RACE 2: Weug inherits hard-fought win from penalised Chambers in thrilling Jeddah battle

Maya Weug battled relentlessly to claim her first win of the season ahead of Chloe Chambers, with the Red Bull Ford driver finishing first on the road before being demoted due to a penalty that arose from her intense on-track contest with the Ferrari racer during Race 2 in Jeddah.

It was a flawless getaway for first-time polesitter Chambers despite the pressure of Doriane Pin lining up alongside her, who dominated in Jeddah last season. The American executed a strong launch while Pin lost her P2 spot to the charging Weug, who had her eyes firmly fixed on victory from her P3 grid slot.

Focusing on keeping the gap to Chambers as small as possible, the Ferrari racer kicked off a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle for first place on the track – an attempted overtake round the outside of the American resulted in Weug taking a trip onto the run-off area, but her courage eventually pulled off as she took the lead on Lap 3.

But the fight at the front was far from over as Weug rattled over the kerb to send her car momentarily into the air, once again forcing her to drive wide and allowing Chambers to reclaim the lead. Pin also slipped through to relegate Weug to P3, but this was short-lived as the Dutch driver pulled off a brilliant overtake on Lap 4 to move back into second.

Chambers began to build a small lead over her rivals, getting it up to over a second for a short period, but her hopes of clinging onto the lead were dashed as she was handed a five-second time penalty for forcing Weug off the track at Turn 22 during their tantalising battle.

Meanwhile, Rafaela Ferreira was handed a similar 10-second time penalty for tagging Kick Sauber’s Emma Felbermayr on Lap 2, sending her into a spin and causing her to drop down to P17.

With the field settling into a rhythm and three laps remaining, Chambers continued to extend her advantage at the front in order to salvage a potential podium. She successfully edged further away from Alisha Palmowski and Alba Larsen in P4 and P5 respectively with a top-three finish still within her reach.

The American racer needed a lap of Qualifying speed to minimise her penalty and only drop to P2, resulting in a fight on the timing sheets between her and Pin – the two were ultimately split by less than one tenth at the chequered flag, meaning that Chambers lost just one position.

She may have crossed the line in second on the road, but the penalty promoted Weug to victory, making her the first Ferrari driver to win at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. To make the win even sweeter, it was MP Motorsport’s first victory in the series since Hamda Al Qubaisi stood on the top step in Austin back in 2023.

Palmowski and Larsen remained in P4 and P5, followed by Aston Martin’s Tina Hausmann and Alpine’s Nina Gademan. Ferreira’s penalty dropped her out of the points, promoting Race 1 winner Ella Lloyd to P8, which was a remarkable result after she stalled on the grid at lights out.

The final points positions were occupied by Joanne Ciconte, who netted points for the first time this season, and Chloe Chong.

WHAT'S NEXT?

F1 ACADEMY heads to the Miami International Autodrome for Round 3 of the 2025 campaign from May 2-4.