F1 Academy Round One – Dorian Pin and Abbi Pulling won Race 1 and 2 respectively at Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the weekend. As expected, all 16 driver’s delivered competitive racing from posting best Qualifying lap-times, to sustaining pace through-out 13 Laps in Race 1 and 2, to navigating multiple Safety Car re-starts, to pushing capabilities behind the wheel to global audience watching.
Post racing analysis offers glimpse on how 2024 F1 Academy driver line-up managed performances which started with gaining best possible grid position in two Qualifying sessions on Thursday, March 7. Mercedes-AMG F1 Academy Driver Dorian Pin (Prema Racing) excelled in both bids to qualify pole – posting best time of 2:03.472 at 180.012 kph followed by 2:03.699 at 179.681 kph.
Alpine Junior driver Abbi Pulling (Rodin Motorsport) punched in P2 in both Q sessions clocking 2:04.257 and 2:04,383 with Ferrari Academy driver Maya Weug (Prema Racing) rounding out top 3 on the grid with 2:04.530 in Q1 and 2:04.715 in Q2.
Suffice to say, the exact qualifying positions marked Race 1 finish, and Race 2 until a time penalty was applied to Dorian, for passing the chequered flag twice which dropped the French driver to P9. Equally, driver’s keen to move through the middle order pushed the limits, either making good on their goals, or incurring time penalties which mixed results from top to bottom.
Stand-out performances were: Nerea Marti (Tommy Hilfiger and Campos Racing) recovering from disappointing DNF in Race 1 to finish P3 in R2, as well as Jessica Edgar (Rodin Motorsport) who proved qualifying P10 and P9, then finishing a Lap down in Race 1 is no pre-requisite for pulling off nice P4 in Race 2.
There was plenty of consistency for McLaren Academy driver Bianca Bustamante (ART Grand Prix) posting P5 and P6 in R1 and R2, along with improved run by American driver Chloe Chambers (Haas and Campos Racing) in R2 and Hamda Al Qubaisi (Red Bull Racing and MP Motorsport) whose standings are: P6 and P8 overall.
If all driver’s experienced learning curves aplenty, newbies on the grid took all on track happenings on board, used each situation to perform better next time out, and rose in professional and personal stature for doing so.
American sensation Lia Block (Williams Racing Driver Academy and ART Grand Prix) kicked herself a number of times for missteps behind the wheel, yet made impressive recovery finishing P11 in Race 2. And, Aston Martin driver Tina Hausmann (Prema Racing) was undeterred by the task ahead, finishing P6 and P13 in R1 and R2.
Securing F1 Academy 2024 Rounds 1 – 7 within Formula One schedule has proved massive hit with Media coverage reaching fans, followers, along with attracting new viewer’s around the world. Stats on F1 Academy YouTube Channel on Live race videos reached 206K for Race 1 and 137K for Race 2, coupled with Previews, Interviews, and Shorts setting new precedent on increasing exposure of women racing Formula Series to global audience.
With F1 Academy Round 2 in Miami on May 3 – 5, there is plenty of time to digest the action packed weekend – from winner’s to #16 on the grid.
Header photo: Dorian Pin Image: Pirelli Graphics: MXLink.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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