Despite Sunday’s race being cancelled, F1 Academy saw plenty of action in just two days on track. Three drivers – one departing, one likely staying, and one hoping to join the series – were particularly impressive. Feeder Series takes you into their weekends.

By Calla Kra-Caskey

Abbi Pulling seals a dominant championship

Pulling entered the weekend she could become F1 Academy’s 2024 champion on the back foot. At the beginning of the first practice session, she had a problem with her engine, limiting her track time. Nevertheless, she bounced back and took second in both sessions. 

During qualifying, Rodin gambled on an offset run plan and opted to use two sets of new tyres instead of one set. It didn’t work out, and Pulling’s fastest and second-fastest times were only good enough for third in both races, marking the first time Pulling wouldn’t start on the front row for either race. It also meant that if the running order didn’t change and Pulling didn’t take the fastest lap she wouldn’t have been able to clinch the championship on Saturday. 

“It was a bit like ‘it’s another race, I’ll take it as it comes,’ but I knew that I needed to move forward. It was either finish third with fastest lap or push and get P2. I knew if I got P2 that would’ve secured it. And also it’s nice to take a bigger trophy home as well.

“I just put a lot of focus into the start. I knew that’s where the biggest opportunity was around this track… I’d like to say I did it where it counted. Maybe others would say there was a lot of pressure on that start, but for me I just kept it simple and just did the job really. 

“I’m super happy with my aggression. I’ve not been able to show that side of me this year and how I move forward… so I wanted to prove I’m not just someone that drives away from the front,” Pulling said to assembled media Sunday morning. 

Pulling’s first corner move on Maya Weug meant that the championship was settled on track rather than due to the cancellation of Sunday’s race. Although perhaps her second-place finish doesn’t exactly represent the dominance she’s shown this year, it continues a season-long podium streak she’ll attempt to defend in Abu Dhabi.

Doriane Pin takes a commanding win

Although Saturday was all about Pulling, Mercedes’ Doriane Pin was the quickest driver all weekend. Prior to the weekend, Pin had set the fastest times in F1 Academy’s Qatar test, and she certainly followed that up this weekend. 

She led the practice sessions by a margin of three tenths and one tenth respectively, and both of her qualifying laps were around two tenths better than the next comparative time. In Saturday’s race, Pin did her absolute best to extend the title fight another race, sailing off into the distance to the tune of nearly seven seconds with multiple fastest laps. 

Pin was visibility frustrated on Sunday morning when the second F1 Academy race was cancelled due to damaged barriers. She was in the midst of a truly dominant weekend, becoming the first F1 Academy driver to complete a true clean sweep – that is, lead every session, take both pole positions, and finish first with the fastest lap in every race, though in this case that was just the one.

Several pieces of race commentary implied that Pin would return to the series next year. Although Pin is currently on track for second place in the championship, she’s received penalties in several races that cost her multiple points. If this weekend is anything to go by, a more experienced Pin may well reproduce Pulling’s dominance in 2025.

Alisha Palmowski makes her mark

Perhaps the driver most maligned by the second race’s cancellation was wild card driver Alisha Palmowski, who is targeting an F1 Academy seat for next year. 

“My goal is just to learn and embrace the experience of being in an F1 Academy weekend. It’s a lot different to anything I’m used to and any of my previous experience in the U.K. The heat as well, the weather… one of the biggest differences I noticed at testing was the degradation, which is something I’ve not really experienced being in the U.K. where it’s colder,” Palmowski told Feeder Series ahead of the weekend.

“Obviously everybody wants to win, I’m sure every driver wants to say they want to be on the top of that podium, which I’ll be doing everything I can to try and achieve that, but equally I’m aware of the big challenge that’s ahead.”

Palmowski had impressed at the Qatar test, including leading a session. She followed that up with a strong appearance in both Friday practice sessions, finishing seventh in the first and third in the second. 

Palmowski further demonstrated her pace and consistency in qualifying. Her best lap was good enough for sixth on the grid while her second best lap, used to determine the grid for the second race, was fourth best overall. 

In the first race, Palmowski took advantage of Lia Block’s poor start to make up a position, which she held for the race. Her prediction about struggling with tyre degradation came true: the British driver fell back to eleven seconds behind Hamda Al Qubaisi in fourth. The characteristics of the track, which has no hard braking zones for overtaking, played into her favor, and she held off Block by half a second. 

Unfortunately, Palmowski did not get the chance to replicate her strong start in the second race and challenge for a podium due to its cancellation. However, it looks increasingly likely that she’ll indeed have a place on the F1 Academy grid next year, and she’s already thrown her name in the ring as a potential frontrunner.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency