Weug defies expectation to claim her first F1 Academy race win in 2025. The Saudi Arabian GP lived up to its hype, providing an intense session from start to finish.
In case you missed it, here’s how the race unfolded.
Ford-backed driver Chloe Chambers will start in pole position for today’s race 2. The American Driver has proved her pace since her arrival in this category. With Campos also having a strong pace this season, she will put up a great fight today. Alongside her is championship leader Doriane Pin. After falling short of the title last season, the French driver is looking to extend her championship lead.
Lights out for Race 2 in Jeddah
As the lights go out, Chambers gets a good start and manages to keep her pole position. Championship 1-2 are fighting through the opening turns, with Weug swiftly moving into P2 ahead of Pin.
Elsewhere on the grid, Ella Lloyd, yesterday’s race winner, stalled on the starting grid. The McLaren driver was one of a few drivers who had a slow get away, however, they all managed to continue running in this race 2.
At the end of Lap 1, Chambers leads the field with a 0.3s gap to the Ferrari behind her. The American uses her defensive skills to try and hold her off throughout the entire lap. As they continue to battle, the Dutch driver claims P1 at the end of lap 2. The intense battling between the pair continues, with Pin narrowly behind them.
Weug goes wide and makes contact with Chambers, dropping down to P3, behind Pin. The Campos is once again leading the race with a 0.5s gap to Pin behind. Pin is once again put under pressure by her championship rival, and the Dutch driver passes her at the beginning of Lap 4.
If this battle is anything to go by, the championship fight for F1 Academy in 2025 will be nothing short of brilliance, because if these drivers are flying solo, they’re certainly flying free.
Ten Laps remaining
Chambers and Weug are under investigation for the wheel-to-wheel incident, which saw Weug drop down to P3.
On just lap five of this intense race so far, Chambers has pulled out an almost 1.5-second lead over Weug. With the MP pit wall relaying to the Ferrari Driver that she “needs to keep calm to win this.”
Behind the front two, Doriane Pin is struggling in these conditions, as she is put under pressure by Chloe’s teammate Alisha Palmowski. The British driver is searching for yet another podium in just her rookie season in the competition. Additionally, if the Red Bull driver can pass Pin quickly, she can help out her teammate by placing pressure on Weug.
All the action seems to be happening at the front of the field, with Chloe Chambers receiving a five-second penalty for forcing a driver off track. She now must build up a five-second gap ahead of the field if she wants to claim her first victory of 2025. The gap is currently at 0.5s, with Weug looking menacing behind.
Further behind the front runners, there is a five-car battle for the last points-paying place in P10. Young Australian, Joanne Ciconte, is currently in the final points place after pulling off an impressive overtake on the experienced Chloe Chong.
Final five laps
Chambers is still trying to push ahead and gain a five-second lead; however, with only four laps to go, the gap to Weug remains at a steady 1.1 seconds. Pin was warned by PREMA to “push on” to ensure a less than 5-second gap to the Campos driver out front.
Ella Lloyd, who fell to the back of the field after her stalled start, has had a brilliant recovery drive, making her way up into the points positions in P9.
As the final two laps behind, Chambers begins setting even faster laps than before. She has cleared Weug by one and a half seconds at the beginning of the final lap. She is 4.498 seconds clear of Pin. Meaning this final lap needs to be a qualifying-esque lap for the American to only drop down to P2.
The Last Lap
On lap 13, Chambers manages to find five-tenths of a second in her lap, clearing herself of Pin and claiming P1 on the road. After setting the fastest lap of the entire race, she inevitably drops down to P2 after her penalty is added. Despite this, it was a brilliant recovery drive from the American.
Ferrari’s Maya Weug claims P1 in Race 2 of the Saudi Arabian GP, managing to keep her podium streak alive. A podium streak eerily similar to last year’s champion, Pulling.
Doriane Pin comes home in P3 to make it a championship 1-2-3 podium.
Here is the full classification for F1 Academy Race 2 at the Saudi Arabian GP.
- M. Weug – Leader
- C. Chambers – +2.7s
- D. Pin – +2.8s
- A. Palmowski – +3.8s
- A. Larsen – +4.3s
- T. Hausmann – +8.3s
- N. Gademan – +14.1s
- E. Lloyd – +18.9s
- J. Ciconte – +21.6s
- C. Chong – +23.3s
- A. Nobels – +24.3s
- C. Crone – +26.9s
- R. Ferreira – +27.1s
- L. Block – +27.2s
- E. Felbermayr – +32.7s
- N. Havrda – +35.5s
- A. Anagnostiadis – +38.5s
- F. Alyousef (WCD) – +101.4s
