The storylines to look out for in F1 ACADEMY’s Abu Dhabi season finale

The end is in sight, but the 2024 F1 ACADEMY field aren’t done yet as they prepare to do battle for the last time this season.

With a bumper three-race weekend at the Yas Marina Circuit, there are many stories to get stuck into as the drivers and teams’ stories of the season draw to an end.

Can PREMA hold on to the Teams’ title?

Reigning Champions PREMA Racing stand in good stead heading into the final round. A double pole and 1-3 finish in Lusail Race 1, courtesy of Mercedes junior Doriane Pin and Ferrari’s Maya Weug, allowed them to outscore nearest rivals Rodin Motorsport by 24 points.

Second place for Abbi Pulling and seventh for Jessica Edgar prevented them from getting further ahead, leaving them with a 28-point deficit to close in Abu Dhabi. A disappointing weekend for Campos left them further adrift of the leading duo, now an outside contender in third, 100 points behind the Italian team.

PREMA are the favourites to bring home the title, but nothing has been decided at this early stage. The three-race format means that there is a maximum of 183 points to battle over, and if the Italian team can continue their four-race double podium streak, then they could drive themselves all the way to glory by the final chequered flag.

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - DECEMBER 05: (EDITORS NOTE: Image has been digitally enhanced.) — Doriane Pin's win in Qatar helped PREMA in their quest to take the Teams' title

Time to say goodbye

It’s the end of an era for nine F1 ACADEMY drivers, who are all set to move on to pastures new at the end of their maximum two-season stint.

The series will be bidding farewell to some of the brightest stars of the 2023 and 2024 campaigns in the form of Alpine junior Abbi Pulling, Tommy Hilfiger driver Nerea Martí, Red Bull Racing’s Hamda Al Qubaisi, McLaren junior Bianca Bustamante, American Express driver Jessica Edgar, Kick Sauber’s Carrie Schreiner, Charlotte Tilbury driver Lola Lovinfosse, RB’s Amna Al Qubaisi and Emely De Heus for Red Bull Ford.

They’ve all been forces to be reckoned with and between them, they have achieved 19 wins, 14 pole positions and a further 35 podiums — a tally they’ll be hungry to add on to.

Drivers’ Standings spots to play for

For those drivers outside the top three contenders, there is pride at stake as they vie to finish as high up as possible in the Drivers’ Standings come the final results and add to the tally of seven different podium finishers in 2024.

Weug looked to have challenged Pin for second, but her third-place finish in Lusail widened the gap between the two teammates to 45 points. Campos teammates Martí and Chloe Chambers are locked in their own inter-team competition over fourth, with the Spanish driver narrowly jumping ahead of the Haas-backed driver by two points and Hamda Al Qubaisi remaining in touching distance in sixth.

Williams’ Lia Block has the chance to finish her rookie campaign as the leading ART Grand Prix driver. The American is the highest-placed driver yet to score a podium in eighth, 13 points behind teammate Bustamante on 57.

It’s a four-way fight for the remaining two top 10 spots. Edgar currently holds on to the P9 spot on 28 points, four points ahead of PUMA’s Aurelia Nobels. The Brazilian racer is tied with Schreiner on 24 points but stays ahead on countback thanks to her fifth-place finish in Zandvoort. Tina Hausmann is still in the hunt from 12th but needs to close a seven-point gap to the top 10.