‘I was practising in my sleep’ - Palmowski applauds Campos’ efforts after dream home victory at Silverstone

Alisha Palmowski praised Campos Racing for helping to transform her Silverstone weekend from its challenging start into a dream home victory in the Feature Race.

Although the Red Bull Racing driver was only two tenths off the top spot in Practice on Friday and 0.177s off pole position, she described her front row start as a “miracle” after feeling unsettled with the car throughout the weekend.

Starting from second, Palmowski aced her getaway and found her way past Chiara Bättig to take the lead into Turn 1. From there, the 19-year-old refused to be spooked into an error despite race-long pressure from the Wild Card driver, with the pair pulling 8.5s clear of Emma Felbermayr in third.

Her third win of the season proved to be the sweetest of them all, but Palmowski admitted she was shocked that she’d been in that position at all and credited Campos’ efforts for the progress made.

“It’s incredible,” she said. “This weekend has been a big challenge for us as a team and me personally as well. I just had no confidence in the car to be honest, especially in the beginning of the weekend.

“In all honesty, it was a miracle that we qualified P2 because of the struggles that we had. The team worked so hard. We've made such a big step forward in the last 12 months that throughout the weekend every lap I did in the car, it seemed to improve and I gained more and more confidence.

“It's very difficult to follow and overtake around this circuit, as we saw yesterday in the Reverse Grid Race, so I knew the start was crucial. I practiced it many times, I was basically practising in my sleep the start procedure but managed to get it right and get the lead off the line. Chiara kept the pressure on the whole way. She didn't let me breathe, so congratulations to her as well.”

READ MORE: FEATURE RACE: Palmowski brings it home at Silverstone for third win of 2026

Following Saturday’s Reverse Grid Race, several drivers reported struggling with handling and their pace around the British circuit. The cooler conditions for the morning’s Feature Race combined with the lack of traffic ahead gave Palmowski a sounder feeling in the car than she’d experienced up to that point in the weekend.

“Having the clean air being out in front and not having the aerowash from the car ahead, the car felt so much nicer,” she noted. “Equally, I was towing Chiara around the whole way, so she was catching in certain areas of the track.

“But then in the high-speed section in Sector 2, that's where I was able to break away. She never really got close enough to get an opportunity to overtake. It's been a big challenge, but I think we've learnt a lot as a team across this weekend, so hopefully we can come back even stronger in Zandvoort.”

It is a victory that has eclipsed Palmowski’s first trip to the British Grand Prix in 2015 as her favourite Silverstone memory. Thanking the fans who came out early to watch the race, the Briton was moved by support she received from the home crowd.

“I totally see myself as one of them,” she said. “I’ve been one of the fans there at 6am every morning waiting to see the cars go past. Now to actually have won on that same weekend, it's incredible.

“I've actually been staying in my caravan on the site in the BRDC Farm this weekend. It was literally 6:45am when I woke up this morning, I looked outside and everybody was there with their deck chairs already lined up ready to go. The British fans are the best, I'm biased but we're the best. They're the most passionate, most supportive fans ever.”

Palmowski is the only driver so far this season to have broken the 100-point mark in the Standings and significantly, has extended her lead to 30 points over her nearest rival Felbermayr.

“That was obviously the main aim for me coming into this weekend,” she explained. “Of course, it's my home Grand Prix and I really wanted this trophy, really wanted to take the win home.

“Equally, the main objective was always to maintain or, even better, to extend the Standings lead, which we've managed to do. We've done both actually, so that's just a nice cherry on the cake.”