‘After Shanghai we should have been in the lead’ – Weug relieved to seize control of the Drivers’ Standings with Race 2 victory

Maya Weug might not have been first to take the chequered flag in Race 2, but the Ferrari driver ultimately stood on the top step of the podium in Jeddah, claiming both the win and the lead in the Drivers’ Standings.

Starting third, Weug dispatched second-place Doriane Pin off the line and set about chasing polesitter and leader Chloe Chambers. Their battle was toing and froing with the Dutch racer snatching the lead on Lap 3 before bouncing over the kerb at Turn 22 after the Red Bull Ford driver forced her off the track as she regained the lead.

This battle allowed Pin back through to second, but the Mercedes driver was quickly demoted again one lap later. Hunting down Chambers for a second time, Weug’s job was made easier after the #14 Campos Racing car received a five-second time penalty for the earlier incident and was unable to eek out big enough gap in the final few laps.

Ending out her weekend with a double podium, Weug was delighted to have gotten her name on the winners’ list much earlier than she did in 2024.

“Last year (the win) was in the last race, so it feels good to have it already on the second weekend of the season,” she said. “The car was feeling great all weekend, just some small mistakes — well I wouldn’t say mistakes. It was just a bit messy in Quali, which cost us starting further forward.

“Yesterday was really good from P6 to P2. Today, again the pace was really nice in the first couple of laps and managed to make up the place on Doriane in Turn 1. After that, caught up to Chloe, overtook her, had a small touch here and there and then had to do the job again.

“Having to overtake again left my tyres a bit more destroyed than I would have liked in the end, but I knew Chloe had the five-seconds. Then I could just stay calm, try to get the fastest lap. It didn’t quite work out because I was struggling in the last couple of laps, but really good pace and looking strong for Miami.”

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

Reflecting on the multi-lap battle with Chambers, Weug remarked: “The first laps were quite insane. Last year the races were not so exciting around here, but this year they have been really cool. I got the move into Turn 1, then I was defending into Turn 4 and washed out a little bit, I locked the front and bounced a bit off the kerb.

“Anyways, I was still side-by-side into Turn 7. I was on the inside for Turn 7 and then that became the outside for Turn 8. There I just had no space really to stay on track and got run off, which then allowed Doriane to get through.”

Crucially, Weug now sits top of the Drivers’ Standings for the first time in her F1 ACADEMY career. Her 33-point haul from Round 2 puts her tally up to 59 points, turning her five-point deficit coming into the weekend into a seven-point advantage over Pin.

In addition, her efforts have helped MP Motorsport close in on Teams’ Standings leaders Campos, with the Dutch squad only two points adrift.

Glad to have made up for what was a missed opportunity in Shanghai, Weug believes her and MP should continue on as they are if they hope to return to the top spot in Miami.

“It gives me more relief because after Shanghai, I think we should have been in the lead,” she admitted. “I just made that mistake (behind the Safety Car on) the actual start of the race, which cost me quite a few points.

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“Now we’ve got them back, so it’s a bit of a relief for everyone in the team. We can now keep focusing, we have some sim days ahead and we keep pushing for Miami.”

Weug added: “I don’t think we have to change much, we just have to keep working. We have two Free Practice sessions if it’s like last year, so we have to make sure we get a good run plan in Free Practice, show our pace in Quali and make some moves like we’ve been doing this weekend in Race 1.”