Report
RACE 2: Pin charges to dominant victory in Shanghai ahead of Weug
Once Doriane Pin took the lead of Race 2 in Shanghai, nobody could catch the Mercedes driver. Seizing the lead at the start, she controlled a Safety Car restart before escaping two seconds clear of Maya Weug behind.
The Ferrari driver secured her second podium of the weekend, with Red Bull Ford’s Chloe Chambers also doing the double after a late gamble on a move past Alba Larsen.
Due to an oil spill during the previous session, the start of Race 2 was delayed. With an extra formation lap and a rolling start, the distance was shortened to 11 laps.
It was down to Weug to get racing underway, but it was Pin who aced her start. Pulling alongside the Dutch racer down the main straight, Pin braved it around the outside. Forcing Weug onto the kerb at Turn 2, she squeezed her way past and started to build a gap of three tenths.
However, a Safety Car would wipe that away before the end of the first lap. As Emma Felbermayr and Nina Gademan battled over P6, Tina Hausmann tried to capitalise with a late dive up the inside. Outbraking herself, the Aston Martin driver tagged Gademan’s rear and sent the Alpine driver and herself spinning, with Hausmann receiving a 10-second penalty.
Joanne Ciconte narrowly avoided getting caught up in the incident but was clipped from behind by Chloe Chong later. As the Australian spun across Turn 8, Aurelia Nobels and Nicole Havrda were left with nowhere to go and also retired from the race.
Pin nailed the restart as she brought the field back to racing conditions entering Lap 5, with Weug trying to stay in her tow.
A three-way battle at the tail end of the points saw Lia Block pressure Rafaela Ferreira for P10, but the Racing Bulls driver was looking ahead, slicing her way past Courtney Crone for ninth. The Haas driver then fell further down the order as both Block and Gademan swept past the following lap.
Alba Larsen was another driver on the defensive in third, as Chambers gambled on a look down the inside of the Tommy Hilfiger driver at the hairpin. With nowhere to go, she had to bail out, hitting the kerb to avoid contact.
Their duel continued at the same corner the following lap. Larsen left ample room on the inside allowing Chambers to dive to the middle but locked up, leaving the Dane to slip back through to P3.
Race 1 winner Alisha Palmowski lost a place on Lap 9 to Felbermayr as the Kick Sauber driver dived past the #21 Red Bull Racing car. The two went side by side on the exit, but Felbermayr managed to emerge ahead.
On Lap 10, Chambers refused to wait around any longer. Using the slipstream down the main straight and room on the inside of Turn 1, she swooped in to take third as Larsen lacked the grip to defend.
Just behind, Felbermayr and Palmowski’s battle raged on, with the Red Bull Racing driver tagging the Austrian’s rear through the downward descent into Turn 2. Meanwhile, Chong cut her way past Ferreira for P8.
Out in front, Pin cruised to the chequered flag two seconds clear of Weug, as Chambers sealed the final spot on the podium.
Larsen’s debut F1 ACADEMY weekend ended on a positive note with a P4 finish ahead of fellow rookies Felbermayr, Palmowski and Ella Lloyd. Chong reached the finish line in P8 but was demoted down to P11 after receiving a 10-second time penalty for her collision with Ciconte.
This promoted Ferreira, Block and Gademan up one place each, with the Alpine driver taking the final point in P10.
WHAT’S NEXT?
F1 ACADEMY heads to Saudi Arabia for their first in-season test from April 4-6, before the field returns to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit Round 2 of the 2025 campaign from April 18-20.
