RACE 1: Palmowski claims maiden victory in Shanghai after penultimate lap heartbreak for Gademan

Alisha Palmowski held firm in a drag race to the line to secure her first victory in F1 ACADEMY, keeping teammate Chloe Chambers at bay for a Campos Racing 1-2 finish.

Reverse pole-sitter Nina Gademan overcame three Safety Car restarts in the lead, until an issue on the penultimate lap forced the Alpine driver out of the running. Promoted to the front, Red Bull Racing’s Palmowski resisted the pressure from Chambers, whilst Maya Weug made her way up to third.

Gademan nailed her launch at lights out, pulling comfortably clear of the pack behind into Turn 1. Chambers also capitalised at the start, dispatching Joanne Ciconte off the line and put the pressure on those ahead.

Going around the outside of teammate Palmowski and second-place Emma Felbermayr, the Red Bull Ford driver couldn’t slip past both as the track tightened up through the opening corners. This opened the door for Palmowski to sneak up the inside of Felbermayr into P2.

Weug began making up ground from P8, climbing up to P5 on the first lap with a move on teammate Alba Larsen, with Doriane Pin also getting past the Tommy Hilfiger driver.

The Safety Car was called upon as the field entered Lap 2 after a spin for Shi Wei left the Shanghai Wild Card beached at Turn 7.

Gademan brought racing back underway three laps later, flooring it out of the final corner. Chambers got the run in on Felbermayr, going side-by-side down the main straight and out-braking the Kick Sauber driver into Turn 1 for third.

Weug was waiting in the wings for her own opportunity. Forcing Felbermayr onto the defensive, the Ferrari driver swept by the Austrian through the fast Turn 7. Pin followed through in quick succession before a second Safety Car appearance was triggered that same lap, after Lia Block made contact with Aurelia Nobels’ rear, sending her ART Grand Prix teammate spinning.

Palmowski was poised waiting for Gademan to bring the field back to Green Flag conditions on Lap 8, managing to go with the Dutch racer on the restart. Further back, Chloe Chong tried to close in on Nicole Havrda. However, she couldn’t find the grip on cold tyres and made contact with the American Express driver’s rear, necessitating a third Safety Car. The Charlotte Tilbury driver also received a 10-second penalty for the incident.

Sitting in P9, Ciconte’s battle to get back into the points came to an early end with a 10-second stop/go penalty for a starting procedure infringement. The Australian served the penalty behind the Safety Car and was subsequently handed a second 10-second stop/go penalty for failing to serve the first one correctly.

On Lap 11, Gademan caught the field napping on the restart, pulling eight tenths clear by the end of the lap. However, her hopes of bringing home the win were dashed as the Alpine driver slowed with a problem on the penultimate lap.

Inheriting the lead, Palmowski got her elbows out to defend from Chambers. In a two-car battle for victory, the Briton held firm in a race to the line.

Weug took the chequered flag in third, a second behind Chambers. Doriane Pin narrowly avoided the contact between Larsen and Felbermayr with one lap to go to slip through the middle of them and retain fourth.

Rafaela Ferreira went from P16 to points in P5 followed by Ella Lloyd in sixth, who had started from the pit lane. Larsen had taken the chequered flag in fourth but dropped to P7 with a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Felbermayr. The Kick Sauber driver was then tagged by Tina Hausmann on the final lap, dropping her out of the points.

Haas’ Courtney Crone crossed the line in eighth but was given 10-second stop-go penalty for a starting procedure infringement which was converted into a 30-second time penalty. This promoted TAG Heuer’s Aiva Anagnostiadis to the final point for Hitech TGR.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Maya Weug will have victory in her sights when she lines up on pole for Race 2. Lights out for Sunday’s race is set for 10:45 local time (GMT+8).