Guest Column
Abbi Pulling’s Yas Marina Weekend Round-Up: One last chance to shine
Always putting her heart and soul into everything she does on track, Abbi Pulling wasn’t taking anything for granted in her final F1 ACADEMY weekend.
Despite sweeping the board in Qualifying, the 2024 Champion had a fight on her hands to stay there in Abu Dhabi. Battling with the likes of Chloe Chambers, Maya Weug and Hamda Al Qubaisi over the top step, Pulling showed what she’s worth by never finishing off the podium across all 14 races.
Talking us through her last sessions in the series, the Alpine driver reflected on an emotional record-breaking weekend as she sought to reward Rodin Motorsport with the Teams’ title and gave thanks to all those who have helped her write her success story this season.
PRACTICE: P2
“I've really enjoyed myself (in F1 ACADEMY) and I'm looking forward to this final race weekend and taking it all in. Practice was a tough one. We had a slow puncture, which made it harder than we’d have liked. I think we could have been at the top if it wasn't for that but these things happen — it's motorsport, and at least this has happened now and not in Qualifying.
“Looking forward to hitting the ground running for the next session and working with the team. We've been doing a lot since we came and practiced here, looked at the data, doing some comparisons, seeing where we can find that margin now the track is rubbering in with Formula 2 and Formula 1 going around. I'm just taking every moment in as it’s my last time here as an F1 ACADEMY driver.
“At the end of the day with the three flying laps (in Qualifying), you just need to be consistent and not go off track limits. If you lose a fast lap to track limits, then that could be a really big downer. Even if it's not your best lap, it leaves that margin a bit finer, which adds to the excitement and the precision for us drivers so I don't have a problem with it.
“I think the third lap could be pretty mixed, which is quite exciting. It’ll make that final race a bit more unpredictable, but we will see. Triple pole and triple win sounds nice. I've got nothing to lose now going into these last races. I can take more risks, but also, I don't need to. I will just keep doing what I've been doing all year to keep the same mindset. It would be nice to end the season on a high like that, but as long as I can keep this podium streak up, I'll be happy.”
QUALIFYING: P1 (FOR RACES 1, 2 & 3)
“I am over the moon! That was probably one of the best feelings all year. It was really tough, and I had to really dig deep for that one. It was not easy, especially with the third-fastest lap. I knew that I had to do three really solid lap times, and around here at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit, track limits aren't easy to stay within.
“I really, as always, put my heart and soul into that one. Chloe (Chambers) didn't make it easy, and Hamda (Al Qubaisi) as well was on my tail that whole time. I'm really happy with the laps that I produced. We got really close at the end on that last lap that ended up being my best. The last corner I pushed maybe a little bit too much and stressed myself out with track limits a little bit, but we kept it in the end and just an incredible way to start the weekend.
“I said that I'm confident going into Quali, but it was harder than I thought it would be. You have got to back yourself, but it was tough, so I'm glad that I came out on top on that one.
“Ever since I was in an eye shot for getting the Drivers’ title, I've been telling the team I'm there for them. They've got me the Drivers’ title, so I'm going to try my hardest to get them the Teams’ title. We put ourselves in a great position to fight for that. I'll see at the end, it's going to be close.
“They've struggled a bit in Qualifying, so that puts us in a great position. Hopefully, we can get some points, with Jess (Edgar) and Lola (Lovinfosse) as well, which would be nice. But, at the end of the day, they’re my champions no matter what happens.”
RACE 1: P1
“To be honest, I was a bit frustrated with the start. The lights went off really quick. I got a lot of wheel spin and fair play to Chloe because she got a great launch. I'll make sure to fix that for the next one.
“I just put the pressure on going into the last sector and forced her into a mistake — although I didn't know where she was going at one point, and almost went with her! I made the right decision, and didn't look back. I just knew I had to be consistent. Hamda was behind, and to be honest, they were strong on long pace in testing, so I knew I had to really knuckle down and get going.
“An amazing result, and getting the fastest lap as well is important for the Teams’ Standings. I don't know how much we closed it by or if we even did, but I'll do everything I can to make that as close as possible going into the final race of the season.
“I don't even know what happened (with Chloe). She kind of went, and I was on the brakes, and I just kind of kept going in her direction. Managed to narrowly avoid her. It's really unfortunate for her, you never like to see things happen like that. Regardless of if she spun or not, I think we had great pace for the race, I was putting the pressure on and was confident I could continue piling that pressure on. Maybe force her into another mistake later on in the race in the chicane or something or other.
“Funnily enough on my fastest lap, I did back off a little bit. When I got the fastest lap, I was like, ‘how on earth was that the fastest lap?’ because I was keeping an eye on what was going on behind, watching the battle and seeing if she needed a helping hand as obviously the Teams’ Standings are close and I want to help minimize their (PREMA Racing’s) points as much as possible.
“I almost did back off, but Hamda had it. She had it in the bag and managed to save us some stress in that regard. Well done to her as well, a home race podium must feel special. She deserves to be here, and she's a really great driver.”
RACE 2: P1
“I really like that (nine wins for the number nine driver), I made an effort to point that out when I got out of the car. It has been a great season, and I feel like a broken record at this point, but I'm just so thankful to everyone around me.
“That race, I didn't make it easy for myself. I don't even know what happened, but I'm really proud of myself, how I kept a cool head and kept my head down, even when I made quite a big error. I think it came from old tyres. We had our worst tyres on for that race, and it made a bigger difference than I expected in the colder conditions. But despite having that kind of disadvantage of the tyre, I managed to still pile the pressure on and force the other driver into a mistake.
“It was more just inching every lap, inching, inching, inching, until I got pretty close into the last sector. She just made a mistake into Turn 12, which is really easily done in that corner. It's a hard corner to get right. She's been amazing all weekend and made it tough for me, but hopefully tomorrow I can cause myself a bit less stress and get off the line like I did today, and then not make the mistakes halfway through the first lap.”
“We're in a good position (for Race 3). We've got new tyres for tomorrow, that's the best position you can be in. We have saved the best for last. Just got to get them in, but it will be warmer tomorrow, so we should be fine. We seem to get that set of tyres in pretty well, even though it was cold until I made a mistake.
“As long as I can look after the tyre from the start, the others we’ll see what they're on, but even if I do drop back, we should be in a good position to pile the pressure on again like we did today. Not that I'm not planning for that to happen.
“I've been taking in the whole weekend, and absolutely loved every moment of today - although it's been a long day and stretched out. The people here behind the scenes are just so nice. Yourself, Delphine (Biscaye) and Susie (Wolff), everyone that runs the series and is a small part of the puzzle.
“It's been a pleasure to be with them all season long. They've really been in my corner and I can't thank everyone enough for that. I mean it from the bottom of my heart, from the race team to Alpine, to F1 ACADEMY, they've just been behind me all the way. That’s just fuelled me even more throughout the year.”
RACE 3: P2
“It was really fun to end out the season with such a big battle. I'm absolutely gutted that I couldn't win. It would have been nice to have ended the season with a win, but triple pole and two wins can't really get much better than that. I'm amazed that I'm even on the podium!
“We had a really tough race to run there. From lap one, I struggled a lot with the balance, significant oversteer, the most I've had all season. I literally was nearly spinning every lap in Turn 9, it was really tough. Once Maya (Weug) snuck through, I knew that was it. I knew she'd drive away. So it was all about trying to keep everyone behind. I showed what I was worth, showed some good race craft, although I didn't win. I think that was realistically the max we could have got out of that race with everything we were doing.
“Zimba held his hands up and said that he didn't quite get everything right that time. I really like that transparency with me and the team, because if I make a mistake, I'll hold my hands up. If he makes mistakes, and they make mistakes, they'll hold their hands up. So that's a really nice kind of relationship we've built to be in that position.
“What a race to end the season on for the fans as well. It was all aboard the Abbi train, and I think that made quite an exciting race behind. You're welcome everyone!
“Every corner, every lap, I was struggling with the balance. It wasn't fun to drive, it was fun to drive. It's a drive like that that, it’s fun to end the season with a challenge. I think I maximized everything and had to really play it smart. It was nice to share the last few battles with the girls here. Hopefully, I'll see them again in the future, but they never gave me a moment's rest.
“The Safety Car was actually quite nice. I enjoyed that bit. To be honest, (on the final lap) I was like ‘this is it, they're going to get past me’. We were so slow in the last sector, I just had nothing on the rear end. It was like I was on a 300km old tyre. Even though we started on brand new tyres, we just got it wrong.”
UP NEXT: GOODBYE AND MAKING THE STEP UP TO GB3
“At the end of the day, you can't win them all. Just to be on the podium for every single race, only finished my lowest of third, 10 poles, nine wins. It would be nice to have converted that to 10 poles and 10 wins, but at the end of the day I'm really proud of the season that I've had. I've shown that I deserve to move up and take on the next challenge. There's not much more I could have done this year, and for that, I'm very proud.
“Races like this, where it's been really challenging, I've learned a lot about management and keeping my head and keeping my focus. Although I knew from Lap 1 everything was kind of against me, keeping my head down and minimizing the damage. I'm so shocked I even managed to finish P2 in that race as one wrong move and I'd have dropped down four places as it was so cutthroat behind. I'm really proud of that.
“I'm just looking forward to GB3 with Rodin Motorsport. They took me to the title, took me to the podium every race. I've seen different people come and go on the podium. It's been a special year, and I'll make sure to cherish it and take every moment in. This is a big year in my life!”