Inaugural Round of F1 Academy Kicks Off at the Red Bull Ring

Rodin Carlin’s Abbi Pulling set the fastest lap time across the two-day test held last week at Circuit Paul Ricard, edging ahead of PREMA Racing’s Marta García by only 0.08s.

MP Motorsport’s Emely de Heus put in the most laps across the two weeks of pre-season testing, including 35 laps in the final test session of Day 1 at Paul Ricard.

Despite being the youngest driver on the grid, PREMA Racing’s Chloe Chong continued to impress at Paul Ricard as she made it clear that she would be one to watch going into the first race at the Red Bull Ring.

On the Grid – Lola Lovinfosse, ART Grand Prix

“The four testing days in Barcelona and Paul Ricard went very well for me - I felt super comfortable with the car and the team and I am very happy about the work we did. I feel super ready to start the season.

“I am so excited to race in Spielberg! It’s a new track for me so it’s going to be a very challenging weekend to learn the track very quickly. I have only driven it on the simulator, but what I can say is that it is a super nice track and really challenging to race on. The goal for the weekend is to win, to bring home as many points as possible and to gain as much experience with track time as possible.”

On the grid – Emely de Heus, MP Motorsport

“I am excited to be racing in Spielberg because it’s my first time here. On the simulator I really enjoy the track, with some uphill and some downhill corners - I like how it is not totally flat.

“The best overtaking opportunities are the start/finish straight, and Turns 3 and 4 but there will be some tyre degradation on the last few fast right-hand corners. I know everyone is really close with the lap times, and one tenth could mean P12 or P5. I want a top five finish, and of course I want to win!”

From the Paddock - Stephanie Carlin, Rodin Carlin

“I’m hoping for a 1-2-3, but that’s probably not a realistic ambition with the sport that this is. I think we have been right up there with testing so clearly the aim is for us to get our first race win this weekend. It’s a seven-round series so it is important to take it one round at a time and make sure that the drivers are happy, comfortable and familiar with the race format.

"It's going to be quite an intense Saturday, with three races, which will really test the drivers and the team. It is going to be a pretty intense debut for them all I think, there is a lot of pressure and a lot of people watching. We just want to get through the weekend and get some really good points on the board.

"There’s always nerves, if there’s not nerves you aren’t doing it right or you don’t care enough. We will be using those nerves in the best way possible to make sure that we are on it and motivated to do well.”

Stat Pack

• 1065: After two days of testing in Paul Ricard, the drivers completed an impressive 1065 laps.
• 10: The 15 F1 Academy drivers competing for the series win hail from 10 different countries.
• 1.2s: The gap between the fastest times of all drivers after testing in Paul Ricard was only 1.2s as the teams worked on different elements as they begun to prepare for race week.
• 190: The drivers will get 190 minutes of track time across a race weekend as it is likely that driver will improve their times massively across sessions as they gain experience in the car
• 16: Chloe Chong, driver for PREMA Racing, is the youngest driver on the grid at sixteen years old.
• 1: Spielberg will go down in history as the site of the first ever F1 Academy Race.

Where to Follow

You can stay up to date with everything happening in the F1 Academy paddock with our round-by-round highlights programme, which includes race footage and exclusive behind the scenes content from our drivers and teams.

The 15-minute programme will be made available to all F1 Academy rights holding broadcasters by the Wednesday following race events. You’ll also be able to watch the programme on F1TV and F1 Academy and F1’s social media channels.

On a Monday following the race weekend, a race highlights video will be made available across F1 Academy and F1 social media channels, YouTube, and F1TV.

Across the race weekend, you can also follow the official F1 Academy Twitter channel for live multi-media updates from the track, including text commentary, imagery, clips from the race and post-race interviews from our drivers.