Payton Westcott Secures Podium at Home Race in Austin with P2 Finish
AUSTIN, TEXAS — 26 OCTOBER 2026 — Payton Westcott delivered a strong performance at the fifth round of the 2026 F1 ACADEMY season at the Circuit of The Americas, securing second place in Sunday’s Feature Race for PREMA Racing as the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team-supported driver continued her campaign.
The Austin round ran from October 22–25, with Free Practice and Qualifying taking place on Thursday before the three races across Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Westcott immediately demonstrated her pace at the Texas circuit, finishing P4 in Free Practice before securing P2 in both Qualifying 1 and Qualifying 2.
Her qualifying performance placed her on the front row for both the Opening Race and Feature Race, giving her a strong starting position for the weekend. With the second-fastest qualifying times setting the Opening Race grid and the top eight drivers reversed for Saturday’s Reverse Grid Race, Westcott entered the weekend well positioned to fight at the front.
Friday’s Opening Race proved more challenging. Westcott made a strong start and moved ahead of polesitter Alisha Palmowski into the opening corner, but lost ground after running wide at Turn 9. She continued to fight through the field to finish P7.
Westcott returned to the track on Saturday for the Reverse Grid Race, where she secured P6, adding another points-scoring result to her Austin weekend.
Sunday’s Feature Race provided the highlight of her campaign at the Texas circuit. Starting from the front row, Westcott made another strong getaway and remained in contention at the front as the race unfolded. An incident involving Alisha Palmowski and Alba Larsen reshaped the running order, promoting Westcott and PREMA Racing teammate Natalia Granada into the podium positions behind Nina Gademan.
Westcott maintained her position through the closing stages to secure P2 overall, crossing the line just 1.250 seconds behind the race winner. The result gave PREMA Racing a double podium in the Feature Race, with Granada completing the top three.
The podium capped a weekend of strong qualifying pace and consistent race performances for Westcott. Her second-place finish on Sunday was the standout result of her Austin campaign, complementing her two P2 qualifying results and finishes inside the top seven in both earlier races.
Westcott’s performance in Austin adds another significant result to her 2026 F1 ACADEMY campaign with PREMA Racing, supported by the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team. With a Feature Race podium and strong qualifying performances, she leaves the United States with valuable points ahead of the final round of the season in Las Vegas.
