Interview
'I breathed a sigh of relief after that' - Palmowski explains how she withstood race-long pressure from Larsen
Alisha Palmowski was relieved following the Feature Race in Zandvoort, after the Red Bull Racing driver secured her fourth win of the season, increasing her lead in the Drivers’ Standings.
Palmowski started off the weekend strong in Qualifying, taking her fourth pole position of the year. However, luck wasn't on her side during the Reverse Grid Race, stalling at the start from eighth on the grid and finishing down in 13th.
Looking for redemption, the Red Bull Racing driver needed a strong start off the line in the Feature Race. Despite not getting off the line well, she swept across to the right and managed to keep Alba Larsen at bay.
Palmowski found herself under continued pressure from Larsen, with both drivers separating themselves from the rest of the grid by a second and a half. Larsen continued her charge on the Briton for the next few laps, but eventually Palmowski managed to shake her off, finishing almost three seconds ahead of the Dane.
Reflecting on her fifth podium of the campaign, the 19-year-old admitted she had her work cut out for her to take the Grand Slam.
“Very pleased, very relieved, as always, really,” she began. “The team have put in lots of hard work, in particular this weekend, with the different weather conditions and loads of different factors being thrown at us.
"We had some car issues yesterday, so the team worked extra hard last night to try and fix that ahead of this morning's race. So to come out with a win, it wasn't a straightforward race at all.
“I had even more pressure from Alba this race than what I had from Chiara (Bättig) at Silverstone, especially for the first half. The launch off the line wasn’t actually that strong for me. Stronger than yesterday, but still not an ideal start.
"I managed to maintain position and then just keep a cool, calm and collected head really. I know how difficult it is to overtake around Zandvoort, so I knew if I was consistent, made no mistakes, gave Alba no opportunity to get through, then it would be very difficult for her. Thank goodness I didn’t make any mistakes.”
After stalling yesterday and a less than ideal getaway in the Feature Race, Palmowski recognised that it’s something she needs to work on going forward.
“Just too much wheel spin off the line, so it’s something I have got to look at and address ahead of Austin," she said. "We do have some time, thankfully, to do that. I just knew if I could get the inside line to Turn 1 and if Alba wasn't quite able to get the overlap on me, then I could then lead the race.
"I was quite confident. It was fine margins, but I just got my nose in front of her, so I breathed a sigh of relief after that.”
She added: “I wasn’t 100% at the limit in the first half of the race. I would say we were 90-95%. I knew I still needed tyres towards the end of the race, which I think showed when Alba started struggling in the second half and that’s where I then made the gap.
"Equally, I knew the closer that Alba was to me, the more she would struggle with her tyres. So a bit of a game I was sort of playing in those opening few laps. I wouldn’t say I was struggling though, it was tactical.”
Palmowski’s fourth win of the season puts her ahead of her closest rival Emma Felbermayr by 48 points going into Round 5 in Austin. With a maximum of 104 points to play for across the final two rounds, she could be crowned Champion with a round to spare and the Briton recognises that she's put herself in the best possible position to do so.
“I think I’m not too stressed about it, to be honest," admitted Palmowski. "It's a very privileged and nice position to be in. I have that buffer if something does go wrong, then I can still maintain the lead.
"Equally, it doesn't change the approach that I take going into Austin. Just take it race by race. Obviously, the big focus is on Qualifying. It's a more important Qualifying because it determines the grid for two races. I've just got to get that right and then take it from there.
“I obviously can’t control what Emma does, what Nina (Gademan) does. All I can do is focus on myself and make sure I'm making no mistakes, can do a good job and then the title will come my way or not."