The F1 Academy qualifying condition gets underway at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Conditions are warm, with a track temperature of 39.1 degrees Celsius and an air temperature of 24.8 degrees Celsius.
All fifteen drivers heading out on track as the green flag falls. Carrie Schreiner (SCH) in the Kick Sauber livery sets the first lap time of 1:44.201. She improves her time to 1:43.361 but is quickly overtaken by Abbi Pulling (PUL) in the Alpine livery who sets the new fastest time of 1:42.540. Bianca Bustamante (BUS) in the McLaren colours, goes up to P2 with a time of 1:42.732. Jessica Edgar (EDG) and Lola Lovinfosse (LOV) get on the time sheet as well, landing in P4 and P5 respectively.
Hamda Al Qubaisi (HAL), supported by Red Bull Racing, now goes top, setting a time of 1:42.401. Chloe Chambers (CHA) in the Haas livery quickly overtakes to go top with 1:42.224. Bustamante and Pulling are now up to P2 and P3 respectively.
Ten minutes into qualifying. Doriane Pin (PIN) in the Mercedes livery goes P1 with a lap time of 1:41.985. Pin is returning from injury after fractured ribs kept her out of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. She is quickly overtaken by Chambers who sets a time of 1:41.926
Fifteen minutes in and almost all the drivers have returned to the pits. The current standings are CHA, PIN, HAL, MAR, PUL, BUS, HAU, BLO, DEH, WEU, EDG, NOB, SCH, LOV, AAL. The current fastest time set is 1:41.926 set by Chambers.
The drivers are now back on track. Campos Racing’s Nerea Martí (MAR) in the Tommy Hilfiger livery has been noted for speeding in the pit lane. Her team will be fined.
Bustamante went quickest with a time of 1:41.921, a 0.005-second improvement over Chamber’s fastest time. Pulling attempts a fast lap. She overtakes Bustamante to go to P1 but is soon overtaken by Martí.
Five minutes remain and the current standings are MAR, PUL, BUS, CHA, PIN, BLO, EDG, HAL, HEU, DEH, SCH, WEU, LOV, NOB, AAL.
Chambers quickly overtakes Martí to go P1. Pulling improves her time to overtake Chambers with a time of 1:41.396. Hausmann attempts a fast lap, but only gets up to P6.
With less than a minute left, Pulling remains on provisional pole as the drivers attempt a final lap.
The chequered flag falls as the drivers complete their final attempts. Edger goes into the gravel but finishes in P9. Pulling retains P1 with the fastest time of 1:41.396. At the bottom of the standings is Aurelia Nobels (NOB), supported by PUMA. Only about 1.3 seconds separate the times set by Pulling and Nobels.
The starting grid for the F1 Academy Race 1 will be PUL, CHA, MAR, PIN, BUS, HAU, HAL, BLO, EDG, LOV, DEH, WEU, AAL, SCH, NOB. This is based on the drivers’ fastest times.
For Race 2, based on the drivers’ second-fastest times, the starting grid will be PUL, CHA, PIN, MAR, HAL, BLO, HAU, BUS, EDG, LOV, DEH, SCH, WEU, NOB, AAL.
