The F1 Academy FP2 session in Qatar has also ended! What a performance by Palmowski, the Wild Card for this weekend, who finished in third place behind Doriane Pin, who continues to lead, with Abbi Pulling between the two.
Just half an hour after the conclusion of the only practice session for the Formula 1 drivers – which saw Charles Leclerc on top – at the Lusail International Circuit, it was time to focus on the second free practice session for the F1 Academy drivers under the lights of Qatar.
The spotlight of these F1 Academy FP2 sessions was certainly stolen by Alisha Palmowski, who finished just behind the rival duo of Pin and Pulling, with Pin managing to top the session ahead of this season’s (almost) champion, posting a lap time of 1:54.794. The top 10 were completed by Maya Weug, Hamda Al Qubaisi, Jessica Edgar, Lia Block, Emily de Heus, Chloe Chambers, and Bianca Bustamante.
What happened during F1 Academy FP2 in Qatar?
Unlike this morning’s session, the track saw much more action with most drivers going out for their initial reconnaissance laps before heading back to the pits. Abbi Pulling, alongside Lola Lovinfosse and Bianca Bustamante, formed a train of cars and kicked off the session with some start practice. The first driver to set a time was none other than the Alpine Academy driver, who is very close to securing the title this season, posting a lap of 1:56.453, immediately going quicker than the fastest time from FP1 set by Doriane Pin.
The real action unfolded almost at the end of the session, when most of the F1 Academy drivers pushed hard for a final flying lap. Chloe Chambers managed to climb to third place after setting a very strong first sector, just +0.052 behind Abbi Pulling in first. Meanwhile, Jessica Edgar and Hamda Al Qubaisi placed themselves between the Haas F1 Team driver and the Williams driver. Maya Weug had also improved her lap time and was on track to set the fastest overall time until the British Alpine driver reclaimed the top spot.
Alisha Palmowski, the British driver, put in a fantastic performance to position herself just behind Abbi Pulling. In the final minutes of the session, there was a back-and-forth between Doriane Pin and the Wild Card driver, with the latter managing to set the pace with a time of 1:54.936, the first driver to break the 1:55 barrier at that point.
Pin wasn’t going to give up easily and reclaimed the top spot with a narrow advantage of just +0.022, while Abbi Pulling showed off her quality by improving the reference time further to 1:54.895, putting herself ahead of both the French driver and the Wild Card in this Lusail event. However, it was the Mercedes driver who finished the session in front, with a +0.101 advantage over the two British drivers. All eyes now turn to the F1 Academy qualifying session, which will begin tomorrow at 13:15 (CET).
Photos: F1 Academy.