Amazing Abbi Pulling crowned 2024 champion as Doriane Pin takes victory in Qatar

Credit: Joe Portlock

British racing driver Abbi Pulling of Alpine Academy is the 2024 F1 Academy Champion, following race 1 in Qatar on Saturday.

Pulling racing for Rodin Motorsport, only needed a second place finish or a third place with the fastest lap, to secure the championship in race 1 around the Lusail International Circuit.  It was a race that was largely dominated by Doriane Pin.

Pin was still in the championship coming into the round but needed a certain set of results to give her to have a chance of staying in the championship fight. Sadly for Pin, this was not to be despite her taking her Prema to victory.

The Mercedes-backed driver took victory from Pulling, who sealed the championship in second place with Maya Weug, backed by Ferrari, made it two Prema cars on the podium as she finished third.

Pulling due to becoming the champion has won a seat in the 2025 GB3 Championship with her current team in F1 Academy - Rodin Motorsport.  It has been a fantastic season from Pulling and she still has more races to shine but she has her reward by being a deserved champion with her consistency throughout the year.

How F1 Academy Race 1 unfolded in Qatar

Credit: Joe Portlock

For the first time in over two months, it would be finally time to go racing in the 2024 F1 Academy Championship for round six of the season. Round six of seven in the championship would be set to take place at the Lusail International Circuit in Qatar.

It was built up as a weekend that could see the 2024 F1 Academy drivers' title wrapped up for championship leader Abbi Pulling, who has largely dominated the season. With a second place finish or a third place finish with the fastest lap, Pulling would become champion.

The Alpine Academy driver for Rodin Motorsport would start third as her championship protagonist Doriane Pin would start from pole position, after a fantastic qualifying session. Pin, backed by Mercedes and racing for Prema, would take pole for both races. Maya Weug would start second.

All 16 cars would take the start with wildcard entry Alisha Palmowski starting within the top 10.

The lights would go out and it would be a fantastic start from Pin but more so Abbi Pulling as the Alpine Academy driver got through ahead of Maya Weug into a crucial second place and the Rodin Motorsport of Pulling was in that crucial second place to take the title on Saturday evening. 

It however would be a Prema first and third with Pin pulling clear in the lead and Maya Weug sitting behind Pulling in third place. This was the perfect start for Pulling and even if Pin was to win the race and take the fastest lap, the points Pulling was in position to pick up would still conclude the championship fight.

The top three remained in their positions moving onto the second lap as there was a battle going on further towards the back of the pack as the two MP Motorsport teammates, Emely De Heus and Amna Al Qubaisi were battling over 13th. De Heus, backed by Red Bull Ford would move ahead of Al Qubaisi who is backed by Visa RB.

Onto the third lap and out front, it was still a good position to be in for Abbi Pulling as she was in a comfortable second but was not totally losing sight on Doriane Pin with the gap reaching 1.4 seconds.

The start would not have been too positive for Chloe Chambers and Tina Hausmann as they would have jumped the start, Race Control would find out. This would be investigated and the investigation was swiftly concluded. Both Chambers and Hausmann would receive a five-second time penalty each would be added to the end of their race time. 

Chambers though would be embroiled in a battle with Aurelia Nobels, Carrie Schreiner and Emely De Heus. Nobels was leading a train in 10th place with Chambers, Schreiner and De Heus looking for a way past. 

Lap eight and Chambers would find her way through on Nobels with a sensationally bold pass to move up into 10th and Chambers of Campos would find her way through the ART of Nobels. This would leave Nobels exposed to Schreiner but Nobels, now in 11th, would be able to keep Schreiner behind.

This would leave Schreiner exposed to De Heus, who would get ahead into 12th. This would all be while Doriane Pin was remaining ever comfortable out in front and the gap was rising even more.

Meanwhile, Hausmann had passed Lola Lovinfosse for 15th.

Bianca Bustamante was having a quiet race but within the points and was looking at trying to get ahead of the likes of Jessica Edgar and Nerea Marti. However, all her chances of points would disappear as she would spin on lap 12.

Bustamante would spin and she would be able to rejoin the race would be last and 16th. Her race was almost certainly ruined with such little time in the race remaining.

Onto the final lap, although the race was nearing its conclusion, some racers were not finished with the action until the flag and Chloe Chambers was one in particular. She made a sensational double pass on Nerea Marti and Jessica Edgar - to move up into seventh place.

Out front it was pure brilliance from Doriane Pin and she controlled the race since the lights went out and she was dominant in the lead of race 1 and never looked like losing it. Out of the final corner she would take the chequered flag first to take victory in Qatar.

Behind the Mercedes-liveried Prema, a champion was about to be crowned. Abbi Pulling had been absolutely superb throughout the course of the season up until this point and she had managed to take seven pole positions and she had won seven races, heading into race 1.

The Alpine Academy driver, racing for Rodin Motorsport, would cross the line in second place to become the 2024 F1 Academy Champion with three races remaining of the season and a full round to spare. An incredible achievement from the British driver. 

Maya Weug completed the podium for Prema, after the Ferrari-backed driver started second. Fourth place would be Red Bull Racing backed Hamda Al Qubaisi of MP Motorsport with a fantastic first F1 Academy race for wildcard entry Alisha Palmowski saw her complete the top five.

ART's Williams backed driver Lia Block was sixth ahead of Jess Edgar in seventh, following Chloe Chambers' penalty which dropped her to 11th. Nerea Marti was eighth ahead of Aurelia Nobels and Emely De Heus who rounded off the points-paying positions.

F1 Academy would not be done there though, for action around the Lusail International Circuit, and the weekend's action would be completed on Sunday with race 2.

2024 F1 Academy Championship: Round 6 - Qatar race 1 result

1. Doriane Pin (France, Prema Racing)
2. Abbi Pulling (Great Britain, Rodin Motorsport)
3. Maya Weug (Netherlands, Prema Racing)
4. Hamda Al Qubaisi (United Arab Emirates, MP Motorsport)
5. Alisha Palmowski (Great Britain, Prema Racing) *WILDCARD*
6. Lia Block (United States, ART Grand Prix)
7. Jessica Edgar (Great Britain, Rodin Motorsport)
8. Nerea Marti (Spain, Campos Racing)
9. Aurelia Nobels (Brazil, ART Grand Prix)
10. Emely De Heus (Netherlands, MP Motorsport)
11. Chloe Chambers (United States, Campos Racing)
12. Carrie Schreiner (Germany, Campos Racing)
13. Amna Al Qubaisi (United Arab Emirates, MP Motorsport)
14. Lola Lovinfosse (France, Rodin Motorsport)
15. Tina Hausmann (Switzerland, Prema Racing)
16. Bianca Bustamante (Philippines, ART Grand Prix)

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer & X Contributor - F1 Journal