Palmowski quickest in F1 Academy practice around Montreal

Photo: Red Bull

Alisha Palmowski narrowly beat Chloe Chambers in a Campos Racing one-two in F1 Academy’s practice session in Montreal.

There was limited action in the first quarter of the 40-minute session, with only seven drivers having posted laptimes after 10 minutes.

Rodin Motorsport’s Ella Lloyd led the way at that point, having set a 1m42.277s, with MP Motorsport’s Alba Hurup Larsen 0.37 seconds behind in second.

The order remained unchanged until almost 16 minutes in, when most of the field improved. Palmowski set the new benchmark, a 1m40.643s, with Larsen staying in second by improving to 1m41.111s. Lloyd made a big gain but her 1m41.492s effort left her eight tenths of a second off the pace in third. Five drivers still had not done a flying lap.

On her next lap, Palmowski lowered the pace to 1m40.002s and Chambers rose to second with a 1m40.886s. Larsen was demoted to fourth by Lloyd, who improved again to 1m41.109s.

Chambers moved ahead next time by, bettering Palmowski by 0.132s, and approaching the session’s halfway point Lloyd and Prema’s Doriane Pin broke into the 1m40s too.

Palmowski reclaimed top spot by 0.099s when she set a 1m39.791s, and Larsen found more than a second on her previous best as she posted a 1m39.995s to move back up to third.

The Campos pair continued to get quicker, and were split by 0.2s on their next laps as Palmowski made 1m39.315s the new time to beat. Chambers responded on the lap after, setting a 1m39.297s, while Palmowski pitted.

Larsen made a marginal gain in third, and the only other drivers within a second of Palmowski continued to be Lloyd and Pin.

Red flags waved with nine minutes to go when Pin was sent out of the pits with a fan still in her car and it fell off onto the track. Just before that, Rodin’s Chloe Chong snuck into fourth with a 1m39.978s.

Action resumed with six minutes left on the clock, and there was a flurry of improvements one-and-a-half minutes before the end. Chambers reclaimed first place by breaking into the 1m38s, and Larsen made a 0.35s gain.

Palmowski left it later to find more pace, and with half a minute to go got within 0.282s of Chambers’ 1m38.972s benchmark. Chong, Campos’s Rafaela Ferreira and Prema’s Nina Gademan meanwhile lapped in the 1m39s to complete the top seven.

After the chequered flag, Palmowski improved again and beat Chambers by 0.074s. Lloyd improved too in fifth, but the busy track compromised many’s laps and they headed to the pits.

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