F1 Academy | Chinese GP | Race 1 | Palmowski dominates first race in Shanghai - Motorsport

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Under beautiful sunny skies, F1 Academy is back and ready for Race 1 at the Chinese GP. The Qualifying session saw Maya Weug secure pole position, outpacing her closest rival Dorianne Pin by 0.497 seconds with a commanding time of 2:03.379.

With the championship adopting a reverse grid format for the top eight qualifiers in Race 1, the stage is set for an exciting weekend of racing at Shanghai, where rookies like Joanne Cicont and Emma Felbermayr also showed promising pace. The qualifying featured several notable developments, including Rafaela Ferreira receiving a 3-place grid penalty for both races after causing a collision, and Lia Block missing the session due to potential chassis issues.

F1 Academy is underway at the Chinese GP

Dutch Driver Nina Gademan starts in pole position for Race 1 of the 2025 F1 Academy season. After being last year’s wild card entry in Zandvoort, the Alpine-backed driver has some experience in this field of rookies. Alongside Gademan is Sauber-backed rookie Emma Felbermayr. The eighteen-year-old driver had an impressive first qualifying session yesterday and will be eager to feature on the podium in the first race.

Hometown hero Shi Wei will be starting alongside Lia Block from P17. With all the support of the home crowd, she will want to score points in front of them.

Lights out

The formation lap brought immediate drama as Wei stalled on the grid, though she managed to restart and rejoin the pack. Meanwhile, McLaren-backed Ella Lloyd was forced to start from the pit lane due to tyre pressure issues, compounding her difficult weekend.

As the five lights extinguished, Gademan made a brilliant getaway, immediately establishing a lead over the field. The Campos drivers showed exceptional pace, with Alisha Palmowski and Chloe Chambers quickly fighting through to podium positions. Chambers, who had started fifth, demonstrated remarkable race craft to battle for P3.

The home crowd’s hopes were dashed early when Shi Wei spun on the opening lap, beaching her car in the grass and forcing her retirement. This triggered the first safety car period of what would prove to be an incident-filled race.

Safety car chaos

Under the safety car, the running order showed Gademan leading Palmowski and Felbermayr, an impressive showing for the Sauber rookie with limited single-seater experience. Several competitors were noted for starting infringements, with time penalties looming.

Racing resumed at the end of lap four, but the green flag period was short-lived. Chambers immediately pressured Felbermayr, successfully overtaking the Sauber driver for third position. Felbermayr continued to lose ground, falling to sixth as Maya Weug and Dorianne Pin made their moves.

What a fiery start from Chloe Chambers, looking to make her way to the front after a P5 start 🚀#F1Academy #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/u3SFmn4hTj
— F1 Academy (@f1academy) March 22, 2025

The second safety car was deployed when Aurelia Nobles found herself in the grass after contact with teammate Lia Block, creating further misery for the ART team following their chassis repair challenges on Friday.

No sooner had racing resumed than the safety car was called upon for a third time when Chloe Chong locked up on cold tyres and collided with Nicole Havrda, ending the American Express driver’s race prematurely.

Penalties for the Chinese GP Race 1

As frustration mounted among drivers starved of racing laps, the stewards were kept busy. Block received a 10-second penalty for the collision with Nobles, while Joanne Ciconte was handed a 10-second stop-go penalty for a starting procedure infringement. Ciconte served this under the safety car, which resulted in a second identical penalty being applied. Chong also received a 10-second penalty for causing the collision with Havrda.

The final laps

With just three racing laps remaining, Gademan initially maintained her lead at the restart. However, disaster struck when a technical issue saw her plummet to 14th position, leaving Campos teammates Palmowski and Chambers to battle for the victory.

Further back, Alba Larsen and Felbermayr had a coming-together, though both continued. Pin, showcasing her F1 Academy experience, capitalised on this incident to overtake both drivers.

The final lap featured a nail-biting conclusion as Chambers closed to within two-tenths of her teammate Palmowski. The Campos duo maintained their composure through the final sector, crossing the line for a team 1-2 finish, with Weug—tomorrow’s pole-sitter—completing the podium.

This chaotic first race of the 2025 F1 Academy season set the stage for what promises to be an exciting championship campaign. Race 2 will take place tomorrow with Maya Weug starting from pole as the field looks to build on today’s experiences at the Shanghai International Circuit.