F1 Academy makes return to Jeddah for the second round of 2025!

Credit: Pauline Ballet

F1 Academy is to go racing for the second time in 2025 and the first time in a month as the championship heads to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia.

Heading to Jeddah, F1 Academy will revisit one of the circuits it raced at during the 2024 season and the championship will be hoping for more great racing action like last year, where a win was taken each by Doriane Pin and that year's eventual champion - Abbi Pulling.

Pin made the mistake of crossing the finish line twice in the 2024 season and due to this she was punished with a 20-second time penalty in Race 2, losing her the victory and handing it to Abbi Pulling. 

The championship leader will be hoping she avoids any silly mistakes as she heads into the second round with a five point lead over former Prema teammate and current MP Motorsport racing driver Maya Weug.

Pin and Alisha Palmowski were the winners of the two races last time out in China, as the F1 Academy Championship visited Shanghai for the first time and opened the 2025 season.

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A look at the track: Jeddah Corniche Circuit - Saudi Arabia

Following the stunning Shanghai International Circuit, which is one of the new tracks in the 2025 calendar, we jump into Jeddah which is one of four returning circuits for this season's championship.

​The circuit has uniqueness for its many corners, tight twisting and flowing nature making it one of the highest average speeds circuit in the entire calendar. Add in the features of the narrowing street circuit walls and it also becomes one of the most challenging across the campaign.

F1 Academy goes racing around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the second time. For the first time in the history of the championship, the round in Saudi Arabia will play host to round two. The Jeddah Corniche Circuit hosted the season opener in 2024.

With the circuit itself having more corners than any other on the calendar (27), the Jeddah Corniche Circuit has a lap distance of 6.174km. 13 laps are to come in both of the two races to take place this weekend.

There is a great prospect for overtaking on this circuit and the drivers can make passes if they are precise enough and close enough to pass. These drivers have already shown their competitive spirit at this stage of the season.

With the street circuit, there is always a threat of a Safety Car or a Red Flag which could be a headache for the teams and drivers as they will look to get into a decent racing flow, which failed to show in China with numerous incidents and numerous Safety Cars.

The Wildcard entry for the second round of the season, taking their spot with Hitech TGR is Saudi Arabian driver Farah Alyousef who will be driving the #4 MUHRA car and will make the 18 drivers of Jeddah.

Alyousef will follow in the footsteps of Reema Jufali, who was the wildcard driver in Jeddah last season. Juffali became the first Saudi Arabian driver to race in F1 Academy.

2025 F1 Academy Championship: Round 2 - Jeddah Session Times

Track times

• Free Practice 18/04: 14:05-14:45
• Qualifying 18/04: 21:30-22:00
• Race 1 19/04: 15:20-15:50
• Race 2 20/04: 15:05-15:35

UK Times

• Free Practice 18/04: 12:05-12:45
• Qualifying 18/04: 19:30-20:00
• Race 1 19/04: 13:20-13:50
• Race 2 20/04: 13:05-13:35

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal