Doriane Pin of Prema Racing emerged victorious in the first race of the 2024 F1 Academy season. The Mercedes Junior Driver showcased her skills, while Abbi Pulling of Alpine Academy finished a close second.
The race took place in the afternoon, offering different conditions compared to the qualifying session held on Thursday night. These conditions were more representative of the daytime practice session.
Pin was the standout performer leading up to the race, dominating the proceedings in practice and securing pole position twice.
The race had a false start, resulting in a delay and building anticipation among the 16 drivers. They were eventually set off for an extra formation lap.
Once the race began, Pin quickly took the lead, followed closely by Pulling and Weug. All 16 cars navigated the first chicane without any incidents.
With 27 corners and junior formula cars with limited power, the pack remained tightly packed on the opening lap as drivers aimed to take advantage of slipstreaming.
By the end of the first lap, Pin was still in the lead, followed by Pulling, Weug, Nerea Martí backed by Tommy Hilfiger, and Lola Lovinfosse supported by Charlotte Tilbury.
The top five drivers managed to create a gap from the rest of the field as the second lap unfolded. However, McLaren’s Bianca Bustamante suffered a puncture and was instructed to pit by her team. She faced heavy pressure from the drivers behind her, led by Chloe Chambers of Haas.
Despite the puncture, Bustamante decided to stay out on the track for the third lap. Meanwhile, Chambers and others attempted to overtake her. This resulted in Bustamante dropping to seventh place, but the puncture did not materialize.
Towards the back of the field, Reema Juffali, who was a wildcard entry, spun out on the third lap. Amna Al Qubaisi, supported by RB, was involved in the incident as well.
Juffali reported to her team via radio that Al Qubaisi had collided with the rear of her car, causing the RB machine to lose its front wing. This incident led to a Safety Car being deployed.
The Safety Car period came to an end as the field completed the fourth lap of the 12-lap race. Pin controlled the pace of the pack, slowing down before the final corner and then accelerating on the start/finish straight.
Pin had a comfortable restart as Pulling successfully defended against Ferrari Academy Driver Weug.
One lap later, Pulling was just under a second behind the leader Pin, and Martí was a few seconds behind Weug in third place.
Meanwhile, Tina Hausmann challenged Lia Block for eighth place at the final corner of Lap 6. Jess Edgar attempted to pass both, but ended up with a puncture after making contact with Hausmann’s front wing and dropped down the order.
With five laps remaining, Pin was one second ahead of Pulling, who had now created a two-second gap ahead of Weug. Martí was in fourth place, just ahead of Lovinfosse. Champers, Bustamante, Block, and Hausmann completed the order up to ninth place.
A battle for 10th place ensued throughout the race, with Puma-backed Auerlia Nobels valiantly defending against Red Bull Racing’s Hamda Al Qubaisi. Al Qubaisi ran off the track at the first corner on lap nine, briefly taking 10th place but had to give it up due to gaining an advantage off-track.
The fight for the final championship point ultimately resulted in a train of five cars nose-to-tail.
This battle turned out to be for ninth and 10th place when Block spun into the wall on the second-to-last lap after aggressively driving over a kerb.
Martí was spun out of the race at the start of the final lap, clipped by Lovinfosse on the entry to Turn 1.
Meanwhile, Pin held on to win the race and secure the first victory of the 2024 F1 Academy season.
Pulling stayed within a second of her rival to claim second place and also set the fastest lap. Weug finished six seconds behind to complete the podium.
Chambers took fourth place, with Lovinfosse crossing the finish line in fifth. However, her involvement in Martí’s retirement could impact her final result.
Bustamante finished in sixth place, followed by Hausmann, Nobels, H. Al Qubaisi, and Sauber’s Carrie Schreiner in the top 10.