Doriane Pin, a young driver from Prema Racing, had an impressive debut in the F1 Academy weekend in Saudi Arabia. She started off strong by winning Race 2 and earning all the available points in the season-opener. Pin, who is a Mercedes Junior Driver, showed her determination for another victory after securing the Pole Position and winning Race 1. She also set the fastest lap, successfully fending off Abbi Pulling from Alpine for the second time. Pulling closely trailed behind Pin throughout the race, but Pin had enough of an advantage to cross the finish line ahead of her. Maya Weug, the first female driver in the Ferrari Driver Academy, finished a distant third.
The race had its fair share of challenges for the young drivers. Lola Lovinfosse from Charlotte Tilbury and Chloe Chambers from Haas Junior Team fought for points positions but both ran wide, allowing Nerea Marti from Tommy Hilfiger to take fourth place. The street circuit proved difficult for many drivers, with several of them running wide at Turn 1 and cutting corners. Chambers even collided with Lovinfosse on Lap 3, causing Lovinfosse to spin in the middle of the track. Lia Block then crashed into Lovinfosse’s car while trying to avoid it, resulting in a damaged front wing for the Williams junior driver.
The Safety Car was deployed on Lap 3 due to Lovinfosse’s stranded car, but Pin managed to maintain her lead after a quick restart. Pulling made an attempt to overtake Pin from the inside, but Pin was able to pull away and secure her position. Lovinfosse received a five-place grid penalty for causing the collision. On Lap 7, the Wildcard driver Reema Juffali went wide and hit the wall while trying to avoid Carrie Shreiner from Sauber, leading to another Safety Car period.
Despite the earlier incident with Lovinfosse, Lia Block managed to climb up to eighth place before eventually falling back to 11th. Pin once again demonstrated her skill by stalling the pack during the second restart and quickly pulling away from Pulling to claim another victory. She even set the fastest lap on her final lap of the circuit. However, some drivers like Chambers and Bustamente received five-second penalties for cutting the track and gaining an advantage, causing them to lose positions and miss out on points.
Lovinfosse, Juffali, and Nobels all retired from the race due to on-track incidents, while Pulling, Weug, Marti, and Edgar safely maintained their positions in the top five. There was some confusion after the race as Pin completed two additional fast laps after missing the chequered flags due to a communication issue. This led to an investigation into her missing the signals.