F1 Academy: Abbi Pulling and Doriane Pin share pole positions in wet Zandvoort Qualifying

Abbi Pulling and Doriane Pin secured pole positions in a wet qualifying session at Zandvoort, with Pulling taking pole in Race 1 and Pin fighting back for race 2. A stellar wild-card Nina Gademan will line up in sixth.

Photo credits: Alpine

Championship contenders Abbi Pulling and Doriane Pin each secured a pole position in a very wet qualifying session at Zandvoort. The Alpine Academy driver topped the timings by one-tenth of a second, but the Mercedes junior set the second-best lap and will start from pole in Sunday’s second race.

After dominating all practice sessions on Friday, Pulling continued her strong form in the rainy Saturday morning qualifying, with several drivers closely trailing her. Doriane Pin emerged as her closest rival, becoming the only other driver to break the 1:47-minute barrier.

The wet conditions mirrored those of pre-season testing at Zandvoort, providing the drivers with some familiarity. Despite this, the challenging weather led to tricky moments, including a spin for Amna Al Qubaisi at Turn 3 and Bianca Bustamante narrowly avoiding the barriers at the same corner soon later. Bustamante had been suffering from gearbox issues all weekend, which also caused a spin in Friday's FP2 and that hampered her driving time.

Maya Weug set the early pace, but it was Abbi Pulling who seized the lead with a 1:47.403 lap ten minutes into the session. Wild card entry Nina Gademan initially slotted into fourth before being overtaken by Tina Hausmann and Nerea Marti.

Doriane Pin’s first competitive lap put her in third, but Pulling further extended her lead by four-tenths, setting a new benchmark of 1:47.053.

Chloe Chambers broke into the top five before spinning at Turn 3, narrowly avoiding the barriers and quickly rejoining the track. Lia Block impressed with a lap that moved her into second place, pushing Pin and Weug to third and fourth, respectively. Chambers followed closely in fifth, clocking a strong 1:48.426 as the fastest Campos driver.

Both Block and Pulling went wide at Turn 11 on their fast laps but rejoined without incident. Meanwhile, Marti and Schreiner improved to fifth and sixth as the track conditions improved slightly, with all drivers pitting for fresh wet tyres with 10 minutes remaining.

Gademan was the first to capitalize on the new tyres, moving up to third just before Bustamante understeered into the Tecpro barrier at Turn 3, triggering a red flag.

When the session resumed for the final five minutes, traffic made it initially difficult for drivers to improve significantly, though Aurelia Nobels surged into third, followed by Weug and Marti. Despite strong sector times, Chambers’ best lap was only good enough for seventh. In the closing seconds, Marti found a slipstream and snatched third, with Weug also overtaking Nobels for fourth.

Pulling remained unchallenged and secured pole position for Race 1, while Pin, second by just one-tenth, claimed pole for Race 2 based on her second-best lap.

Marti and Weug will share the second row for Race 1, with Nobels lining up alongside a stellar Nina Gademan, who was sixth fastest on her F1 Academy debut.

An all-American fourth row features Chloe Chambers in seventh and Lia Block in eighth. Hamda Al Qubaisi, who was consistently among the fastest on Friday, managed only ninth in the wet conditions, while Jessica Edgar rounded out the top ten.

Carrie Schreiner just missed the top ten, followed by Tina Hausmann, Lola Lovinfosse, and Bianca Bustamante. Home team MP Motorsport had a challenging qualifying, with Emely De Heus and Amna Al Qubaisi starting from 15th and 16th.

For Race 2, based on second-best lap times, Pulling will start second alongside Pin, with Maya Weug in third and the impressive Nobels in fourth. Marti drops to fifth, while Gademan retains her sixth spot ahead of a fast Lia Block.

Hamda Al Qubaisi moves up to eighth, with Schreiner and Hausmann completing the top ten. Chloe Chambers will start P11.

Rodin Motorsport teammates Lola Lovinfosse and Jessica Edgar will start 12th and 13th, with De Heus gaining a position over Bustamante. Amna Al Qubaisi will round out the field.

Race 1 is scheduled for 17:05 local time, with an exciting battle anticipated across the field in potentially unpredictable weather conditions.