F1 Academy | Chinese GP | Qualifying | Weug clinches first pole of the season - Motorsport

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The return of F1 Academy continued at the Chinese GP, with the drivers preparing for their Qualifying session under the blue skies of Shanghai.

Taking to the track for Free Practice, Rodin Motorsport’s Ella Lloyd led the field out, setting the early benchmark before MP Motorsport’s Maya Weug and Alba Hurup Larsen traded the fastest laps.

A collision between Lia Block and Rafaela Ferreira triggered a mid-session red flag, disrupting track time for late runners. In the final minutes, PREMA Racing’s Doriane Pin topped the timesheets with a 2:04.198, edging out teammate Tina Hausmann to conclude an eventful session.

Following the collision in Practice, Ferreira received a three-place grid penalty for the race. Lia Block faced issues with a potential chassis change following the incident and was unable to get out on track.

Green flag

Alisha Palmwoski led the drivers to high expectations at the start of the session, pulling in speed that had the commentators alight with excitement; an obvious taste for what’s to come from the feeder category this year.

In the opening few minutes of the session, a tricky drop of tyres early on by Chloe Chambers saw a much slower lap, which she recovered from flawlessly.

The ability and reaction time of these female competitors play a pivotal role in proving wrong negative outlooks of women in motorsport, instead replacing them with confidence and amazement.

Track conditions warmed, drivers made the most

The grid excelled as the track became more familiar, with speed increasing and the times quickly dropping as the session went on.

The top eight of the grid will be reversed for the race later on in the weekend. This gives the drivers the perfect opportunity to gain a better track position and an easier way forward in the first race.

Chambers had another error in turn 11, locking up which impacted her approach to the back straight — arguably the most important area of the track.

As the session reached halfway, the bar was raised by Maya Weug coming in with a 2:05.01, creating a new challenge amongst the 17 on-track drivers.

However, it was short-lived as the entire grid seemed to find more pace, with the times continuing to drop across the field.

F1 Academy gives track and learning time, helping ensure female drivers can gain a world of knowledge to continue pursuing a racing career, which was reiterated by the performances seen.

Higher expectations and higher rewards

Weug extended her provisional pole position with a 2:03.379 — determined to show her dominance with Scuderia Ferrari HP.

Ferrari have not had a pole position in China since 2018, making Wueg the first to get the team a provisional pole and the best place to start a race.

With four minutes left of the program, many drivers had found their pace, pushing the limits. It was the driver’s last opportunity to fight for a vital pole position.

Joanne Ciconte reached fifth, 0.767 seconds off the fastest time. While Ella Lloyd looked to be improving however didn’t quite get her car past 11th.

Unfortunately for Chloe Chong, another mistake on the left-hander during the back straight. However, she did re-correct quickly but the error still impacted her time.

Doraine Pin was flying throughout the session, but in the last few minutes, a left-front lock up into the hairpin impacted her run. However, despite the issue, she still managed to cross the line with her Mercedes in second.

Doriane Pin was the favourite for the title in the first half of the 2024 season. Abbi Pulling took the title and Pin was left to fight for vice-champion. However, for 2025, Pin is looking to prove herself.

The session ended with Maya Weug in front of the pack with a 2:03.379. Behind her was Mercedes’ Doriane Pin and Tommy Hilfiger’s Alba Larsen.

With the top eight reversed for the first race, Nina Gademan will start in pole position with Alpine and Prema for the opening race of the 2025 season.