Mercedes Junior Doriane Pin secured a double pole position in qualifying for the F1 Academy 2024 Qatar GP, keeping her championship hopes alive. Her teammate Maya Weug was right behind in second place, and championship leader Abbi Pulling rounded out the top three.
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There was a delayed start to qualifying after a crash in the Porsche support race damaged one of the barriers. After a 12 minute delay, qualifying was underway. However, the session was cut slightly short as a result.
As It Happened
The entire field poured on track to start setting laps in the shortened session. After setting out laps, they reentered the pits to adjust the tyre pressure and prepare for their push laps.
Doriane Pin set the pace with her first flying lap of a 1:55.988, three tenths ahead of Abbi Pulling in third. The Mercedes Junior Driver has to outscore Pulling this weekend if she wants to keep the championship fight alive.
Haas Junior Driver Chloe Chambers was the first driver of the session to dip a wheel in the gravel, though not the last. Lia Block also found the gravel during her flying lap.
Pulling was the only driver to pit after struggling to set a lap faster than fourth. Weug led the field ahead of Pin and the standout Wildcard entry Alisha Palmowski with eight minutes left on the clock.
Despite reportedly feeling under the weather, Maya Weug continued to set purple sectors, but Pin jumped ahead to P1 with a 1:55.309.
The Final Minutes
After boxing to adjust the tyres, Pulling improved to P3, but she was caught in traffic that affected her lap. She seemed on the back foot the entire session in comparison to Pin, whose lap was almost seven tenths faster than Pulling’s.
Multiple drivers had big moments, going wide and spinning off-track.
Doriane Pin continued to improve on her time, securing pole position for both races. Pulling jumped to third on the timing stand, still behind Pin and Weug.
Championship contender Doriane Pin secured pole position in qualifying for both F1 Academy races at the 2024 Qatar GP ahead of her Prema Racing teammate Maya Weug and championship leader Abbi Pulling.
Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
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