A solid weekend for Maya Weug in Saudi Arabia
It was a weekend to remember for Ferrari driver Maya Weug, who was on every podium of the weekend. The McLaren rookie did well in Race 1 and Doriane Pin had mixed feelings after the GP.
Positive point for the female line, they all knew the circuit before the race starts. Indeed, at the beginning of the month, they were testing on the circuit in the difficult conditions of the Corniche.
Doriane Pin, with a very good pace during FP1, had set the fastest time at 2:07.68, then improved it on the next lap. The Dutch driver Weug responded and set the tone with the best time of 2:05.35. Palmowski achieved two purple sectors to join her within the same second. In the last three minutes, Pin took the lead with a 2:05.610, beating Weug by 0.006 seconds. However, the times hadn’t stopped dropping yet, with Weug reclaiming the top spot just moments before the checkered flag.
Palmowski and Pin complete the top 3 ahead of Chambers. Block follows in fifth position, followed by Ella Lloyd in sixth and Aurelia Nobels in seventh.
The Frenchwoman and the Dutchwoman are battling for the championship standings, and Doriane Pin is determined to repeat her achievement from last year that she accomplished here. “Being at the top of the drivers’ standings is fantastic,” she declared. “We had an excellent start to the season in Shanghai, and I want to continue on this path. Jeddah was a great race, and I think we are capable of repeating that. We tested many things. It was great to test all the elements of the car to progress and learn a bit more about the track. It was good, and we feel ready.”
Maya Weug also feels ready to compete against Mercedes. It will be very close, as the tests were already very close. It will be necessary to make as few mistakes as possible throughout the lap, as it’s a long lap, and try to secure pole position tonight. It was difficult to keep the rear in good condition throughout the lap, but having 27 corners to complete the entire lap will be very challenging. The car was pretty good. We just need to fine-tune the driving and the settings to make sure we get the best out of our performance tonight.
The qualification
The Red Bull Ford driver made a strong impression: three minutes before the end, she began to outpace her competitors, and none were able to surpass her with a time of 2:04’320”. “This circuit is really not easy and I experienced it last year,” she explained with a big smile on her face, speaking about her mindset: “I am confident, I can achieve great things and regain the front row.”
The session was interrupted by the red flag in the 23rd minute when Lia Block hit the inside wall in the last corner and crashed into the barrier. Upon resumption, Lloyd took advantage of the clean air to take the lead with a time of 2:05’635”. Weug then surpassed him by 0.051 seconds ahead of Alba Larsen, who propelled her car into the top 3.
The last two attempts by Pin were unable to prevent Campos from securing his second pole position, although the gap was reduced by the Mercedes driver to two tenths. Weug’s last-minute adjustment under the checkered flag allowed him to clinch third place, while the other members of the top 6 maintained their positions. Palmowski finished as the best rookie, in fourth position, ahead of Larsen. Tina Hausmann finished in sixth position, surpassing Lloyd, Felbermayr, and Nina Gademan, while Chloe Chong rounded out the top 10.
The Aston Martin driver stated: « It’s my best start to the season, I could be happy, but I know there is still much to do and to come in the upcoming races. »
Course 1
Ella Lloyd achieved a commanding first victory by gaining the upper hand over Emma Felbermayr at the first turn to win race 1. « I feel pretty good. My plan was to lead at the first turn, and that’s what I did, so I’m quite pleased with myself. After that, you have to be consistent, and I think my race was quite consistent. »
Despite a tempting restart under the safety car regime and enormous pressure exerted by Maya Weug, the McLaren driver maintained the lead until the checkered flag. Weug came very close to snatching it at the end of the race, with Alisha Palmowski completing the podium.
Doriane Pin was in a fierce battle with Tina Hausmann, but Weug managed to get ahead by placing third right in front of them. In an attempt to climb up the rankings, Block was hit by Courtney Crone, the Haas driver, which resulted in a spin that put her facing the wrong way on the track. She managed to get going again, but for Chloe Chong, it was a completely different story: her car sustained damage while trying to avoid the incident. The chaos led to the intervention of the safety car, putting Lloyd under pressure for a perfect restart. During the race, the McLaren driver held off her rivals. From a distance, she built a lead of 0.8 seconds over Palmowski.
After this race, there were only 5 small points between Pin and Weug. Lia Block, after a difficult start from the 12th position, managed to climb up and gain 6 places: a record this weekend.
Gademan, after her quite big accident during testing earlier this month, managed to regain confidence on this circuit and take 8th place.
Race 2
Maya Weug fought relentlessly to claim her first victory of the season ahead of Chloe Chambers, with the Red Bull Ford driver finishing first before being demoted due to a double penalty for forcing Maya Weug off the track.
Same penalty for Rafaela Ferreira who had hit Emma Felbermayr in the 2nd round, sending her into a spin and dropping her to 17th place.
Ferrari driver Weug set off in pursuit of Chambers, initiating a wheel-to-wheel battle for the lead. Despite an aggressive overtaking attempt that briefly took her off track, Weug managed to seize first place by the 3rd lap. The battle was far from over: contact with a kerb put her car in trouble, allowing Chambers to regain the lead. After a spin that dropped her to third place, Weug demonstrated her determination with a spectacular overtaking maneuver in the 4th lap to climb back to second.
The Ferrari driver, with emotional eyes and a broad smile, declared: “I had a very good start, I managed Doriane (Pin) well at the beginning, I felt really good, I had a great pace.” One thing is sure, her team encouraged her many times during the race.
Chambers was happy with her second. « I’m not going to be angry about this demotion, I gave my best despite it being complicated because everyone had different aerodynamic adjustments. »
Doriane Pin remained very discreet throughout the race. « A third place, that’s not what I wanted, but I fought now I need to analyze what went wrong, I lost quite a bit of pace in this second race », said the Frenchwoman at the end of the race.
The next meeting is scheduled in Miami for May 2-3. With the same drive, they will offer us a show once again. The top 3 is now set, who will take back the first place?
