In a battle for the top three spots during F1 ACADEMY’s Race 1 here in Miami, it was Alpine’s Abbi Pulling who secured her first official win. Mercedes’ Doriane Pin sits in P2 while Haas’ Chloe Chambers finished P3. It is Haas’ first podium in
After a delayed start by 15 minutes, the formation lap began at 14:20 local time. It was soon lights out and away we went.
Race 1 started off with a hitch as Mclaren’s Bianca Bustamante had trouble getting off the line and set a task for herself – climbing up the grid.
Pulling had a remarkable start, gaining the lead from Pin. Neither driver lost position throughout the race and so the battle was for P3 onwards.
Lap 1 was an eventful one. While up-front, the drivers were focused on maintaining position, Puma’s Aurelia Nobels and Aston Martin’s Tina Haussmann made contact. Lap 2 saw Haussmann pit from damage, which ultimately ended her race. A Yellow Flag was raised in Sector 3 after debris was left on the track.
Elsewhere, Bustamante began her climb up the grid passing Wild Card Entry Crone – backed by QVC. Ferrari’s Maya Weug and Tommy Hilfiger’s Nerea Martí battled for fourth place in a tense overtake battle.
Lap 3 continued Bustamante’s recovery race. She soon passed Lola Lovinfosse for 12th. A position she held smoothly.
For Chloe Chambers, the Miami GP marks her first home race under the series. Aiming for at least a podium finish, the American performed worthy of one. Lap 4 saw her perform a double overtake on Weug and Martí that even amazed the commentators who wondered how she had smoothly managed the risk she took.
Martí then followed up on Chambers’ success, taking 5th place from Weug. Further up the grid, Bustamante got past Kick Sauber’s Chloe Schriener for P11.
Brazilian Aurelia Nobles had poor luck today. Lap 6 saw the driver handed a ten-second time penalty for her collision with Haussmann on Lap 1. While she performed an overtake on Martí for 6th, she soon lost the place back.
Bustamante moved into 10th place after passing Williams’ Lia Block – another American who unfortunately did not have luck on her side this time round. The junior spun on lap 7 and dropped into last place.
Lap 8 brought another penalty to the grid. Bustamante, despite her best efforts to head into the points, was handed a 5-second penalty for exceeding track limits.
By this point of the race, Pulling had a 2.5-second lead from the rest of the grid. Pin sat in 2nd while Red Bull’s Al Qubaisi was 3rd.
Chambers soon was behind H. Al Qubaisi, chasing for 3rd. If that excitement was not enough, Weug decided to join in on the battle. It was not until Lap 11 that Chambers broke away from the pack, securing a podium position for herself. It was a race to be proud of.
The final few laps saw drivers eager to secure point finishes. Bustamante flew past American Express’ Jessica Edgar for 7th while Martí gained 5th place from H. Al Qubaisi.
It was Pulling who crossed the finish line first, an impressive 4 seconds ahead of the grid. Pin and Chambers followed behind, closing off our podium for F1 ACADEMY’s Race 1 in Miami.
Photo by Clive Manson – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images.