Photo by Jared C. Tilton – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
The all-female F1 Academy returns this weekend at the Spanish Grand Prix, and here are the major storylines
Formula 1 is back with this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Barcelona. But F1 is not the only game in town, as both F3 and F2 are in action this weekend.
As well as the F1 Academy.
The all-female series is off to a strong start, and arrives in Barcelona for the third race weekend of the 2024 schedule. The last time the F1 Academy was in action was at the Miami Grand Prix, where Abbi Pulling swept the weekend. That was not the only big news for the series at Hard Rock Stadium, as it was announced that Netflix was teaming up with Reese Witherspoon’s production company to produce a docuseries similar to “Drive to Survive.”
Here are the major storylines as F1 Academy roars back into action.
Can Chloe Chambers build off her success in Miami?
Pulling’s success in Miami was not the only noteworthy result over the two F1 Academy races at Hard Rock Stadium.
Chloe Chambers secured not only her maiden podium with a P3 in the first race at the Miami Grand Prix, but the first-ever podium for Haas. That result, coupled with a P4 in the second race, sees Chambers arrive in Barcelona sitting fourth in the F1 Academy Championship standings.
Can the Haas driver keep the momentum rolling in this weekend’s two races in Spain?
How will Doriane Pin rebound from her rib injury?
Doriane Pin was set to compete with the Iron Dames at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last weekend. But at the end of May, a medical check revealed that the driver had sustained fractured ribs, and was forced to miss motorsport’s premier endurance event. The injury also forced Pin to miss FRECA’s third 2024 round at Zandvoort, which took place ahead of Le Mans.
“After some medical checks, we found out that I had some fractured ribs and you need time to heal, and we had to make a difficult decision with my team to not race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” Pin said last month.
“It’s very tough and sad, especially for Le Mans, it’s one of the biggest races of the year and a very special one for me,” continued the driver. “I was looking forward to drive there but also to share that week with all of you and my team. I have to do the best for myself and also for the Iron Dames.”
However, Pin is back in action this weekend, set to race for Mercedes in the F1 Academy:
She currently sits second in the F1 Academy Drivers’ Championship standings with 65 points, 34 points behind Pulling. Can she return to form this weekend, even as she continues her recovery?
A page from F1 history
This is the second season of the F1 Academy, after the series debuted last season.
A year ago F1 Academy made two trips to Spain, first a race at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia at the beginning of May, followed by a trip to Barcelona at the end of May.
This year the series makes just the one stop in Spain, this weekend in Barcelona. But each visit by the series to Spain carries special significance in the world of motorsports. In the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix Lella Lombardi became just the second woman to qualify for an F1 Grand Prix, and the first to ever secure a point in an F1 race.
How will Nerea Martí fare at home?
The F1 Academy series stopping in Spain means a home race for both Nerea Martí and Campos Racing.
How will they fare this weekend?
Spain was rather kind to Martí last season, particularly Circuit Ricardo Tormo. She captured pole position for the first race in Valencia, and finished second in two of the three races at that circuit. Later that month Martí finished in the points in all three races in Barcelona, where she will be racing this weekend. Those results helped Martí finish fourth in the F1 Academy Championship a season ago.
While Martí finished outside the points in the first race of the season, Race 1 at Jeddah Corniche Circuit, she has bounced back with three-straight finishes in the points, including a P2 in the second race in Saudi Arabia. She enters this week sitting sixth in the F1 Academy Championship standings with 33 points, six points behind fifth-place Bianca Bustamante.
Can Martí enjoy success at home, and make a move up the standings as a result?
Can anyone catch Abbi Pulling?
This is perhaps the biggest question.
Can anyone catch Abbi Pulling?
The Alpine driver broke through with a win in the second race at Jeddah, although that came under rather odd circumstances as a post-race penalty handed down to Pin saw Pulling promoted to the victory well after the podium ceremony. It was a sequence of events that Pulling joked about with me when we talked ahead of the Miami Grand Prix.
“Yeah, it was really strange,” said Pulling when we talked ahead of Miami. “It’s obviously not how I want to really win races. Absolutely, I want to do all my talking on track. But then I’ll take the points where I can.
“I was watching the Formula One race in Alpine’s garage, actually, and I knew that there was an investigation happening. It ended up being on the the last lap of the checkered flag of the Formula One that it all got announced that I’d won and all the fireworks went off for the Grand Prix that had finished. And I was like, ‘they’re basically just celebrating me,’” she joked.
Her performance in Miami a few weeks later was absolutely not a joke.
Pulling swept the weekend, winning both races in a performance she described as “unforgettable,” and she arrives in Barcelona with a commanding lead in the F1 Academy Championship. Pulling sits on 99 points, 34 points ahead of Pin.
Can she keep things rolling in Spain? Or will her closest competitors close the gap at the top of the standings? Pin sits in second place with 65 at the moment, with Maya Weug in third place with 51 points.
Behind that trio you will find Chambers in fourth with 40 points, and Bustamante just one point behind with 39.
Will Pulling have another dominant performance, or will the field reel her in this weekend?
