Maya Weug, backed by Scuderia Ferrari in F1 Academy, has had an amazing weekend on the street circuit of Marina Bay, taking second place in both races. It was especially impressive in Race 2 on Sunday, in which she started in P3 and fought her way to P2 with a brilliant overtake on Doriane Pin during the first lap.
The 20-year-old had undeniably a great start — much better than her rivals ahead of her. She instantly got side to side with Pin, managing to get to the desired second positions quickly and in a few turns. Even though Abbi Pulling didn’t let Weug chase her down for the victory itself, the Ferrari driver still seized a lot of points for herself and had an amazing race, successfully defending from Pin behind.
“Yeah, it was the only chance really to get a move in, I knew it was the start or that’s it, so it was a plan. It was the plan to be aggressive on the first lap,” Weug said when asked about the mighty and fierce move at the start.
“I had a good start. I think both of them [Pulling and Pin] struggled a bit, so I got quite close, which helped me to make move around the outside. Then I had to stay around the outside in Turn 3 as well, but it stuck and yeah… Then I had the pressure of Doriane [Pin] all the race, but yeah, I managed to stay ahead — which was what I wanted to.”
The Singapore Grand Prix is certainly known for its tough conditions and hot weather, which plays a major role in the physical aspect of racing there. Saturday was very humid, but Sunday was definitely much warmer, reaching something about 33 °C [91,4 °F] in temperature.
“Yeah, it’s really hot. I think everyone is sweating here,” Weug agreed with a laugh. “But no, it’s been quite good — yesterday was more humid, so in the car it felt more hot.
“But yeah, the track was quite slow today compared to yesterday with the heat. And yeah, it just felt much slower today out there,” she admitted.
“We’ll have to check on the data what we can improve for next races, but overall the pace has been there more or less. Abbi [Pulling] still has a step ahead of us, but yeah, we’ll try to catch her for the last two races of the season,” Weug concluded determinedly.
