Potentially a championship-crowning weekend in Qatar for Abbi Pulling? F1 Academy - Qatar preview

Credit: Pauline Ballet

F1 Academy makes a return to race weekend action for the first time since September, as the championship heads to the penultimate round of the season at Qatar in a potential championship crowning weekend.

Alpine Academy's Abbi Pulling, who has been driving for Rodin Motosport, could wrap up th championship with a round to spare as she arrives at the Lusail International Circuit with just her and Doriane Pin in contention.

It will be the first of the two final rounds of the season, both taking place in the Middle East with the final round coming at the Yas Marina Circuit, in Abu Dhabi for the final weekend and Pulling is very much favourite to go into that round as the champion.

While the teams' championship is incredibly tight and set to go the distance between Prema and Rodin, the drivers' championship could see the champion crowned by the chequered flag of race 1 on Saturday. 

Pulling leads the championship by 98 points and with 112 points remaining to win, she just needs 18 points to clinch the title and will be unable to be catched by Pin, despite the Mercedes-backed driver of Prema being second in the standings.

A look at the track: Round 6 - Lusail International Circuit, Qatar

F1 Academy heads to the Middle East for the second time in 2024 this coming weekend, after the opening round of the campaign was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The final two rounds will be held at Doha, Qatar and Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi which will see the championship come to a close.

First up this coming weekend, for the penultimate round of the championship, is a trip to the Lusail International Circuit in the Qatari capital, Doha, which is a brand new circuit for racing action in the F1 Academy Championship. This will make the Lusail International Circuit the 11th different venue to host a round of F1 Academy in just the second season of the competition's running.

The Lusail International Circuit will be a circuit that will be recent within the memory of the drivers of the main field ahead of taking to the track earlier this month for testing which saw proceedings largely dominated by Doriane Pin, which is exactly the type of result she will need to keep her championship hopes alive.

However, no points were scored in the testing session and she will need to do all she can to replicate her speed that she showed a couple of weeks prior.

The circuit itself is made up of 16 corners with plenty of overtaking opportunities for the drivers to try and find a way past their rivals. The lap distance in total is 5.419km with the best overtaking opportunity being on the run down the start/finish straight and into the first corner.

There will be two practice sessions on Friday before a qualifying and race 1 that are scheduled to take place on the Saturday. Race 2 will take place on Grand Prix Sunday.

Considering there has never been an event held here previously in F1 Academy, there is no lap record.

Round 6 Wildcard entry - Alisha Palmowski 

Credit: Alistair Staley

On November 20, it was announced that British driver Alisha Palmowski would be the wildcard entry for the sixth round in Qatar and would take part in the weekend's action in the fourth Prema.

Palmowski has spent time in November competing in the all-women's Formula E test, which was the first ever all-female test in a world championship competition. Prior to this throughout the majority of 2024, Palmowski has been competing in the GB4 Championship by the BRDC.

The 18-year old finished runner up with Elite Motorsport, behind Fortec Motorsport's Swedish sensation Linus Granfors. However, Palmowski remained strong and claimed second in the standings ahead of Harry Burgoyne Jr. 

Palmowski will be running the F1 Academy 'Discover your drive' campaign livery and she will racing the number six car. On being given the opportunity, speaking on X, Palmowski said she felt "super excited" to be selected as the wildcard entry for the round at the Lusail International Circuit.

2024 F1 Academy Championship: Round 6 - Lusail International Circuit session times

Track Time:

• Free Practice 1 29/11: 13:00-13:40
• Free Practice 2 29/11: 18:00-18:40
• Qualifying 30/11: 15:20-15:50
• Race 1 30/11: 23:05-23:35
• Race 2 01/12: 14:00-14:30

UK Time: 

• Free Practice 1 29/11: 10:00-10:40
• Free Practice 2 29/11: 15:00-15:40
• Qualifying 30/11: 12:20-12:50
• Race 1 30/11: 20:05-20:35
• Race 2 01/12: 11:00-11:30

Brandon Whiteside
Writer & X contributer - F1 Journal