RACE 1: Pulling in full control as she delivers victory in Singapore

Abbi Pulling added a sixth victory to her 2024 F1 ACADEMY tally with a flawless performance around the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

The Alpine driver was untouchable, holding firm off the line as she produced fastest lap after fastest lap to win by over two seconds from Ferrari’s Maya Weug. Doriane Pin had a sprint to the line after a 5-second penalty but managed to build a 5.2s buffer to hold on to the final podium position.

Bianca Bustamante triggered an aborted start after the McLaren driver rolled over her box on the grid. She then failed to start from the pit lane, for which she received a 10-second stop/go penalty. With an additional formation lap, the race was shortened to 11 laps.

Pole-sitter Pulling had the momentum off the line, as the top four remained unchanged with Weug, Pin and Block holding position behind.

A tricky start for Hamda Al Qubaisi saw her drop down from fifth after going wide over the Turn 1 run-off. Wild Card Ella Lloyd took full advantage, finding her way past Nerea Martí and the Emirati driver and piled the pressure on Chloe Chambers for fifth.

Pulling immediately got to work in putting clean air between herself and Weug, setting four consecutive fastest laps to break the 1-second window by Lap 4.

Further back, Lloyd was on the defensive from Hamda Al Qubaisi for P6, but the Briton’s race turned on its head after she received a 5-second penalty for a false start. Hamda Al Qubaisi attempted a dive down at Turn 7 but couldn’t find the room through and left her vulnerable to Martí behind.

Meanwhile on Lap 9, third-placed Pin was also handed a 5-second penalty for the same offence. Knowing that her current 3.8s window over Block wouldn’t be enough to hold on to a podium, the Mercedes racer set to work putting more distance between her and the Williams driver.

Out in front, Pulling had checked out and took the chequered flag 2.056s clear of second-place Weug. In a race against time, Pin narrowly did enough to retain third, setting the fastest lap of the race to finish with a two-tenth buffer over Block.

Chambers rounded out the top five ahead of Hamda Al Qubaisi, whilst Martí and Carrie Schreiner ensured all three Campos Racing cars finished inside the points. Lloyd’s penalty dropped her from sixth to ninth ahead of Aston Martin’s Tina Hausmann.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The field will have one last chance to score points in Round 5 when Race 2 gets underway at 15:35 local time on Sunday.