F1 Academy: Weug beats Pin to pole in Singapore, as Block secures reverse grid pole
- RACERS
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Ferrari junior Maya Weug edged title rival Doriane Pin by just 0.042s to secure pole position under the lights in Singapore, while wild card Lisa Billard impressed with a top-five qualifying on her series debut.
Eighth fastest, Lia Block will start race 1 from reverse grid pole.
Just a few hours after the sole practice session, F1 Academy cars hit the Marina Bay street circuit for qualifying, which awarded the first points of the weekend to Ferrari Driver Academy's Maya Weug, beating championship rival Pin in another tight session.
Doriane Pin and Maya Weug had been separated by just 0.022 seconds in practice – with Campos Racing’s Alisha Palmowski, still mathematically in contention, also alternating at the top and eventually finishing only 0.05 behind. Chloe Chambers wasn’t far off either, as the Red Bull Ford representative aimed to bounce back in Singapore after a stellar first part of the season. Ella Lloyd and Nina Gademan – the other two drivers needing to keep their title hopes alive – were both in the top ten in morning practice.
Conditions for qualifying were very different from practice, with the session run at night under the spectacular lights of the Singapore skyline – unlike the daytime conditions drivers will face in both races later in the weekend.
As the green flag waved for the 30-minute session, there was immediate drama: front-runner Alisha Palmowski hit the wall at Turn 5 before completing a flying lap. Her Red Bull Racing-liveried Campos car sustained rear suspension damage, bringing out the red flag. It was disaster for Palmowski after showing great speed in practice; she would now have to fight back from the back of the grid on one of the hardest tracks for overtaking.
The session resumed with 21 minutes to go, and Ella Lloyd was the first driver to set a representative lap. Championship leader Doriane Pin then put in the first lap in the 2:03s range, ahead of Chambers, Lloyd, and wild card Billard.
But with 15 minutes left, Chloe Chambers delivered a 2:03.761 to snatch provisional pole, a tenth quicker than Pin. An impressively fast Lisa Billard followed in third, ahead of Lloyd and Weug – the latter brushing the wall at the same corner where Palmowski had crashed.
Midway through, most drivers pitted for fresh tyres ahead of the decisive final runs. With six minutes remaining, Maya Weug clocked a 2:03.775 – just one hundredth behind Chambers – enough to edge Pin and move into second.
Chambers then set the fastest first sector overall, while Weug improved in the second sector. Ultimately, it was the Ferrari junior who grabbed provisional pole with a 2:03.453, as Chambers improved to 2:03.642. Emma Felbermayr produced a superb lap to climb into the top six, while Lloyd was on a great run before a mistake at the final corner left her fourth after a spectacular save.
With one minute to go, the battle for pole intensified: Pin improved in the first sector but encountered traffic. She narrowly crossed the line before the chequered flag, earning one final attempt. Chambers could not improve and settled for second, while Weug held the edge.
On her last effort, however, Pin posted a 2:03.495 – just four hundredths shy of pole – but enough to secure a front-row start alongside her championship rival Weug, who claimed her third pole position of the season and the two extra points.
Chloe Chambers will line up a strong third, alongside Ella Lloyd. The star of the session, however, was Lisa Billard, who became the first wild card entry of the season to qualify inside the top five.
Emma Felbermayr was sixth fastest, ahead of Aurelia Nobels – continuing a positive weekend for the Puma-supported driver – with Lia Block and Alba Larsen making significant progress compared to practice. Chloe Chong also impressed with a lap good enough for the top ten, ahead of Nina Gademan and Joanne Ciconte.
Prema’s Tina Hausmann will start P13, just in front of Rafaela Ferreira, who delivered a commendable effort to qualify P14 after missing practice entirely due to technical issues and having to learn the track in the short qualifying session. Similarly, Megan Bruce – called up just days earlier to substitute for the injured Aiva Anagnostiadis – finished P15 after a solid first day.
Courtney Crone and Nicole Havrda followed in P16 and P17, while Palmowski faces a mission to charge through the field after her early crash.
Saturday’s Race 1 will feature a partially reversed grid, meaning Lia Block will start from pole thanks to her eighth-place finish in qualifying. It will be the Williams driver’s first time starting from pole, at the very track where she claimed her maiden top-five in her rookie season in 2024. She will line up alongside Nobels, with Felbermayr and Billard sharing the second row.
The first race of the weekend is scheduled for Saturday at 15:00 local time.
