Latest Episode | Cut To The Race Podcast
FormulaNerds spoke to Maya Weug ahead of Round 4 of F1 Academy in Zandvoort.Â?
It’s been two months since the last F1 Academy race, but the all-female grid is back this weekend for Round 4 of the 2024 season. F1 Academy returns to Zandvoort for its sophomore year with 16 drivers; Nina Gademan is making her championship debut as the wild card entry.
And whilst it’s a home race for Gademan, it’s also a home race for two full-time F1 Academy drivers, Maya Weug and Emely de Heus. Weug races for PREMA Racing, alongside Tina Hausman and Doriane Pin.
She is backed by Scuderia Ferrari having joined their young driver academy four years ago. However, whilst Weug achieved two podiums in the opening round, she has yet to stand on the top step of the podium.
The Dutch driver finished P3 and P2 in the two races in Jeddah. The weekend in Miami also saw Weug score points with a P6 finish in Race 1 and a P5 in Race 2. But, unfortunately, the most recent weekend in Barcelona, didn’t quite go Weug’s way.
Confident for a better performance
Speaking to FormulaNerds ahead of the weekend, Weug explained what she has done to try and achieve a race win, like Pin has earlier this year. Weug said:
“We had a good start to the season in Jeddah. Two podiums was good points. Then the last round was not great in Barcelona.
“But I think we did a lot of work on the simulator and with the team in the background, so we changed some stuff to be ready for this weekend.
“Overall, I’m confident it will be much better and also, I’m going to push a lot especially with it being a home race, I really want to have a good one.”
In the Virtual Media Roundtable ahead of the weekend, Weug also told media that the drivers need to be “ready for everything”. She said: “Of course, compared to the tracks where we haven’t driven yet so much, it’s more about fine tuning.
“We all know more or less what we need to do but it’s about finding the set up right for quali and of course conditions here in Zandvoort are always changing so it’s important to be ready for everything”
Backing of Ferrari
Weug also spoke to media about the backing she receives from Scuderia Ferrari. 2024 is the first year where each driver is backed by either an F1 team or another sponsor, such as Charlotte Tilbury.
Having been a member of the FDA for four years, Weug touched on how it’s helped her. She said: “This is my fourth year already, so I joined quite a while ago, and especially making the step from karting to single-seaters, being a part of an academy has helped me massively.
“Having so many people that have so much experience and knowledge was something that I really needed in the first year coming from karting. I live in Italy, so I always go training there and gym and sim, so there’s a lot of stuff I can do with the FDA.
“They’ve helped me so much during this season and of course, having the full red car is something really special this year.”
Weug will be driving the Ferrari-liveried F1 Academy car this weekend for Round 4 of the season. There are two practice sessions today, Qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday and Race 2 on Sunday.
Headline image: X @insideFDA