F1 ACADEMY: Pulling extends title advantage with fifth win of the season in Race 1

Abbi Pulling added a fifth race victory to her 2024 F1 ACADEMY tally in a dominating fashion, leading from pole all the way to the chequered flag.

Doriane Pin had looked on course to seal second. However, the Mercedes driver was handed a five-second time penalty for a false start, which demoted her to fifth. Consequently, Tommy Hilfiger driver Nerea Martí moved up to second, and Maya Weug stood on the podium at her home event.

F1 ACADEMY: Pulling and Pin seal poles in wet Zandvoort Qualifying battle

Starting on pole for the rescheduled Race 1 and with the race distance shortened to 13 laps, Pulling wasted no time. Nailing her launch, the Briton faced no pressure as Pin was forced to defend from Martí, with the pair going side-by-side down into Turn 1.

Her gap only continued to extend, growing from eight tenths by the end of Lap 1 to three seconds by Lap 5 and she remained untouchable until the end.

Meanwhile, behind her, Pin and RB’s Amna Al Qubaisi were both handed five-second penalties for false starts. Pin tried to break clear of Martí, but couldn’t extend the gap beyond 1.7 seconds, ultimately dropping to fifth in the classification.

Martí earned her third podium of the campaign in second, with Ferrari’s Weug promoted on to the podium in third. Nina Gademan became the first Wild Card driver to score points with a stellar P4 finish on her F1 ACADEMY debut, moving ahead of Pin.

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Chloe Chambers was sixth ahead of Aurelia Nobels. Hamda Al Qubaisi made a daring last-lap overtake for eighth, squeezing past Lia Block close to the wall on the run down to Turn 1. Carrie Schreiner rounded out the points-scoring finishers in 10th.

For a full report of the F1 ACADEMY Race 1 at Zandvoort, visit the official website here.