Championship organiser MotorSport Vision (MSV) has confirmed that the leading female driver in the 2025 GB4 Championship will receive an increased career contribution prize of €50,000.
The cash sum will be made available should she go on to secure a seat in the 2026 F1 Academy Series, and will be offered in addition to the £50,000 awarded to the outright GB4 champion. Should next year’s GB4 champion be a female driver, she will therefore earn just short of £100,000 to put towards the next step in her career.
GB4 has become a key proving ground for rising talent since its inception; eight female drivers have now raced in the series across the past three seasons, with six race wins and 18 podium finishes secured in that time.
Three GB4 graduates have already competed in F1 Academy, with Jessica Edgar a race winner for Rodin in 2023 at the Circuit of the Americas.
Alisha Palmowski emerged as one of the UK’s most promising young racers in 2024, as she claimed the runner-up spot in the final GB4 Championship standings, having won three times and stood on the podium on more occasions (11) than any other driver.
Palmowski’s performances netted her MSV’s career contribution prize of €30,000, and the British contender is now expected to move up the racing ladder, having also been signed up to the same management agency as Mercedes F1 star George Russell following her success in GB4. She will take part in this week’s FIA Formula E Women’s Test at Jarama with Envision Racing.
MSV Chief Executive Jonathan Palmer said: “Alisha Palmowski was quite a revelation in GB4 this year and impressed me enormously both in and out of the car. She’s a feisty intelligent racer who will go far, and I’m going to be following her career closely.
"Without the affordability of GB4, Alisha is the first to admit she would not be where she is now, proving the importance of a high quality inexpensive single seater series. GB4 gives competitors who cannot afford an FIA F4 budget the opportunity to learn, develop and showcase their talent. It is now a highly respected and valued platform from which to progress in single seater racing.
“Even for the most promising drivers, funding is always a critical factor in their ability to progress. We want more women in motorsport and to achieve that we need to help the very best advance their careers and motivate others, hence MSV increasing the top female in GB4 prize fund to a massive €50,000. Of course we’d be delighted should they also win GB4 outright and secure the extra funding that comes with it!
“With F1 Academy now placing their champion into GB3 next year, a funded pathway to success is being created in the UK for female drivers. They can start their single-seater career in GB4, win a significant sum towards a potential F1 Academy drive the following season, and then hopefully graduate from there into GB3 as they aim to reach FIA F3 and beyond.”
07 November 2024
