Interview
‘The most pressure I think I’ve ever had’ – Pulling reflects on her stunning F1 ACADEMY title and the next chapter in GB3
Lining up for the first race of the 2024 F1 ACADEMY season, Abbi Pulling knew her future racing dreams were hanging by a thread. Put simply, it was Champion or bust.
With everything at stake, the Alpine driver had to deliver in her sophomore campaign, but she couldn’t have predicted the spectacular manner in which she would do so.
In a league of her own at times, Pulling put together an almost faultless campaign. Never once finishing off the podium across all 14 races, she stormed to nine victories, 10 pole positions and five clean sweeps to take the title by 121 points over nearest rival Mercedes’ Doriane Pin. In addition, she’d already become the first female winner in British F4 earlier in the year.
In her eyes, success like this was never off the cards — it was all about proving to the world what she’d already known. “I’ve always had this in me,” the Briton replies when asked if this was the best she’d ever driven. “I think I drove really well last year at times, just some things were not in my control that went wrong. On paper, I’d say yes, but I think I’ve been at this level for a while and I finally felt like I’ve had the opportunity to show it.”
Funding had been a difficulty throughout Pulling’s career, even forcing her to end her 2021 British F4 campaign prematurely. Therefore, F1 ACADEMY’s prize of a fully-funded seat and a long-awaited step up the ladder was a lifeline she couldn’t afford to let slip through her fingers.
“This year is the most pressure I think I’ve ever had going into a race season,” she admits. “It very much was perform and continue. Even if I finished P2, I had no clue what I’d go on to do, so having the funded GB3 seat is priceless for me.
“People don’t realise how do or die this sport can be for some people. Obviously, there are some who are lucky enough on the finance side of things. You can be envious of them, but they’re just living the cards that they’ve been dealt and I’m living with the cards I’ve been dealt. It’s a little bit harder on that side, but if you’re willing to work hard enough and show you’re fast on track, then opportunities should hopefully present themselves.
“Even so, sometimes they don’t, but that’s how cruel the sport can be unfortunately. I’m very fortunate to be where I am now. For people that aren’t as lucky or didn’t have the same opportunities, I want to make the most of it and show in GB3 that I deserve to be there. I want to show that I’m not just a female, I’m a fast racing driver.”
Out to ‘prove a point’
Pulling's approach of focusing only on what she could control was immediately tested in the opening round in Jeddah. After finishing second in Race 1, she was promoted to her first F1 ACADEMY victory in Race 2 as Pin was hit with a time penalty for taking the chequered flag twice despite crossing the line first.
Amidst the comments that surrounded the result, Pulling refused to crack. Instead, this would only motivate her further to show she's what winners are made of - running around the streets of Miami she stormed to back-to-back pole positions and wins.
“Miami really set everything off,” the 21-year-old reflects. “After I got the momentum in Miami, I felt like I never really slowed down, I kept chipping away and I got really comfortable with what I was doing. It gave me more confidence and I think a lot of that comes from, I guess you’d call it the backlash on social media after I inherited the win in Jeddah.
“I got quite a lot of criticism for no reason really. To prosper from any mistakes that were made in front, I put myself there and the people around me made sure I knew that. It just fuelled me for the rest of the season to prove a point that I deserve to be there.”
She adds: “There were never doubts. After Jeddah, I was very happy with my results. I knew to win titles you don’t have to win every race, you can finish P2 here and there. Finishing P2 on track, but P2 and P1 in the end was a great baseline, but there was something we were missing in Qualifying.
“It was probably a little bit of it’s going to be a really tough and long season coming off Jeddah, it was still tough but I managed to relax a bit quicker than I expected to.”
‘I almost pretended as if the title didn’t exist’
Setting herself on a course to challenge for the title, Pulling’s determination never wavered. Even as her advantage tallied up and the title drew tantalisingly close, she held herself to the same standard of effort and cautious optimism all year long.
“I almost pretended as if the title didn’t exist and it was race by race,” she says. "Try and get the best result you can - and the best you feel you can in the car and at the track. Singapore was the one where I knew it was going to probably be one of the hardest of the year because we only had a 30-minute Practice.
“I did seven days, about two, three or maybe even four straight, some of it was quite intensive in a dark room staring at a screen. My eyes went square, as they say when you’re little. I did quite a lot on the simulator to make sure that I was as prepared as I could be.
“We made sure we left no stone unturned going into every race weekend and I went in with confidence in what I needed to do on track every time I got in the car. I was confident in my feedback and I think this season I’ve had a lot more confidence in myself and my own ability, and that goes so far when it comes to race results.”
Pulling adds: "The only time I really allowed myself to think 'actually I've got this' was after Singapore. The gap was big going into Singapore, but it was still very realistic that something could go wrong or I could get a bad result, and someone could get quite a lot of points and close the gap down.
“After the double pole and double win in Singapore, I left with a 95-point gap. That was the point where I thought ‘there’s 112 points available and I had a 95-point gap’. I was like ‘I don’t even have to do anything special’. I think I just had to finish P7 in every race, in the last four races, to actually secure the title.
“I hadn’t at that point been off the podium. I knew it would take a lot to stop me from my competitors, but I also knew I shouldn’t have an outlook where I get complacent and think it’s done — because it wasn’t done. Qatar was a track that, as a team, we did struggle quite a bit around there. But the finale in Abu Dhabi, we were very confident that we had quite a lot of pace there and I was quite confident in what I needed to do there as well.”
‘I very rarely had anything that made me lose out on points’
It was that ability to extract the most out of any circumstances that set Pulling apart from her rivals, leaving them little room to capitalise on her rare errors.
“My strength has been not making little mistakes that maybe some of my competitors have,” Pulling assesses. “I very rarely had anything that made me lose out on points. The one that I do think I left on the table was Race 2 in Zandvoort, I always say that one was on me. I made a mistake and cost us the race win because we were really, really fast around that track. I put my hands up to that one.
“Everywhere else in the season, there’s not really anywhere where I’m like I could have done better. Even Barcelona Race 2, I obviously lost the position off the line, but then we had the balance issue and managed to keep a four-car train behind me. The same kind of happened in Abu Dhabi, I made the car as wide as possible and kept I think the whole grid behind me, bar Maya. I knew that as soon as someone was going to get past me in Abu Dhabi, they were going to absolutely leave me.
“I think that’s where I’ve been strong — adaptability. With the F1, conditions are always changing. Then the mental strength, just resetting after every race, having people around me that tell me the truth either good or bad. I need to know where I need to improve upon and it’s one thing someone telling you where you need to improve upon and it’s another thing acting on it.”
Behind the scenes, Pulling praised the efforts of her engineer Courteney ‘Zimba’ Cresswell and mechanic Danny Guenev, whose commitment to equipping her as best as possible allowed her to focus on the job at hand on-track.
“Zimba, my engineer, he works incredibly hard and he’s also one that likes to go in-depth and make sure he leaves no stone unturned,” she explains. “My mechanic as well has been really hard working this year. Danny absolutely loves it and he’s been absolutely faultless with what he’s been doing on the car.
“It can be something really simple and things that you think are easy, (…) but you can easily make a little mistake like not doing a wheel nut up properly or an engine cover bolt, leaving something like that off. He’s made sure that nothing like that’s ever happened. They’ve made sure nothing does go wrong and when something has gone wrong, it’s been quickly sorted, so they’ve been absolutely perfect.”
‘I’ve never forgotten that day’
The fortitude Pulling has shown last season should serve her well for the task ahead — stepping up to the GB3 Championship. With a 106bhp increase compared to the F1 ACADEMY car, the Briton isn’t underestimating the new machinery and the strength of the field she’ll face, but she’s impatient to take on the challenge.
“I almost feel like saying finally going into a bigger car!” Pulling remarks. “Bruno Michel (CEO of Formula 2 and Formula 3) two years ago gave me the opportunity to jump in an FIA F3 car and I’ve never forgotten that day. I’ve never not been grateful, that day was one of the best days of my life.
“I left the day saying I’m very jealous of anyone that gets to drive it all year round. Now I’ve got an opportunity, although it’s not the same car, it’s very similar. It’s got a lot of downforce and a lot of horsepower as well, so I’m really looking forward to going into GB3.
“A lot of people have said ‘what do you expect?’ To be honest, I have no idea. (…) It’s too early for me to know from testing where I’m going to be, but I’m always striving to be at the front fighting for trophies.
“Even if I’m not there at the beginning, there’ll be some quite experienced drivers in the Championship, probably second year drivers that are used to a car with more downforce. I hope that I can keep progressing throughout the season and end the season very comfortable in a car that’s bigger and faster.”
She adds: “I went into this year wanting to improve upon myself and really put a lot of focus off-track on the mental side. I think I’ve really developed that, I think I can still improve a little bit. I’ll put a lot of focus on the physical side over the winter, making sure that when I get into the car I’m not restricted physically. That’s the worst feeling as a driver when you can’t get the maximum out of it for that reason.
“I’ll put some work into ultimate lap times and getting on it quickly. Something that I struggled with in British F4 this year was the cold temperatures and getting the tyres in. I think that’ll be a focal point for next year (…) as it’s going to be quite cold at some of the races.
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“Try and keep that similar mentality of focusing on what’s within my control. Every time I get in the car on a race weekend or even in testing, rest and go again. Don’t let the last time I was in the car affect the next time in the car — whether good or bad. If I have a test day where I’m really quick, don’t expect that for the next one. Very similar to what I’ve done this year.”
‘I’ve achieved what I wanted to and probably more’
For now, Pulling has the chance to look back and reflect as she bids a fond farewell to her two-season journey in F1 ACADEMY, ready to take on the exciting new chapter of her life.
“I got back home, sat on the sofa and that was when I had a moment to breathe and it all sank in,” she concludes. “It feels like I’ve almost not had the time to really think about it. It’s such an incredible achievement — all the trophies I think are amazing, but it’s the prize for next year. I’ve been so giddy to get ready for next year.
“On the in-lap of the final race I was a bit frustrated as we had a hard race on our hands. It’s satisfying that it’s come to an end. I’ve achieved what I wanted to in the series and probably more in the sense of how many wins and podiums.
“To achieve the title, there’s not much more I could have really done. So, it’s satisfying and I don’t feel like I’m leaving. Of course, I’m upset to leave the people but I feel like I’ve graduated in a way, it’s not a sad goodbye.”