Marta García and Amna Al Qubaisi proud to be crowned the first race winners in F1 Academy history

Marta García had an excellent first weekend in F1 Academy winning both Race 1 and Race 3 and securing 58 points in the process. Speaking after the conclusion of Race 3 the Spaniard said: “It feels great to be P1 in both races, and it also feels really nice to be the first ever person to win a round in the F1 Academy. I am really happy as we have done a lot of work to get here and still have a lot of work to do, but I am happy with the job and how it went. We overcame our difficulties so let’s keep working for the next round."

The PREMA Racing driver went on to discuss the mentality needed to race in a reverse grid format and looked ahead at next week’s race in Valencia: “When you start the first race, there were nerves as I haven’t raced anywhere since last year, but by the time we got to Race 2, it was like, we’ve done it once we can do it again.

“In Race 2, starting from P8 means you have less pressure, but I didn’t want to risk it too much. I got P7 and getting two points for the series is good, even though I could have got some more if I had risked it. We need to keep working for next week at Valencia, which is my home race, so I am really looking forward to it.”

Meanwhile, MP Motorsport’s Amna Al Qubaisi, won Race 2 in dominant fashion, starting from pole and never looking back. She spoke about the race and how proud she was to win for her country: “Race 2 was amazing, the team did a really good job with the set-up to keep pushing. We have the pace and had two purple sectors already in Race 1 so I was confident enough for the second race to pull away, make a gap and finish in P1."

The Emirati driver added: “To be a race winner in F1 Academy is a great feeling, representing not just my team but my flag and my country in F1 Academy is a surreal feeling.”

The weekend was influenced heavily by rain, something that Al Qubaisi openly admitted she wasn’t as well suited to: “In dry conditions, we were really fast, but with the wet conditions, we're less experienced. We live in the desert so rain doesn’t come often! So we learnt from it and didn’t take it as a negative, starting it on a positive note.”