F1 Academy: Abbi Pulling Away + 3 Big Things
The second race weekend of F1 Academy’s second season showcased as much dominance as the first.
Abbi Pulling dismantled all opposition for the entire weekend, grabbing pole for the first race by nearly six tenths over Doriane Pin. The races weren’t close affairs either, as Pulling gapped Pin and Bianca Bustamante in the first and second races consecutively.
Arguably, the most impressive facet of her weekend was the distance she put between herself and Bustamante despite starting the race in a tire deficit. Based on her performances in Jeddah and now Miami, she has emphatically put herself alongside Pin in the elite echelon of the F1 Academy field.
3 BIG Things
Comfort Level Increasing: The drivers look much more comfortable with their cars on average when compared to the routine track limit infringements and contact that marred the race weekend in Saudi Arabia. Several instances of excellent wheel-to-wheel combat stood out, like Amna Al-Qubaisi battling Emely de Heus through the first sector in and Aurelia Nobels versus Lola Lovinfosse until…
Lovinfosse Disasterclass: Poor driving and decision making from Lovinfosse marred the race weekend for the second event in a row. In Sunday’s race, it was her lock-up and dive up the inside that ruined Tina Hausmann’s race at Turn 1 and she’d make an identical error to take herself and Aurelia Nobels out of the points on Lap 8.
Chloe Chambers Arrives: The Haas-sponsored American captured a podium in the Saturday race, producing a stellar drive from P7 to P3, including a sensational double overtake on Marti and Weug on lap 4. While not close to the pace of the front three in Sunday’s race, she collected a very solid P4 and looks to be a reliable challenger when F1 Academy heads to Spain next month.
Two weekends into the F1 Academy season, the main narrative is obviously Pin vs. Pulling and it’s a devastatingly long wait until battle resumes in Spain from June 21-23.