Interview
‘I was always fast, but struggled to put everything together’ – Billard explains ‘stressful’ run to first podium in Austin
Lisa Billard celebrated her maiden F1 ACADEMY podium after finishing third in the Reverse Grid Race at the Circuit of the Americas, but admitted that converting her pace into a strong result across an entire race weekend had been one of her biggest challenges throughout her rookie season.
The Gatorade driver started third on the reverse grid and moved into second following the Safety Car restart, sweeping around the outside of Rafaela Ferreira at Turn 1. Although she eventually conceded the position to newly crowned champion Alisha Palmowski, Billard held on to third to secure her first podium in the series, improving on her previous best of a fourth-place finish in Friday’s Opening Race.
“It’s very cool because it was quite difficult,” Billard noted. “I was always very fast, but I was struggling to put everything together in one weekend.
“It’s good that it happened here because Texas was a big challenge for me, with only one Free Practice session out on track. I’m very happy.”
The French rookie had shown promising pace throughout the Austin weekend, but her podium finish came after a closely contested battle with Palmowski, who was fighting to secure the Drivers’ title.
With the Red Bull Racing driver closing in during the second half of the race, Billard faced the challenge of defending second without compromising her opportunity to claim a maiden podium.
“It was really stressful,” she explained. “I was trying to follow Alisha, but I knew she was fighting for the title and I was fighting for my first podium, so I just didn’t want to crash. I was just trying to stay with her.”
Having finally secured a top-three finish, Billard was quick to acknowledge those who had supported her throughout the season, including her ART Grand Prix team, Gatorade and her family and friends watching from home.
“I just want to say a big thank you to the ART Grand Prix team, Gatorade and my family,” she said. “My dad and my friends were sitting at home, staying up until 1am to watch my race.”
Billard now turns her attention to Sunday’s Feature Race, with another opportunity to build on her Austin performances and collect valuable points in the Drivers’ Standings.
“Tomorrow is a new day, and we need to optimise the result. There are good points to catch up, so I just want to have fun and make the most out of this weekend.”