 Credit: Pauline Ballet MP Motorsport's Ferrari Academy driver Maya Weug has taken pole position for Sunday's race two, during Friday qualifying in Shanghai, China. Weug dominated the session and showed great pace throughout the session, and once the chequered flag flew, it was beyond doubt that he would take pole position for the Sunday race 2. The Dutch driver managed a lap time of 2:03.379 - a time over four tenths quicker than Doriane Pin. 20-year-old Weug took pole position for the Sunday race on Friday ahead of Mercedes-backed racer and former teammate Doriane Pin, who was second for Prema Racing. An impressive showing from MP Motorsport debut driver Alba Larsen would see her qualify third for Sunday. All the places the drivers ended in the qualifying session will be their starting positions for Sunday's Race 2, unless any grid penalties are handed out. As for the Race 1 starting grid, the top eight from qualifying are reversed. Therefore, Nina Gademan in just her second F1 Academy round, will start from pole position. How F1 Academy qualifying unfolded in ChinaFor the first time in 2025, it was time to go qualifying for the F1 Academy Championship, with the session taking place to be the season opener at the Shanghai International Circuit in China. A new beginning of F1 Academy, with a new grid and the largest grid that has ever been seen before in the championship, with 18 cars to take part in every round across the 2025 season. This is due to new team Hitech TGR, who are entering the championship for the first time in 2025. In 2025, compared to other championship seasons, there is a different format of how qualifying will play out. The qualifying session itself will last for 30 minutes where the drivers will compete to have the fastest time. At the end of the session, the top eight will be reversed for the first race of the weekend, bringing back the reverse grid method that was used in 2023, but was not a part of the championship in 2024. The qualifying order on Friday would then be the starting grid order for race 2, providing no grid penalties are handed out, which will change the starting position of drivers up and down the field. Qualifying would get underway following the free practice session earlier on in the day. The session saw Doraine Pin finish fastest for Prema Racing, in a 1-2 for the team as she finished above teammate Tina Hausmann. The green light would come on at the end of the pit lane signalling the start of the 30-minute qualifying session and cars would begin to filter out onto the circuit but none of them would be the ART of Lia Block. Block's collision with Rafael Ferreira in free practice resulted in sustained chassis damage for Block meaning a change for her. Meanwhile, Ferreira was deemed to be at fault and would be handed a three-place grid penalty for race 1. Once drivers began to set lap times, Alisha Palmowski of Red Bull Racing and Campos would be one to impress as she showed decent speed to go to provisional pole position. However, with the track improvements and also the condition of the circuit improving, Weug would take provisional pole with a 2:03.781 and it would be a very strong lap time, which would remain unbeaten after two very strong flying lap attempts from Doriane Pin. Ultimately, Weug was having a very good session and had done enough to remain top. Soon enough, the session reached the halfway point and Weug would be fastest from Pin as the top two would be formed. Chloe Chambers, Nina Gademan and Alba Larsen were holding the provisional top five places with just 15 minutes remaining. Shortly after the halfway point, the majority of the field would visit the pit lane for a fresh change of tyres and they would be preparing themselves to go for a few more flying laps towards the near end of the session, as the hunt for pole position would be very much on. Could anyone stop Weug? The task became even harder when Weug extended her gap with a 2:03.379 to over half a second. The lap time of Weug's would be even more difficult for Pin to try and catch as the session was nearing a close. Although, the track was ramping up so if Pin could put a lap together, all might be possible? Unfortunately not for Pin as when the chequered flag flew from the Race Control tower, it was Weug who took pole position after a fantastic display in Shanghai and would lineup at the front of the field for Sunday's Feature Race/Race 2. Pin would have to settle for second place, behind her former teammate. An incredible effort from the MP Motorsport of Alba Larsen, as in her first ever qualifying she would achieve a third place result. A great result as she would be ahead of Campos duo Chloe Chambers and Alisha Palmowski who would round off the top five. Youngest driver on the grid Joanne Ciconte would be sixth ahead of Emma Felbermayr in seventh. In eighth place and taking reverse grid pole would be Nina Gademan of Prema and backed by Alpine. Action of F1 Academy in Shanghai would return for Race 1 on Saturday with Nina Gademan starting from pole position with Emma Felbermayr alongside her on the front row! 2025 F1 Academy Championship: Round 1 - Shanghai qualifying provisional classification
 Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2025
Categories |
RSS Feed
F1 Journal is not Associated In Any Way With The Formula 1 Companies. F1, FORMULA ONE, FORMULA 1, FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, GRAND PRIX And Related Marks Are Trade Marks Of Formula One Licensing B.V