Spanish Grand Prix: F1 Academy Qualifying Results

Spanish Grand Prix: F1 Academy Qualifying Results

F1 Academy drivers compete in their first race weekend shared with F1, F2, and F3 – an action packed schedule in Barcelona

Hannah May 4 min read

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F1 Academy returns for its third round in Spain. Will Abbi Pulling’s excellent performance from the first two races continue?

Abbi Pulling Rodin Alpine F1 Academy
Abbi Pulling achieved double pole positions for Race One and Race Two by setting the fastest and second-fastest times during Qualifying in Spain. (Image Credit: @f1academy on X)

Abbi Pulling set the fastest overall lap time and qualified in pole position for Race One. Pulling’s time was also the fastest of the drivers’ second-overall fastest lap times, putting her on pole for Race Two. Yet another double pole position for the championship leader, repeating her Qualifying performance in Miami.

News update

Speaking to FormulaNerds before the weekend, the F1 Academy drivers shared that they were excited to drive a more traditional circuit – following the opening races in Jeddah and Miami. The track is familiar to the drivers, featuring in both the 2023 inaugural F1 Academy season and the 2024 pre-season testing. Alpine junior, Abbi Pulling shared that she thinks Spain will host the closest race and qualifying of the season.

At the last race weekend in Miami, Pulling qualified in pole position for both races. The 21-year-old then raced to victory in both races around the Miami International Autodrome. She currently sits in P1 of the championship with 99 points.

Mercedes junior, Doriane Pin is recovering from an injury which forced the French driver to miss the action in Le Mans with the Iron Dames.

Unlike the first two rounds, there will be no wildcard entry at the Spanish Grand Prix weekend. For the first round in Jeddah, the Saudi Arabian driver, Reema Juffali was the wildcard entry. For round two in Miami, American driver, Courtney Crone was the wildcard entry.

Practice session

The F1 Academy drivers had one Free Practice session at the Spanish Grand Prix weekend earlier today. Abbi Pulling topped the closely-fought practice session. The Alpine-sponsored Rodin driver set a time of 1:42.474.

McLaren-sponsored ART GP driver, Bianca Bustamante also set the same lap time as the championship leader. The 19-year-old Filipina driver sits in P5 of the championship, just one point behind Chloe Chambers in P4.

Nerea Marti, in the Hilfiger-sponsored Campos car, is the home hero here in Spain. Marti performed well in practice, achieving P4.

Lights out for Qualifying

The 30-minute Qualifying session began with Bustamante entering the track first.

Carrie Schreiner, Sauber-sponsored Campos driver began her first flying lap. She was the first driver to set a quick time, so was setting purple sectors across the board. Schreiner crossed the line with a time of 1:43.361.

Pulling then began her quick lap, setting purple first and second sectors. Bustamante followed with green first and second sectors. Pulling completed her lap, setting a time of 1:42.540 for P1, while Bustamante set a 1:42.732 for P2. This moved Schreiner down to P3. The only other drivers to have set a time at this stage were Jessica Edgar in P4 and Lola Lovinfosse in P5.

Hamda Al Qubaisi in the Red Bull-sponsored MP car then set the next fastest time of the session, shortly beat by Chambers in the Haas-sponsored Campos.

Pin then set a 1:41.988 putting her on top of the timesheet. Then, Marti set a time for P6.

20 minutes into the session, Pin was in P1. The Mercedes-sponsored PREMA driver was followed by Chambers, H Al Qubaisi, Pulling, Bustamante, Marti, Tina Hausmann, Lia Block, Emely De Heus, and Maya Weug in P10.

Chambers then eclipsed Pin’s time by 0.062 seconds for P1. Meanwhile, Bustamante ran wide into the start-finish straight.

Halfway point

With 15 minutes remaining, the cars entered the pit lane to prepare for their second stint. Marti was noted by race control for speeding in the pitlane. The team were fined for this infringement.

The Aston Martin liveried PREMA driver, Hausmann entered the pits again after her first lap back out.

With eight minutes remaining, the top 10 drivers were Chambers, Pin, H Al Qubaisi, Marti, Pulling, Bustamante, Hausmann, Block, De Heus, and Weug.

Marti began her next flying lap with yellow first and second sectors. Meanwhile, Bustamante set green Sectors 1 and 2. Block set the fastest first sector, followed by a yellow Sector 2.

Marti failed to improve her time and remained in P4. Bustamante set the fastest time of the session with 1:41.921. Block improved to P4, pushing Marti down.

Pulling in P8 was on her next hot lap. She crossed the line with a 1:41.544, moving up to P1. The track conditions were improving and Marti moved up into P1, setting a 1:41.529. Pin and Chambers were on their flying laps. Pin moved up to P3, while Chambers beat Marti’s time with a 1:41.455.

Once more, Pulling was flying with purple first and second sectors. The championship leader crossed the line to move back into P1, just 0.059 seconds ahead of Chambers.

With just under two minutes to go, Pulling led from Chambers, Marti, Pin, and Bustamante.

Hamda Al Qubaisi improved in the first sector but then set a yellow second sector. Her third sector was also yellow and did not improve, remaining in P7.

Results

The Qualifying results were as follows:

  1. Abbi Pulling
  2. Chloe Chambers
  3. Nerea Marti
  4. Doriane Pin
  5. Bianca Bustamante
  6. Tina Hausmann
  7. Hamda Al Qubaisi
  8. Lia Block
  9. Jessica Edgar
  10. Lola Lovinfosse
  11. Emely De Heus
  12. Maya Weug
  13. Amna Al Qubaisi
  14. Carrie Schreiner
  15. Aurelia Nobels

Full Qualifying classifications can be found here.

Featured Image Credit: @f1academy on X

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