With a reverse grid order, this weekend is race day in Jeddah for the F1 Academy’s second round of the season. Drivers are keen on preforming well since Race 1 has a lot on the line. Ella Lloyd’s determination might have been the driving force behind her first race victory in the F1 Academy.
We started the formation lap normally beside a stall from Farah Alyousef this round’s wild card entry, which caused her to be out of position before the safety car. Race 1 was underway, with Ella Lloyd holding the lead while Alba Larson and Alisha Palmowski battled it out which ended with Palmowski moving up to P3. Demonstrating her skill set Palmowski had a fantastic start, moving up from P5 to P2. Race control noted Car 4 Alyousef for being out of position. In the first lap, Aurelia Nobels passed Joanne Ciconte for P10. Similarly, during the entry to lap 2, Lia Block passed Nicole Havrade for P14. Maya Weug then passed Larson, who lost P4 after running wide.
Chloe Chong passed Anagnostiadias for P14, while Nina Gademan went side by side with Chloe Chambers but held her position. With Chambers catching up to her, Doriane Pin was preparing for an overtake on Tina Hausmann. Pin gained P6 on Hausmann by using the slip stream. With Palmowski and Weug passing Felbermayr for P2 and P3, Lap 3 continues to show some action. Block, who dropped from P14 to P18, rejoined the race after a brief yellow flag because she was facing the wrong way and stopped on the circuit. “Pin has jumped the start,” according to Chambers’ engineer’s radio, which race control appears to have cleared up. Lap 4 raised another yellow flag because Block’s spin was caused by Courtney Crone’s contact from behind, which subsequently forced Chong to make inevitable contact with them. Car 4 got a 10-second stop and go penalty for starting out of position. Havrda entered the pitlane and left it swiftly before the yellow flag changes to a safety car.
On lap five, Chong was out, gathering the drivers with the safety car. Chong found a safe spot next to the track since she was unable to reach the pit lane. Chong was seen outside the car as marshals carefully removed her vehicle from the track while it was still under safety car on lap 6. ‘No weaving on the entrance of turn 27’ was officially declared by race control, and lap 7 had the safety car ending. On the green flag, the race resumed with Lloyd holding up the drivers before she took off to once again create a gap in the lead. Havrda passed Alyousef for P16 on lap 8. As she pitted on lap 10, Crone drops to last, and cars 2, 4, 57 and 7 were noted by race control for overtaking under the safety car. Crone had a 10 sec penalty for causing a collision and was out on lap 11, and Larson, who defended but did run a little wide, was being pursued by Pin.
In lap 11, Lloyd maintained her lead, but the margin she attempted to build was not enough to prevent Palmowski and Weug from closing in. Car 4 received a 5-second penalty for weaving ‘before the signal’ with three laps remaining. Behind Lloyd, Palmowski and Weug were fighting, with Weug passing Palmowski for p2. Pin had narrowed the gap with the leaders in the final lap, but not enough to pass Palmowski for third place. Weug was close up on the final turn, which was a run to the line, but Lloyd has stayed firm and maintained position 1 with a tenth of a second. After her first race victory at F1 Academy, Lloyd gave a very cool-headed radio celebration. Following a lot of action, P1 Ella Lloyd, P2 Maya Weug, and P3 Alisha Palmowski are our top pole sitters. Additionally, P4 Doriane Pin, P5 Larson, P6 Tina Hausmann, P7 Chloe Chambers, and P8 Nina Gademann have finished in the points. Round 2’s thrilling, unexpected, and action-packed race is a fantastic way to start the weekend, and we’re eager to see what it has in store for race 2.