It’s time for Race 2 for F1 Academy at the Saudi Arabian GP. The 27 turns around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit are home to drama, this race to be no exception. The category raced here last year, although over half this year’s grid were not part of this.
In Friday’s qualifying session, Chloe Chambers set the fastest lap of the session, with a 2:04.320. She will be lining her Campos Racing car up in P1, with Doriane Pin for Prema Racing alongside her. After finishing race 1 in 7th, Chambers will be hunting the win.
It’s lights out at the F1 Academy Saudi Arabian GP Race 2
Chambers gets the jump off the line against Pin, Weug passing Pin for 2nd in turn 1. Chambers managed to pull away from Weug, giving herself some room. A clean start overall, though we saw a few cars slow off the line.
Nobels made up one place off the start, quickly tailing Chong, before overtaking shortly after. Lloyd also made her move on Chong, both drivers making their moves stick.
Nobels was forced to take avoiding action after Felbermayr spun, dropping back to 17th. This caused Nobels to drop down to 13th. Ferreira received a 10s penalty for this incident, after she was proven to have made contact.
Weug fought Chambers through turn 2, unable to make her move, and running wide. She made her move again around the outside, still unable to make the move stick.
Weug made her third attempt on Chambers and made it stick, unfortunately soon running over a curb. This let Chambers back through, Weug fighting back and running both drivers off the track at turn 22, allowing Pin to take 2nd. This incident was noted, and a 5s penalty was awarded to Chambers.
Weug attempted a move on Pin into turn 27, Pin too aware and not allowing her through. Weug attempted a move again down the straight and into turn 1, finally making it stick.
The first quarter complete, and the field begins to spread out
At the start of lap 5, Chambers found a 1.2s gap on Weug, necessary to keep her 1st place post 5s penalty. Gademan on the hunt for Hausmann ahead.
Palmowski began to close the gap between herself and Pin, looking to make a move. She was unable to make a move, slowly increasing the gap to over half a second. Ciconte made her move on Chong, and passed her in turn 8, moving up to 10th after a very slow start for Ciconte.
The gap between Chambers and Weug dropped to only half a second, which is not ideal for Chambers with her 5s penalty.
Nobels went wheel to wheel with Chong, in an attempt to regain the positions she lost, but she was unsuccessful. Larsen fought her way to the tail of Palmowski, Larsen struggling with her breaking, although managing to keep up.
Lloyd tapped the wall through turn 13, although seemingly had little to no damage and carried on racing.
A three-way battle began between Havrada, Felbermayr, and Anagnostiadis, fighting for 15th, 16th, and 17th. Felbermayr securing 15th ahead of Havrada and Anagnostiadis.
The race to the chequered flag
With the final 3 laps closing in, Chambers had only a 0.966s gap to Weug, meaning with this gap, she remains on the podium. The battle between Palmowski and Larsen continued, with Larsen now 0.9s behind, Palmowski approaching the tail of Pin.
Pin continued to widen the gap between herself and Weug in 2nd. Chambers began to set similar lap times to Weug, the gap at 1.5s.
As they began the final lap, the gap between 2nd and 3rd had increased to 3s. Larsen began the final lap right on the tail of Palmowski yet again, desperate to make a move, soon dropping back.
Chambers set the fastest first sector, increasing the lap speed and increasing her gap to Weug to 2.2s. This would drop her to 2nd rather than 3rd.
Pin was 5.1s behind Weug into the final turn, with Weug 2.2s behind Chambers.
Chambers crossed the line in 1st place, and after her penalty was applied, Weug was promoted to 1st, winning F1 Academy Race 2, in Saudi Arabia. This gave herself and Scuderia Ferrari their first win of the season. Pin completing the podium for Mercedes.
F1 Academy Race 2 Results for Saudi Arabia
M. Weug – Prema Racing/Scuderia Ferrari
C. Chambers – Campos Racing/Red Bull Ford
D. Pin – Prema Racing/Mercedes
A. Palmowski – Campos Racing/Red Bull Racing
A. Larsen – MP Motorsport/Tommy Hilfiger
T. Hausmann – Prema Racing/Aston Martin
N. Gademan – Prema Racing/Alpine
E. Lloyd – Rodin Motorsport/McLaren
J. Ciconte – MP Motorsport/F1 Academy
C. Chong – Rodin Motorsport/Charlotte Tilbury
A. Nobels – ART Grand Prix/PUMA
C. Crone – ART Grand Prix/Haas
R. Ferreira – Campos Racing/Racing Bulls
L. Block – ART Grand Prix/Williams Racing
E. Felbermayr- Rodin Motorsport/Kick Sauber
N. Havrda – Hitech TGR/American Express
A. Anagnostiadis – Hitech TGR/Tag Heuer
F. Alyousef – Hitech TGR/Muhra
