Maya Weug’s Singapore Weekend Round-Up: The bittersweet taste of success

Enjoying her strongest round of the 2024 F1 ACADEMY season, Maya Weug got her top three fight back on track with back-to-back P2 finishes in Singapore and helped PREMA Racing regain the lead of the Teams' Standings.

Although a maiden victory still remains elusive, the Ferrari driver was full of high spirits as she talked us through her visit to the Marina Bay Street Circuit and what she needs to do to take another step forward for the final two rounds of the campaign.

PRACTICE: P4

“It’s the first time here for me on this track and I love it, especially under the lights, it’s a really cool track. It’s a proper street circuit and it just gives you a great feeling when you’re on the limit with the walls.

“It was all about getting as many laps in as possible. I think we did that and luckily, we didn’t have any Red Flags and many yellow flags, which helped with that. Overall, it’s an amazing track, I can’t wait to drive on it again.

“We did a lot of work on the simulator and I think that helped a lot because as soon as I went on track, I felt I knew the track after so many laps. I felt really comfortable in the first run, I was P1 most of the time. Then on the second run, I found some traffic but anyways, the car felt quite good and we made some small changes to improve for Qualifying.”

QUALIFYING: P2 (FOR RACE 1) & P3 (FOR RACE 2)

“I think we did improve from FP, we got closer to Abbi (Pulling), which was the main goal. To be honest, I didn’t have the feeling that I had to improve lap by lap. For me, my goal was to push straightaway because you need to have the feeling and confidence in the car. If you start to fall back, it’s difficult to build on the confidence.

“With it being so hot, the tyres deg quite quickly, so it’s important to do the lap in the first two pushes of your Qualifying run.

“It was quite hot for Free Practice and Quali was actually really good, now it’s quite humid when it’s dark. I think we’ve prepared very well with the trainers, my trainer is also here and he has been training with me in Maranello. We trained in the sauna, in the heat and in humid conditions so that we’re ready for it. To be honest, I’m wearing jeans now and it’s fine (laughs).

“I really want to get my first F1 ACADEMY win! I have a really good feeling about the weekend, I’ve been feeling really confident in the car. The important thing is to get a good start. It’s not so easy to overtake on a street circuit. Although, there are a lot of long straights here, which will help that. We’ll try to get the best setup possible so we can try to make a move on Abbi tomorrow.”

RACE 1: P2

“We kind of have a tendency to do P2-P3, so I want to try to change that tomorrow and change the rhythm a bit because we did P2-P3 in Jeddah and P2-P3 in Zandvoort. So let’s see if we can change that tomorrow and get to P1 finally.

“The track was changing a lot compared to the night and the day (yesterday). It’s a bit difficult to adapt to the balance but the pace is there, it’s just very tricky to stay behind and stay close to Abbi with the aero wash.

“We were all fighting for the fastest lap until the last lap. In the end, Doriane (Pin) got it, but it was less than half a tenth between all three of us, so we know we are fast, it’s all about getting a good start tomorrow.

READ MORE: RACE 1: Pulling in full control as she delivers victory in Singapore

“Tyre management was definitely a big thing. It’s quite hot here in Singapore and the tyres were suffering a bit, so we’ll try to manage them a bit better tomorrow and fix the balance a bit. With the track temperature, having different categories racing and the rain changed how the car felt today a lot compared to last night in Quali. So we’ll try to be on top of that and hopefully, tomorrow will be better.

“The main thing tomorrow is that the race starts and Safety Car restarts are the best opportunities usually to get an overtake in. I want to get a good start, a bit better than today —today was okay but nothing mega, so I couldn’t make a move on Abbi. We will check what we can improve for tomorrow, then try to be more aggressive on the first lap and put some pressure on.

“I think we’ve finally found a good momentum. After the summer break, we made some changes and it all seemed to fix the problems that we had at the beginning of the season. Now I’m feeling more comfortable with the car and more confident as well, I’m confident that we have a good car underneath us and we can perform in all race weekends. That keeps me calmer and in mind, so that I can focus on my driving and now we can do the fine-tuning of what we need to do to make that last step."

RACE 2: P2

“It feels great, I’m really happy. The plan was to have a good start and I think we managed to do that. I got the move done on Doriane. That was our plan, to be aggressive on the first lap and to have our elbows out. From that point of view, I’m happy. We managed to stay in front of Doriane throughout the whole race. It was not easy, she was putting pressure on me all throughout the race.

“It was really hot out there, so the tyres were suffering. It was tough to manage the tyres and stay out of the walls on some occasions, but overall I’m really happy. Almost fully happy because I want to get the win, but it’s definitely my best weekend of the season. Which we should be happy about. It’s still a bittersweet feeling because we want to be on the top step of the podium, so we’ll try to do that in Qatar.

READ MORE: RACE 2: Pulling reigns triumphant with Singapore clean sweep

“(The opening lap battle with Doriane) was edge-of-the-seat racing for me as well! Abbi didn’t have a great start either, so with Doriane being on the inside, she would be a bit stuck behind her. I could brake a bit later and stick the move on, but of course, she was still on the inside of me at Turn 3. I knew I had to commit to the exit, it was really close to the wall out of the corner, but we both gave each other racing room, which was fair and we had a good battle.

“It was definitely a much more fun race. Also, the Safety Car made it a bit more interesting. I had a good restart but still not good enough to make a move on Abbi.”

UP NEXT: VALUABLE TESTING TIME AS THE END IS IN SIGHT

“I’m quite happy that we will have some testing. We need that because during the race weekends, it’s difficult to make progress with the balance of the car and on the car itself as there are only one or two Free Practice sessions and you don’t want to try to find something magic out there.

“It will be good because PREMA have three drivers that are strong, so we can do some good testing. We work well together and try to catch Abbi for the last races of the season.

“There’s a good energy in the team. They are happy that we are back on the top in the Teams’ Standings. In terms of my fight, I think having the double P2 has been a good jump. After Barcelona, we were P7 in the Standings, so we’ve made some good progress here and in Zandvoort. The momentum is good, the feeling is good finally with the car, so just keep it going for the last two rounds.”