As the summer break winds down and the F1 Academy title fight resumes, Weug reflects on the season’s challenges and what it will take to get back on top of the Driver’s standings.
Maya Weug was one of the favourites going into the 2025 F1 Academy season. Last year, the Scuderia Ferrari Academy driver was a strong contender, taking seven podiums in seven rounds, before closing out her season with a race win in Abu Dhabi.
Returning for her second and final year in the series, the Dutch driver aimed to come back stronger and challenge for the title. So far, Weug has had a positive season featuring many ups, but it has also had its challenges.
Going into the last half of the season, she focuses on maximising performance to reignite her chances of being in Championship contention.
A strong season turned unlucky
Weug kicked off the season strong, claiming pole position at the first Qualifying session of the year in Shanghai. Thereafter, she made up five positions in Race 1 to finish in third, before following up with a P2 finish in Race 2. To claim pole and two podiums in the opening round, demonstrated she would undoubtedly be a key challenger in this year’s title fight.
Going on to have another dominant weekend in Jeddah, the driver qualified in P3 and took P2 in Race 1 and the Race 2 win in a furious battle with Championship rival Chambers. The feat placed Weug at the top of the Drivers’ Standings, seven points ahead of PREMA’s Doriane Pin.
However, after a suboptimal weekend in Miami and a catastrophic one in Montreal, Weug’s reign became short-lived. At the Canadian GP, Weug’s performance was hindered by technical issues that afforded her only P15 in Qualifying. Race 1 was no better, as she was forced to make multiple pit stops and eventually retire the car. She was able to salvage a few points between Races 2 and 3, but it was not enough as Pin and Chambers overtook her in the standings.
Reflecting on the unfortunate weekend, Weug said, “Montreal was really tricky, nothing we could have done. We maximised it in Race 3, so now there’s a lot of catching up to do from our side.”
She continued, sharing her outlook on the rest of the season and what is required to get back in the fight, saying, “We have to be perfect and push 120% to try and win the title. I think we are strong and we’re going to push for that.”
“There’s still a lot to play for”
The driver now sits in third in the standings, 17 points behind Chambers and 37 points behind Pin in the lead. With three rounds left on the calendar, there remains hope for Weug, who will need a nearly perfect rest of the season to claim victory.
“There’s still a lot to play for”, she said. “I’m 37 points behind now, but it doesn’t really matter. We’ll just push as hard as possible and try to win it.”
Weug, however, remains optimistic and mindful of both her strengths and areas to improve on. “Racecraft has been quite good from my point of view, especially in the reverse grid races,” she remarked. “It’s fun, I enjoy it a lot, and it’s been going well in the races. From that side, it’s been good.”
“In Quali, there are still some things here and there that we have to maximise”, she continued. “But still, the pace has been quite good all the way through the season, so we keep pushing.”
