After a fast-paced, productive morning Free Practice 1, topped by PREMA Racing and Merecedes Junior Team’s Doriane Pin, F1 Academy returned to the Miami International Autodrome for Free Practice 2. This time, however, it was Maya Weug who topped the timesheets. Weug enjoyed a strong F1 Academy FP2 at the Miami GP, putting in a top time of 1:58.545.
Pin the top performer in the Friday morning Practice
Doriane Pin set the pace in a competitive Free Practice 1 session at the Miami International Autodrome, as the F1 Academy field battled soaring temperatures and late-session drama in Round 3’s opener.
The 40-minute session began with Alisha Palmowski and Chloe Chambers leading the field onto the 33°C circuit. All drivers, except Emma Felbermayr, completed exploratory laps before returning to the pits for setup tweaks. Chloe Chong set the initial benchmark with a 2:10.498, but Ella Lloyd—fresh off a win in Jeddah—quickly lowered it to 2:03.038. Although Chong and Wild Card Ava Dobson improved, Lloyd’s time held until Lia Block and Pin entered the fray.
Both Block and Pin posted identical times of 2:01.312. Lloyd looked set to go fastest again but lost her lap to track limits. As more drivers improved, Pin became the first to break the two-minute barrier with a 1:59.931.
Meanwhile, Rafael Ferreira spun at Turns 2 and 3, narrowly avoiding Palmowski. Alba Larsen had a moment at Turn 8, while Nicole Havrda rejoined late and struggled in P16.
With 20 minutes remaining, Maya Weug finally hit the track and showed immediate pace. She climbed to P3 with a 1:59.575, despite a late lock-up avoiding Tina Hausmann. Joanne Ciconte, the final driver to set a time, finished 16th.
Pin continued to improve, ultimately sealing P1 with a 1:59.153. Palmowski jumped to second with a 1:59.492, just ahead of Weug. A late spin from Chong brought out yellow flags, preventing further improvements in the closing seconds.
A quick start to the afternoon’s FP2
The drivers were quick to get out on track for the afternoon’s FP2, putting in an exploratory lap around the cleaner but hotter Miami International Autodrome. With a track temperature of almost 50-degrees Celcius, the data collected could prove crucial to the teams’ aspirations for Saturday’s Race 1. PREMA Racing, however, seemed to be the outlier, remaining in the pitlane as the other 15 drivers put in their first representative times.
Ella Lloyd was the first to put in a notable benchmark. She put in a 2:01.356, to take the top time, ahead of Chloe Chambers who put in a 2:01.991. However, a small moment between Lia Block and Wild Card Entry Ava Dobson brought out a brief yellow flag in Sector 1. While both drivers recovered, Race Control noted the incident, as Maya Weug overcame a lock-up to claim P3 with a 2:00.556. Palmowski, on the other hand, claimed P1 with a 2:00.247, with Chambers remaining P2 despite improving to 2:00.374. Lloyd’s improved time of 2:00.323 was only enough to see her P4, ahead of Alba Larsen in P5.
Pin puts first time on the board and Chambers beats Weug to P1
With just over 30 minutes remaining on the clock, Weug went top with a 1:59.910, but was knocked to P2 as Chambers improved to 1:59.647. Doriane Pin, who topped FP1, became the last driver to attempt a representative lap. She put in a 2:00.765 to got P5 before dropping to P6 as teammate Tina Hausmann improved to a 2:00.676.
Despite some drivers struggling to keep their cars within the white lines and battling lock-ups, times came in quickly, with times rapidly rising and falling. Weug, improved her time to a 1:59.746. However, she remained just under 0.1 seconds short of Chambers. Pin then improved to a 2:00.092, putting herself ahead of Lloyd who slotted into P5 with a 2:00.323.
With just over 25 minutes on the clock, Weug improved to a 1:59.417, going top, as fellow Ferrari Driver Academy member Aurelia Nobels, in the PUMA-liveried car, went P7, getting ahead of PREMA teammates Hausmann and Gademan in P8 and P9 respectivly. Bloc, who was involved in the incident with Dobson earlier in the F1 Academy FP2 session in Miami, climbed to P5, and Pin went third ahead of Palmowski who suffered a lock-up affecting her lap. After this burst of action, the track settled, as the drivers retured to the pit lane for some set-up, and possibly, tyre changes. With just second left before the half-time mark of the session, only Hausmann and Gademan remained on track.
Pin sets the early benchmarker of the second half of FP2
As the drivers returned to the track for the second half of the F1 Academy FP2 at the Miami GP, Pin, with a 1:59:337, sat at the top of the timesheets, ahead of former PREMA teammate Weug. Chambers was third with Palmowski fourth and Block rounding out the top five.
After several relatively-calm minutes, Nobels reintroduced the action as the session approached its final ten minutes. She overcame a lock-up to set a 1:59.654 to go fourth, beating Palmowski’s top time by just 0.005 seconds. Chambers then put in a blistering 1:58.824, to set the top time of the day. She claimed P1, beating Nobels who improved to P2 with a 1:59.265 and Lloyd in P3 with a 1:59.317.
With just under eight minutes left in the session, Weug improved to P2, putting in a 1:59.015. Despite a lock-up in the final sector, she then improved to go top with a 1:58.545. These lock-ups could be a challenge for Weug, who will be hoping to widen her gap at the top.
Into the final five minutes of the sessions, the drivers continued to put in personal bests, with Chong improving to P8 and Lloyd and Nobels improving the P3 and P4 respectively. Felbermayr then improved to P8, as Weug, who overcame illness to get into the car, attempted an new lap. However, despite an improved Sector 1, she struggled in Sectors 2 and 3, and though she remained top, she failed to improve her time.
Block and Dobson narrowly avoided each other with Block complaining that she had been impeded over the radio. Despite this, she improved to P5, as Gademan improved to P6, pushing Pin and Palmowski down to P7 and P8 respectively.
As the chequered flag waved. Weug remained top of the timesheet ahead of Chambers. Gademan, however, improved on her final lap to go P3, knocking Lloyd down to P4. Nobels rounded out the top five.
Full results for the F1 Academy Round 3 Free Practice 2
- M. Weug – 1:58.545
- C. Chambers – 1:58.824
- N. Gademan – 1:58.940
- E. Lloyd – 1:59.098
- A. Nobels – 1:59.217
- L. Block: 1:59.285
- D. Pin: 1:59.337
- A. Palmowski – 1:59.460
- E. Felbermayr – 1:59.513
- C. Chong – 1:59.778
- A. Larsen – 1:59.840
- T. Hausmann – 1:59.981
- C. Crone – 2:00.105
- N. Havrda – 2:00.178
- R. Ferreira – 2:00.291
- A. Dobson – 2:00.705
- J. Ciconte – 2:00.887
- A. Anagnostiadis – 2:01.299
