2025 F1 Academy in Shanghai: the story so far
A brand-new season of F1 Academy gets underway in Shanghai this weekend, the series’ 18-woman field will get their first opportunity to perform in front of a global audience in 2025, with several new faces preparing to take the Championship by storm.
Abbi Pulling, the dominant 2024 F1 Academy champion has made her move to GB3 for this season, leaving the door open for one or more drivers to take their share of the spoils in 2025. Doriane Pin, last season’s runner up who made such an explosive start to her F1 Academy career in Jeddah last year, will be eyeing the title to continue her inevitable climb up the motorsport ladder.
Expect her to be challenged by Ferrari Academy driver Maya Weug, who will enter the season as F1 Academy’s most recent race winner after her triumph at the final round in Abu Dhabi back in December.
In all, six drivers return for their second seasons in F1 Academy. Pin and Weug are joined by Chloe Chambers, Aurelia Nobels, Lia Block and Tina Hausmann as the veterans on the grid, while Nina Gademan, Courtney Crone, Ella Lloyd and Alisha Palmowski join the grid with full-time race seats after successful wildcard appearances in 2024.
That leaves space for eight brand-new faces in an exciting 2025 field, that in Shanghai will include local favourite Shi Wei, who claims the first wildcard spot of the year at her home race.
Doriane Pin makes a strong start in practice
The Mercedes-backed driver headed a Prema one-two in Practice in Shanghai as she and Tina Hausmann set the pace ahead of Chloe Chambers and Maya Weug.
Nina Gademan, in the third Prema car, was the quickest of the new drivers on the grid in fifth, ahead of fellow 2024 wildcard Ella Lloyd and 16-year-old Joanne Ciconte.
A major incident between Lia Block and Rafaela Ferreira, as the American tried to pass on the long back straight, sent Block hard into the wall and brought out the red flag. Ferreira was weaving to warm up her tyres, but made contact with Block as she was on a flying lap and earned herself a three-place grid penalty for both races this weekend. The damage to Block’s car ruled her out of qualifying, but she’ll be permitted to start from the back of the grid.
Wildcard Shi Wei was the slowest of the session’s runners to complete a flying lap, but she’ll be hoping to close the gap on the rest of the field over the remainder of the weekend.
Maya Weug claims pole position
It was Ferrari’s Maya Weug who set an untouchable pace in F1 Academy’s qualifying session. The 20-year-old’s fastest time was almost half a second quicker than Doriane Pin’s best effort, and it represents the perfect start to a season for Weug, who looks set to be locked in a battle for victory with Pin on Sunday.
Alba Larsen was third quickest in her debut qualifying session, a further two tenths back in the Tommy Hilfiger car ahead of Chloe Chambers for Red Bull Ford and Red Bull’s Alisha Palmowski. Nina Gademan and Tina Hausmann set similar times to their Practice efforts, but dropped to eighth and ninth for Sunday’s grid.
Gademan will take solace from her reversed-grid pole for Saturday’s race, however. Emma Felbermayr, who set the seventh fastest time, will line up alongside her on the front row on Saturday.
Rafaela Ferreira qualified 13th but will drop to 16th when her three-place penalty is applied. Wildcard Shi Wei managed to improve on her Practice pace, but will line up 17th ahead of Lia Block.
Images courtesy of Getty Images.
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