Chiara Battig has made F1 Academy history at Silverstone by becoming the first Wild Card driver to take pole position in the all-female series.
The 16-year-old Swiss driver, running the Wella-backed Hitech entry on her debut weekend, topped Friday qualifying with a 2:01.775 after also leading practice earlier in the day. The result made her both the first Wild Card polesitter and the youngest polesitter in F1 Academy.
Battig finished 0.177 seconds clear of standings leader Alisha Palmowski, with Lisa Billard third after delivering her best qualifying result in the championship. Hitech also placed Ava Dobson and Rachel Robertson inside the top five, giving the team a major Silverstone platform.
Why Silverstone Pole Matters
The timing gives Battig’s breakthrough extra weight. F1 Academy is making its Silverstone debut on the British Grand Prix bill, and a Wild Card driver seizing pole immediately turns the weekend from a development opportunity into a genuine headline result.
It also sharpens the field around Palmowski, who remains the benchmark in the standings but now has a teenage debutant starting ahead of her for the feature-race grid. The Reverse Grid Race is due to run on Saturday evening before the pole advantage becomes live later in the weekend, according to the official F1 Academy report.
