F1 Academy: Doriane Pin takes dramatic victory in chaotic Las Vegas wet race
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Doriane Pin extended her championship lead to 20 points after surviving a wet, incident-filled reverse-grid race in Las Vegas, as title rival Maya Weug hits trouble in a major twist to the season finale.
Doriane Pin claimed victory in a chaotic reverse-grid race at Las Vegas, crucially extending her championship lead after title rival Maya Weug was involved in an accident before the start. The Mercedes-AMG junior survived a race marred by incidents in tricky wet conditions, eventually passing Prema teammate Nina Gademan in the final stages to take a pivotal win that moves her dramatically closer to the F1 Academy title.
The series’ first race in Las Vegas opened the final weekend of the 2025 championship, F1 Academy’s closest title fight yet, set to be decided in Saturday’s finale. Two contenders remained: Doriane Pin entered the event with a nine-point advantage over Maya Weug in a straight Mercedes vs Ferrari showdown.
While qualifying had seen home favourite Chloe Chambers secure her fourth pole position of the seven-round season — earning two extra points — Pin had narrowly outqualified Weug, placing fourth and fifth respectively. Chambers, who dropped out of title contention after misfortune in Singapore, remained a strong performer and is now battling Ella Lloyd and Alisha Palmowski for third in the standings.
Thursday night’s qualifying session had been defined by slipstream strategies between teammates, shaping the grid for the weekend’s opening reverse-grid race: Prema’s Nina Gademan started from pole for the third time this year alongside Emma Felbermayr — both already race winners in the reverse-grid format. And although the title would only be settled on Saturday, the Friday race still offered crucial points.
Rain arrived before the start, forcing the field onto wet tyres and prompting race control to order a Safety Car start due to the low grip levels. More drama followed as Emma Felbermayr suffered a clutch issue and was forced to start from the pit lane, alongside Nicole Havrda.
Disaster then struck moments before the rolling start, when Maya Weug and Tina Hausmann collided as Gademan backed up the field. Both were eliminated before the race even went green, in a major blow with enormous championship implications. The Safety Car was immediately deployed, with Gademan leading Pin and Larsen — now placing all title momentum firmly on Pin’s side.
Racing resumed on lap three, with Gademan initially holding the lead but coming under pressure from Pin, who ran slightly wide at Turn 1. That opened the door for an outstanding move by Alba Larsen, who swept around the outside to take second in the still-slippery conditions. The Danish teenager was flying and soon took the lead. Behind her, Pin and Gademan battled side by side for second, with Chambers joining the fight.
More drama unfolded at the final corner — normally flat in the dry — when Larsen slighly tapped the wall on entry and spun, narrowly avoiding the pit wall and was missed by the oncoming cars, but dropped to the back. The damage however soon forced her into retirement.
On the restart, Chong made contact with Crone, and Ferreira was tagged and spun by Ciconte; both pitted at the end of lap four, with Chong gambling on slick tyres.
A leading group of five began to pull away as Lia Block set the fastest lap in 2:22.1, climbing to sixth and leading the pursuit pack. Lloyd, attacking Palmowski and Chambers, went deep and hit the barriers, triggering yet another Safety Car.
The race resumed on lap eight, but conditions remained treacherous under braking for Turn 1: the Red Bull–supported drivers Palmowski and Chambers fought hard, with Palmowski eventually grabbing third. Ahead, Gademan struggled for grip, while Pin — careful not to take unnecessary risks — found a clean way past just in time. Moments later, in fact, Chambers was tagged into a spin and into the wall by Campos teammate Palmowski, bringing out another caution. Lia Block was also delayed after taking avoiding action, losing several positions.
Everything had played into Pin’s hands: she held the fastest lap and the lead ahead of Gademan, Palmowski, Aurelia Nobels — chasing her first podium — and Joanne Ciconte under the Safety Car, as the rain intensified.
The race ultimately finished under caution, with Pin surviving the chaos to take one of the most unpredictable victories in the series history. The result represents a massive step toward the title for the Frenchwoman, who now extends her lead over Weug to 20 points with one race remaining and 26 still available.
Prema secured a 1–2 finish, sealing the Italian team’s third consecutive F1 Academy Teams’ Championship. Gademan claimed her fourth podium ahead of Palmowski, Nobels, and rookie Rachel Robertson, who finished fifth on her F1 Academy debut — marking Hitech’s best result of the season —after Ciconte received a penalty for her contact with Ferreira.
Lia Block finished sixth, ahead of Wild Card Payton Westcott, who matched Esmee Kosterman’s best result by a Wild Card entry in 2025. Courtney Crone scored points in eighth, her second points finish of the year. Rafaela Ferreira took ninth, with Nicole Havrda clinching her second top-ten finish in tenth. Emma Felbermayr, Ciconte, and Chloe Chong completed the classified finishers.
The final race of the season will take place on Saturday at 16:20 local time, where Weug still holds a mathematical chance of overturning the deficit — but Doriane Pin now approaches the finale very much in command after a perfect Race 1 on the Las Vegas Strip.