‘It’s everything that I wanted’ – Abbi Pulling on being crowned the 2024 F1 ACADEMY Champion

Seven wins, seven pole positions and 11 podiums have all led up to this moment as Abbi Pulling’s season-long dominance was rewarded with the 2024 F1 ACADEMY title.

The Alpine driver knew the trophy was well-within her grasp, as long as she prevented Doriane Pin from outscoring her by 12 points across Qualifying and Race 1. Yet in one of the toughest weekends of her campaign, the #9 Rodin Motorsport car failed to qualify on the front row for the first time this year.

Lining up P3 on the grid, Pulling threw everything she had, gambling on a risky move on Maya Weug into the opening sequence of corners. Where there was risk, she ultimately reaped the greatest of rewards — with her second-place finish enough to see her crowned Champion on Saturday night.

Reflecting on her title success, Pulling said: “It’s just everything that I wanted. It’s amazing being Champion, but it's all about next year for me. It's a big relief off of my shoulders and I've worked so hard for this.

“The team have worked so hard for this and they deserve it so much. They’ve done everything that we’ve needed this year, they’ve given me everything that I’ve needed to do this. To do it in the fashion we have, I’m speechless.

“It’s been incredible. Going into this year, I keep saying it but I’m going to say it again, I had no option, I had to win! I managed to do it in a way that I actually put less pressure on myself going into the end of the year. I’m so happy, I don’t know what to say.”

She added: “I put everything on the line in that first lap, I wanted to do it today and I’m glad I did it how I did it. I think that just shows how much fight I’ve got in me and how badly I wanted it.”

The stakes couldn’t have been higher for Pulling, who knew she needed to win the title and the guaranteed seat in the GB3 Championship for 2025 in order to keep her racing dream alive.

READ MORE: RACE 1: Pulling secures Drivers' title as Pin takes dominant victory in Lusail

As she took the chequered flag, emotions flooded in when she heard the news confirmed over the radio. Realising the weight of her achievement and the relief that her years of dedication and sacrifice had paid off, the Briton paid tribute to all those who had made the moment possible.

“I just wanted to thank every single person and individually name them, but I knew that was going to take me more than a lap,” Pulling remarked. “As well, take it all in. I think we take things for granted sometimes and you never know when you’re going to feel this way again.

“I wanted to take that moment on the in-lap and really soak it up, and tell myself that I did this, the team did this — we did this! You don’t feel this way all the time.”

Despite a 95-point advantage heading into Round 6, Pulling has refused to get ahead of herself all-season long, even as mathematically the title fight looked increasingly to swing her way.

Focusing on the process has become her mantra throughout the campaign and when asked about the importance of her mindset this year, she replied: “A lot of things made the difference, it’s been a combination. That’s been one of the puzzle pieces to it, resetting every race weekend.

“Singapore was so dominant, whereas this weekend, although it’s been good — P3 in Quali and P2 in the Race is good — it’s not been easy. We’ve really struggled on pace. It’s soaking up the pressure when it’s on and I think in that race when the pressure was on to get a good start, I did the job and really did everything I could and maximise the result.

“Every time I talk to you, all I say is I want to maximise the possibility of what’s achievable on that race weekend and I think I’ve done that today.”

Wrapping up the title three races early, Pulling’s attentions now turn beating her joint record with 2023 Champion Marta García for the most wins in a season, alongside helping her Rodin Motorsport team in the Teams’ title fight. The second-place team sit 26 points adrift of leaders PREMA Racing.