F1 Academy: Round 1 done and many more to come
The 2024 F1 Academy season started with Round 1 in Saudi Arabia. Prema Racing driver Doriane Pin, who is supported by the Mercedes F1 team, dominated the weekend despite ending with a penalty.
Pin showcased exceptional pace during the Free Practice session and secured both pole positions at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
In race 1, Pin secured a dominant victory in her debut F1 Academy race, while Alpine’s Abbi Pulling clinched second place and the fastest lap bonus, fending off challenges from Maya Weug.
The race featured intense on-track battles, a Safety Car intervention and standout defensive manoeuvres from many of the drivers.
After the initial race, Lola Lovinfosse was penalised with a 10-second penalty for causing a collision on the last lap, this resulted in her drop to 8th place.
Doriane Pin initially concluded her debut weekend with a second win in Jeddah, leading Abbi Pulling and Maya Weug to finish in the same order for both races, but the French driver was penalized for taking the checkered flag twice and dropped to 9th place. Nerea Marti was promoted to the last podium position.
Early in the second race, Pin defended her position from Pulling, while further back, on-track battles saw Nerea Martí overtake Lola Lovinfosse and Chloe Chambers received a penalty for gaining an advantage off-track. A collision triggered the Safety Car, leading to a series of restarts where Pulling closely challenged Pin but couldn’t overtake.
As well as the penalty to Pin, Amna Al Qubaisi was penalised five seconds for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, and Lovinfosse faced a five-place grid penalty for the next race due to causing a collision.
With the races following the same points system as Formula 3, Formula 2, and Formula 1, Pulling leads the drivers’ championship and Prema Racing are the leading constructors goring forward.
Since the weekend Amna and Hamda Al-Qubaisi were named Yas Heat ambassadors for the series and Red Bull announced Ford Motor Company as title partner to the Red Bull Academy Programme for the 2024 Season.
With one round down the series will follow the F1 calendar for a further six rounds with the next race in Miami on the 3rd to the 5th May.
- by Lizzy Oxendale
