Doriane Pin claims Race 1 win in Miami thriller to close championship gap

Doriane Pin triumphed in a dramatic F1 Academy reverse grid race at Miami, overtaking Emma Felbermayr and holding off Alisha Palmowski in a tense finale to become the first double winner of the 2025 season, while Maya Weug recovered to fourth to retain a narrow championship lead.

Photo credits: F1 Academy Ltd

Doriane Pin won a thrilling first F1 Academy race of the weekend at the Miami International Autodrome, as the reverse grid format once again delivered plenty of action throughout the field.

Pin closed the championship gap to Maya Weug – who nevertheless recovered brilliantly from an unfortunate qualifying – and clinched victory after a spectacular duel with Alisha Palmowski. The race also saw Emma Felbermayr put on a strong fight for the lead in the early stages. With a third-place finish, Chloe Chambers continued her consistent points-scoring form and remains a clear title contender.

Held just after a wet F1 Sprint race, the track was drying quickly, and all drivers opted for slick tyres in high temperatures.

In a dramatic wet qualifying session, Emma Felbermayr had secured eighth place—earning reverse grid pole position for the second consecutive weekend. She lined up alongside Rafaela Ferreira, with Aurelia Nobels and Lia Block on the second row.

Alba Larsen was forced to start from the pit lane due to a technical issue, after originally qualifying 12th.

At the start, Felbermayr held the lead, but it was Doriane Pin who made an incredible getaway to slot into second. Behind them, Ella Lloyd misjudged her braking and made contact with Ferreira, ending her own race in the runoff with damage. Lia Block was also involved but escaped without harm after taking evasive action through the runoff.

From the third row, Aurelia Nobels gained several places to move into third. Pin was preparing an attack for the lead when the safety car was deployed.

Chloe Chambers had also already made up ground, climbing from eighth to fourth, putting herself in a strong position to maximize points. Maya Weug also made good progress, moving from tenth to sixth. The early neutralization allowed Alba Larsen to catch up with the pack after her pit lane start.

The race resumed at the end of lap 2: Felbermayr made no mistakes on the restart and maintained her lead, with the top three opening a small gap. Nina Gademan and Prema teammate Tina Hausmann battled cleanly for eighth.

Under pressure, Felbermayr continued to defend well, but Pin looked more comfortable on the brakes: on lap 3, Pin made a move into the final corner to take the lead. Felbermayr however responded bravely into Turn 1, catching Pin off guard and briefly regaining the position.

The battle allowed the chasing pack—Chambers, Palmowski, and Weug—to close in: Palmowski overtook Chambers for fourth, and the fight at the front intensified. On lap 5, Felbermayr locked up, and Pin capitalized with a switchback to retake the lead. Nobels followed through into second, with Palmowski moving into third.

Felbermayr, now under pressure from Chambers and Weug, was passed by both in a dramatic move—one on each side—as her Sauber-liveried Rodin car developed a loose front panel. She would later receive a black-and-orange flag and be forced to pit.

With Pin back in front, the lead was far from secure. Nobels and Palmowski remained within striking distance until Palmowski launched her attack on Nobels, allowing Pin to breathe. The Red Bull driver eventually cleared Nobels to move into second.

Chambers joined the lead pack, but the race was neutralized again on lap 7 after a three-wide moment involving Nicole Havrda, Joanne Ciconte, and Chloe Chong; Chong was squeezed between the other two and suffered race-ending damage, as did Ciconte. The safety car was deployed, bunching the field once more.

Felbermayr pitted to fix her front panel and rejoined at the back. With four laps to go, the top five were Pin, Palmowski, Nobels, Chambers, and Weug.

Pin had a strong restart and tried to pull away, while Palmowski had to defend from Nobels and Chambers. Chambers made a stellar move around the outside at Turn 11 to snatch third. Behind them, Weug cleverly used the slipstream and completed a switchback to take fourth, as Nobels locked up into the final corner.

Further back, Gademan overtook Hausmann for seventh, and Lia Block joined the fight for the top five, passing Nobels despite running deep into the runoff area.

As the final lap began, Palmowski ramped up the pressure, having matched Pin's pace with a personal best of 1:59.4—two-tenths faster than the leader on the penultimate lap.

Despite a tense final lap, Doriane Pin held on to take the chequered flag by just four-tenths of a second, earning her second win of the season and becoming the first double winner of the year. She also claimed the fastest lap, closing the championship gap to just one point behind leader Maya Weug.

Chambers secured her fourth podium of the year, continuing to collect vital points in her campaign.

Weug finished fourth after a solid recovery from tenth, ahead of Nina Gademan, who inherited fifth after Lia Block received a five-second penalty for overtaking Nobels off-track.

Nobels scored her first points of the season with a strong sixth-place finish, followed by Tina Hausmann and Rafaela Ferreira in the remaining points-paying positions for the reverse grid race.

The penalty dropped Lia Block to tenth in another unlucky race for the American. Alba Larsen completed her first non-points finish in 11th.

Nicole Havrda finished 12th, with Ava Dobson running a clean race in P13. She was followed by Aiva Anagnostiadis and Emma Felbermayr, who had to pit while fighting at the front.

Chloe Chong's unlucky streak continued with a second DNF, caught up in an incident. Joanne Ciconte and Ella Lloyd also failed to finish.

Tomorrow’s feature race will see Chloe Chambers start from pole—a crucial opportunity for the American to reignite her title challenge.

She will, however, need to hold off her quick teammate Palmowski, as well as Saturday’s winner Doriane Pin, with a multitude of drivers aiming for recovery drives in the second and final race of the weekend. Race 2 is scheduled for 13:05 local time.