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STANDOUT STARS: Who shone brightest in an exhilarating Round 1 in Shanghai?
The 2025 season opener in Shanghai had it all — from dominant displays and newcomers rapidly getting on the pace to overtakes galore.
With the first of seven race weekends under their belt, let’s take a look at which drivers shone the brightest in Round 1...
Doriane Pin
Doriane Pin topped the times in pre-season testing and will be more than satisfied to leave the Shanghai International Circuit with a five-point advantage at the summit of the Drivers’ Standings.
The Mercedes driver went quickest in Practice but couldn’t repeat the feat in Qualifying. Settling for P2 courtesy of her second flying lap, which put her almost half a second behind pole-sitter Weug, Pin crucially only used one set of tyres to secure a front row spot for Race 2.
Lining up seventh on the grid, Pin managed to make up some ground in her first reverse grid F1 ACADEMY race. Overtaking Alba Larsen and Emma Felbermayr early on, Pin benefitted from her teammate Nina Gademan’s retirement but couldn’t keep up with the leading trio after multiple Safety Car appearances. She was leapfrogged by Weug to miss out on a podium by over four seconds.
Left with a set of tyres in hand for Race 2, Pin utilised them expertly. Snatching the lead away from Weug through the opening sequence of corners following a rolling start, the French racer commanded the pace. Despite an early Safety Car restart, her two-second lead was unshakeable and set the 2024 Vice Champion up nicely as a title contender once more.
Alba Larsen
Alba Larsen might not have left Shanghai with any silverware, but as far as debut weekends go, the Tommy Hilfiger driver has lots to celebrate.
One of the stars of Qualifying, Larsen’s pace wasn’t a one-off. Consistently hovering around the top three, her best effort was only 0.130s off deserving a front row start.
READ MORE: Larsen hails 'over our expectations' performance after P4 finish in Shanghai Race 2
Situated right in the mid-pack for Race 1, the Dane confidently navigated three Safety Car restarts. A costly error on the penultimate lap for hitting Emma Felbermayr’s rear handed her a 10-second penalty, which demoted her from P4 to P7.
No such mistakes were present in Race 2. Executing a staunch defence of P3, Larsen more than held her own against one of the field’s strongest overtakers in the form of Chloe Chambers. Their sensational battle ended on Lap 10, with Larsen leaving too much room on the inside through Turns 1 and 2, enabling the Red Bull Ford driver through on to the podium.
Although a place on the rostrum wasn’t to be, the 16-year-old should be far from disheartened with how she acquitted herself.
Maya Weug
After ending the 2024 season victorious, Maya Weug couldn’t have started her sophomore campaign better. Putting a together a dominant performance from the outset in Qualifying, her hold over the top of the timing sheets rarely looked in doubt as she went 0.497s quicker than the rest of the field.
With a procession of mostly rookies ahead of her in Race 1, Weug’s experience showed as she got the better of teammate Joanne Ciconte and Larsen alongside Pin on the opening lap. Getting a good launch on the first Safety Car restart allowed the Ferrari driver to follow Chambers through on Felbermayr, but Weug was too far back to ultimately challenge for the win in third.
READ MORE: 'We nailed it' - Pin thrilled to cap off Shanghai weekend with dominant Race 2 victory
Race 2 was a bittersweet affair as a poor start, combined with older tyres, cost her a chance to contend with Pin for the victory. Yet as the weekend showed, the Dutch driver has all the characteristics to bring the fight to Pin and make sure that nobody’s going to run away with the title this season.
Campos Racing
For a team whose weekend started off on a less than ideal note, Campos Racing sure know how to turn things around. Despite Rafaela Ferreira receiving a three-place grid drop for both races for causing a collision with Lia Block in Practice, the Spanish outfit left Shanghai as the only team to record six points-scoring finishes.
Red Bull Ford’s Chloe Chambers marked out her place as the leading driver, with back-to-back podium finishes and the fastest lap in Race 1. However, it would be rookie Alisha Palmowski who took the team to the top of the podium first, holding her nerve against Chambers in a two-lap sprint after long-time leader Gademan suffered a technical issue.
Her maiden win in the series was followed up by a P6 finish on Sunday after losing out to Emma Felbermayr late on. Meanwhile, Ferreira’s two P16 starts could have pushed a points finish well beyond her grasp, but the Racing Bulls driver managed to steer clear of drama in Race 1. Making up 11 positions, the Brazilian delivered a top-five finish and kept the momentum going with a P8 result on Sunday.
This feat has handed Campos a 10-point lead in the Teams’ Standings and with Palmowski as the highest-place rookie in the Standings and tipping Shanghai to be one of her worst tracks of the season, they could be setting themselves up to be the trio to beat.
Emma Felbermayr
Emma Felbermayr stated after Race 2 that a P5 finish was “not what I’m here for”, but the Kick Sauber driver seems to be her own harshest critic after a debut weekend that exceeded many people’s expectations.
With only the Wild Card entry Shi Wei having raced around the 5.451km circuit at a Grand Prix before, Felbermayr wasn’t going to have the easiest time in her first weekend.
Qualifying in seventh, she was rewarded with a front row start for Race 1. Yet it would prove to be a frustrating Saturday, as she slipped down the order from P2 to well outside the points in P11, following a tangle with Larsen.
Immediately putting that behind her, she bounced back incredibly well for a driver navigating the transition from karting to single seaters for the first time. Pulling off a better start than Ciconte, she dispatched the Australian early on and was all over Palmowski’s mirrors for the majority of the race.
Her time finally came on Lap 9, as the Austrian dove up the inside of the hairpin. It looked like she might have overshot the move, but Felbermayr got the better run into the final corner to seal a top-five finish and show that more track time should only make her an even bigger threat.