinstated and Palmowski secured pole position for both the Opening Race and the Feature Race in Austin.
Reflecting on the dramatic events, the 20-year-old admitted that it was a stressful and emotional five minutes.
“My heart rate hasn’t recovered yet,” she began. “What a rollercoaster of emotions, honestly. It was already stressful because Payton Westcott actually took provisional pole position off me with about two minutes to go.”
“So I had one lap to try to regain to that pole position, which I did successfully do. I got the news that I was on pole position, I celebrated and then my engineer told me that we lost the lap due to track limits at Turn 20.”
“I was quite adamant that I hadn’t done it. Obviously, I appreciate I have a different field of vision to what the cameras do, although I was quite sure I hadn’t done it, so I voiced my opinion. I came back to the garage, and five minutes later got the news that the lap had been reinstated, so what a whirlwind. I went from being on top of the world to the bottom of the world, back on top of the world.”
The pressure is on for Palmowski as she could become the series’ fourth Champion in Austin. With three races to contend with, if the Red Bull Racing driver has either a 68-point lead after the Reverse Grid Race or a 40-point gap after the Feature Race, that will be enough to guarantee her the title regardless of what her closest rivals do.
“The final lap was the most stressed I have felt all season,” admitted Palmowski. “Because Qualifying was so strong up until that point and then Payton put in a really really strong lap in that second stint, so that put a lot more pressure on me. I knew that we needed two laps in Qualifying as well, so I was sort of driving at 90/95%, knowing I couldn’t get any track limits or make a mistake.
“That forced me to really put everything on the line and up my game, so I really did give it everything on that last lap. I had a little slide at Turn 20 but managed to still get pole by just a tenth, I think, which is very close around this track, especially with how long it is. Happy days.”
Palmowski knows what she needs to do this weekend to take the title, but she still admits she’s motivated to take pole positions and win races.
“It’s funny, I even tell myself that I know what my job is this weekend," she noted. "I know what I need to do. But the anger I felt when I thought I lost my lap I would have still been P2, but I was genuinely gutted. I still want to win. I still want to get the pole positions, win the races.”
“It’s very much the unknown tomorrow. It’s still a very new track to me, so still just learning with every lap that I do. Payton is very fast, so I will have my hands full, with Payton definitely. But equally, my title rivals are behind me as well, so I know where my fight is, having said that. We just want to keep learning in the Opening Race, in the Reverse Grid Race and the Feature Race is full send.”