Start action, Doriane Pin, PREMA Racing leads
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
After a nearly two-month break, F1 Academy is back with its third round in Barcelona. The all-female single-seater series last took to the track at the Miami International Autodrome for the Miami Grand Prix, with both races won by Abbi Pulling.
The British driver, who most recently became the first woman to win a British F4 race, has claimed three out of the four F1 Academy races so far this season. She was awarded her first pole following the second race in Jeddah, when the original race winner Doriane Pin failed to see the chequered flag and continued for an additional lap around the circuit.
Pulling - who is supported by Alpine - currently leads the championship by 34 points from the Mercedes-supported Pin.
The third round of the F1 Academy – taking place at the Spanish Grand Prix - will take place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The event accompanies the F1 races and will take place ahead of the top-tier race later in the day.
Race 1:
Date: Saturday 22 June 2024
Start time: 5pm BST/ 6pm CEST/ 12pm EST/ 9am PST
Race 2:
Date: Sunday 23 June 2024
Start time: 7:50am BST/ 8:50am CEST/ 2:50am EST/ 11:50pm PST
The Spanish Grand Prix weekend will take place between 21-23 of June, with Saturday’s race taking place at 5pm and the second race taking place on Sunday at 7:50am.
Chloe Chambers, Campos Racing
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Here are the full timings for the F1 Academy Barcelona round:
Friday 21 June
Free Practice: 7:50am BST/ 8:50am CEST/ 2:50am EST/ 11:50pm PST
Qualifying: 5:30pm BST/ 6:30pm CEST/ 12:30pm EST/ 9:30am PST
Saturday 22 June
Race 1: 5pm BST/ 6pm CEST/ 12pm EST/ 9am PST
Sunday 23 June
Race 2: 7:50am BST/ 8:50am CEST/ 2:50am EST/ 11:50pm PST
It is expected to be a predominantly warm and sunny weekend, however the Sunday morning F1 Academy race could be impacted by rainy weather. With free practice and the second race taking place in the early morning, temperatures will be a little cooler but could reach highs of 25°C/77 Fahrenheit for the evening qualifying and race sessions.
Friday 21 June:
The F1 Academy free practice session should be sunny with highs of 20°C/68 Fahrenheit, although the humidity levels should be high at 78%. There is no chance of rain during the session but there will be light winds coming from the northwest.
During the qualifying session later in the day temperatures should be sitting at the peak daily temperature of 24°C/ 75.2 Fahrenheit, although it could feel as high as 28°C/ 82.4 Fahrenheit. There is again no chance of rain for the session, but there will be a light breeze from the southeast.
Saturday 22 June:
F1 Academy’s first race at the Spanish Grand Prix is not forecasted to be impacted by rain but there could be sunny intervals with a moderate southern breeze. Temperatures will reach around 24°C/ 75.2 Fahrenheit with 74% humidity.
Sunday 23 June:
The second F1 Academy race on Sunday is set to be impacted by light rain. There is a high chance of rain all morning, making temperatures slightly cooler at around 20°C/68 Fahrenheit. Humidity will reach its weekend peak at around 84% and there will be light winds from the east.
Doriane Pin is set to race this weekend after being forced to pull out of the Le Mans 24 Hours due to fractured ribs. The French woman had also had to withdraw from last month’s Formula Regional European Championship race at Spa-Francorchamps before announcing that she wouldn’t race in last weekend's endurance event.
The Mercedes driver said she needed time to recover from her injury, the origin of which is unclear. She has since taken to social media to tell her fans she is “back at it” for the F1 Academy weekend, where she will race for PREMA Racing.
Abbi Pulling hopes to continue her F1 Academy winning streak and keep her lead in the championship. The British driver comes to Spain off the back of her British Formula 4 victory at Brands Hatch, making her the first woman to claim a win in the series.
Pulling told Autosport: “I don’t want to over-celebrate it too much because it’s the main races I want to be winning, not the reverse grid races. But if there is any way to do it, I did it properly and I pulled out a big gap and that shows that we have the pace to qualify a bit better next time, hopefully.”
F1 Academy is also set to get the Drive to Survive treatment, with Netflix announcing that they are working on an upcoming behind-the-scenes docuseries.
Managing Director of F1 Academy, Susie Wolff, said: “We want to inspire and empower the next generation of young women, and Netflix will open up F1 Academy to a global audience of existing and future fans.”
Bianca Bustamante, ART Grand Prix
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
The F1 Academy Barcelona round is being held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to accompany the Formula 1 race. The circuit has hosted the top-tier motorsport series since 1991 and this will be the second time an all-female single-seater event has been held on the track.
The circuit was built as part of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics development programme and weeks after opening it hosted its first Formula 1 grand prix - the 1991 Spanish Grand Prix - which saw Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansel locked in a tight battle for the race win.
The pair went wheel to wheel down the main straight, with Mansel’s Williams emerging from the corner first, giving him the lead and eventually the win.
A year later the track also hosted its first MotoGP race, which has continued as a staple on the calendar ever since.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya had previously hosted the W Series in 2022, which was won by Jamie Chadwick. Five of this season’s F1 Academy drivers, including Abbi Pulling and Bianca Bustamante, took part in the previous race, before the W Series fell into liquidation later in the year.
The F1 Academy last raced in Miami between the 3-5 May 2024. Abbi Pulling led the entire race after starting from pole position, finishing with a five-second lead from second place Doriane Pin.
Bianca Bustamante was struck with disaster at lights out after her McLaren stalled on the grid, taking her from fourth to the back of the pack.
Chloe Chambers scored her first podium in front of her home crowd after a tight battle with Hamda Al Qubaisi and Maya Weug. With three laps to go, Chambers was all over the back of Quabaisi’s Red Bull Racing car, but a brief move to the left saw both drivers lose out to Ferrari’s Weug.
However, a mistake from the Dutch driver saw her allow the Haas of Chambers to fly past and up into the podium position.