2024 F1 Academy Singapore | 6 talking points

Pulling all but seals her first single-seater title

After topping every single session in Singapore, Abbi Pulling is just five points away from clinching the 2024 F1 Academy title, which will be her first championship triumph in senior categories, in truly dominant fashion. Her second clean sweep of the season saw her lead at the top of the drivers’ standings stretch to 95 points, with 100 left on the table. It’s now a case of when Pulling becomes champion, and if current form is anything to go by, it’ll probably be after race one in Lusail, although she now needs to wait until December to seal the deal.

Her performance in this championship has been exceptional from start to finish, and it surely must place her in the picture for a move into Formula 3 for 2025. Alongside her exploits in F1 Academy, Pulling also became the first woman to win in British F4 this season, and earned a place as a finalist for the BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award. If this isn’t enough to prove herself worthy of the chance in the next rung of F1 feeder series then we’re not sure what is.

In the heat of Singapore she looked cool and calm throughout, and delivered two clinical performances in races one and two to win by comfortable margins from a pair of pole positions. Although she didn’t want to admit it in the post-race interviews, she looks untouchable now, and the rest of the grid are powerless to stop her.

Weug’s hot streak continues

Ferrari’s Academy Driver Maya Weug tried her best though with her strongest weekend of the season as she twice finished second behind Pulling. Weug’s return to the podium in Zandvoort appears to have reignited her confidence after her struggles in Spain, and she looked on it from minute one in Singapore as the championship-leader’s closest challenger.

She qualified second for race one, and got a decent start to head off Doriane Pin into turn one. From there she pushed hard to keep Pulling honest, but had no answer to the Alpine driver’s consistent pace. She eventually fell two seconds back, but had the better of Pin who couldn’t muster a challenge.

From third on the grid in race two, Weug had an excellent start and made her move around the outside stick to take second place from Pin. From there she had a similar task of trying to hold onto Pulling’s coat tails, but while she couldn’t challenge for the win, Weug again had enough pace to see off Pin behind and claim another second place to further strengthen her position in the drivers’ standings. It’ll take a lot to overcome a 30-point deficit to Pin, but with four races to go she’ll have plenty more opportunities to make inroads.

Pin recovers well from another mistake

Doriane Pin was all smiles post-race in Singapore, but there must be some frustration at what has been a tumultuous season for the Frenchwoman. Her scintillating performance in Jeddah was remarkable, but the mistake she made there in race two was the precursor for a series of disappointing moments that have unfolded since then.

The rib injury was of course a major blow for Pin as she missed out on racing at Le Mans, but the little mistakes have continued since her return to the cockpit, with another coming in Singapore. It was, to be fair, an incredibly marginal false start that was barely perceptible to the naked eye, but it was a mistake nonetheless that could have cost her a podium finish were it not for a gutsy performance that saw her build enough of a gap to Lia Block behind.

Pin’s pace has never quite returned to the heights that we saw in Jeddah. She was comfortably the fastest driver on the grid that weekend, and yet she sits now almost 100 points behind Pulling in the championship. She has spoken well about the opportunity F1 Academy provides for her and her rivals, but Pin’s future is less certain now than it might have been.

Block impresses on Singapore streets

She’s cut a frustrated figure at times as she’s come oh so close to decent results on a number of occasions, but Lia Block finally got the results that her performances deserved in Singapore, with two assured fourth places.

Her reward is a massive 24-point haul that sees her climb to eighth in the drivers’ standings, with Bianca Bustamante in her sights as the Filipina driver continues to struggle for form. Block has been on a consistent curve of improvement over the course of this season; she has scored points in five of the past six races, and her results in Singapore could represent a major turning point for her if she’s able to harness that speed and bring it to the final two rounds in December.

It's important to remember that this is Block’s first season in single-seater competition, so to see her learning on the job and progressing quite so quickly is worthy of note. She’s justified Williams’ decision to stick her in the car, and now we’re starting to see the talent shine through.

Lloyd thrives as wildcard

The idea of introducing wildcards to the F1 Academy grid is beginning to bear fruit. Nina Gademan’s shoes were filled by Ella Lloyd in Singapore, and she carried the baton with aplomb. With only a single practice session to get herself up to speed, Lloyd set the 11^th fastest time before qualifying eighth for both races with impressive consistency.

She looked feisty throughout both races, too, getting stuck into the midfield fight and proving she belonged with several bold overtaking moves. She climbed to sixth in race one and came out on top during a duel with Hamda Al Qubaisi, but picked up a five second penalty for a jump start that saw her drop to ninth at the chequered flag.

A similarly strong performance in race two saw her make progress again to seventh place, and she again kept up good pace throughout to stay within striking distance of Al Qubaisi and leave Spain race winner Chloe Chambers five seconds behind. Lloyd has taken three podium finishes in British F4 so far this season, and must surely be lining up a move onto the F1 Academy grid for 2025.

A messy weekend for Bustamante

After a competitive start to the season that saw her score points in all of the first six races in F1 Academy and finish second in Miami, Bianca Bustamante has now failed to score at either Zandvoort or Singapore. The McLaren development driver has suffered a series of incidents in that time, and that trend continued before the lights even went out for race one as she caused an aborted start. But then rather than pull into the pits for the second start attempt, as per the regulations, she took her place on the grid which cost her a ten-second stop-and-go penalty and ultimately ended her race.

Then in race two, she was the cause of a safety car deployment after a spin on the exit kerb of turn five almost put her in the wall. She was eventually able to continue, and rejoined the fight at the restart to finish 14^th.

Disappointment in Singapore sees her fall away from the top six in the drivers’ standings, and she’ll now be looking over her shoulder as Lia Block threatens a late-season charge.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.