The eagerly-awaited 2025 F1 Academy season burst to life at the Shanghai International Circuit as Mercedes’ Doriane Pin made a confident beginning by setting the fastest time in the only Free Practice session. The 2024 vice champion recorded an incredible final lap of 2:04.198 to secure the top spot, just ahead of PREMA Racing’s Tina Hausmann and Red Bull Ford’s Chloe Chambers.
Practice Session Unfolds
McLaren driver Ella Lloyd kicked off the first competitive lap with a 2:07.383, albeit slightly off-circuit. She was still fastest at 2:06.155 before spinning on Turn 9 brought an abrupt halt to her speed and caused a short-lived Yellow Flag.
As the times continued to tumble, MP Motorsport’s Alba Larsen was ahead momentarily on a 2:05.821 when teammate and Ferrari-backed Maya Weug laid down a crushing 2:04.970. Weug added to her cushion with a 2:04.603, and Chloe Chong fell into second place for Red Bull Ford.
The session was interrupted briefly when Racing Bulls’ Rafaela Ferreira touched Williams’ Lia Block on the back straight, sending Block’s #54 car into the barriers and triggering a Red Flag. When racing restarted, Shanghai Wild Card driver Shi Wei spun at Turn 1, triggering another brief Yellow Flag.
With the clock running down, Alpine’s Nina Gademan impressed on her first flying lap, advancing to second, before Pin delivered a masterclass of precision and pace. Chambers had led for a moment with a 2:04.450 before Pin struck back with an unbeatable 2:04.198. Hausmann too made a late challenge but fell 0.099s short, securing second, with Chambers claiming third, a further 0.150s behind.
Weug finished fourth, with Alpine’s Gademan fifth. Lloyd was sixth, with newcomer Joanne Ciconte showing promise in seventh place. Kick Sauber’s Emma Felbermayr came eighth, followed by Red Bull Racing’s Alisha Palmowski and Chong, with the top ten completed.
Weug Grabs Pole for Season-Opening First Qualifying
With the track temperature hitting 40.4°C and the air temperature at 24.5°C, the opening qualifying session of the season saw the maiden F1 Academy pole of Maya Weug’s talent. The Dutch driver, now representing a Dutch team, clocked a blistering 2:03.379 lap to win comfortably by four tenths, marginally ahead of Free Practice leader Doriane Pin.
Seventeen vehicles took to the track for the 30-minute session, as Williams’ Lia Block was out after her own chassis was damaged, following her earlier accident. Racing Bulls’ Rafaela Ferreira was given a three-grid place penalty for her part in the collision.
McLaren’s Ella Lloyd set the early tempo at 2:06.143, but before long the times began tumbling in. Chloe Chambers got a stint at the top before her Campos teammate Alisha Palmowski took the honor of being first in the 2:05s. Yet it was Weug who gained control just ten minutes in, first at 2:04.301 and then even faster at 2:03.781.
Pin, determined to reclaim top spot, set the fastest opening sector but fell short by only a tenth at the finish. At midpoint, Weug, Pin, and Chambers were the main challengers, Pin improving but remaining fractionally adrift. Chambers, after a lock-up, had to settle for third.
On the last laps, Alba Hurup Larsen caught the eye with a 2:04.006 to claim third, six tenths behind Weug. Slipstreaming was the name of the game on the long back straight, and Joanne Ciconte took advantage of it to claim fifth. Emma Felbermayr took sixth, and Palmowski regained fifth at the finish. Pin, slowing at Turn 14, could not make a battle of it, securing the pole for the Dutch driver.
Alba Hurup Larsen’s impressive determination secured her third, and Chambers was forced to content herself with fourth. Palmowski, Ciconte, and Felbermayr completed the top seven. Alpine’s Nina Gademan, in eighth, will start Race 1 from the reverse-grid pole. Tina Hausmann fell just short of reverse-grid pole by 0.05s and will start ninth in front of Chloe Chong and Ella Lloyd.
Nicole Havrda was the fastest Hitech driver in 12th, followed by Ferreira—losing three positions due to her penalty—and Aurelia Nobels. Courtney Crone and Aiva Anagnostiadis sat in the row at the bottom, just two seconds covering the top 16. Chinese Wild Card Shi Wei was 17th, above Lia Block, who will sit at the rear in Race 1 due to her chassis modification.
Looking Ahead
Race 1 is on Saturday at 13:50 local time with the reverse-grid format returning for the first time since 2023. They will race 13 laps with a total of 70.863 km. With Weug and Pin already establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with, an exciting battle is expected up front as the F1 Academy season begins in top gear in Shanghai.