F1 Academy’s debut Canadian Grand Prix proved crucial for Doriane Pin’s Championship fight. After a mishap filled weekend for Maya Weug, who held the championship lead heading into Canada, Pin soared past Weug to take the championship lead.
Although the French driver took only one of three wins across the weekend, consistent finishes out of the points for Weug saw her single point lead diminish.
Pin’s Canadian GP goals
Prior to the F1 Academy Canadian GP, Pin had set herself a goal to take the championship lead. Heading into the weekend, the French driver sat in P2 in the standings, a single point behind Weug. Behind her sat Chloe Chambers.
A positive weekend for Pin saw her take home a total of 46 points across the weekend. This shot her into the lead of the championship, with her closest rival 20 points behind.
“The weekend was very positive for us because we scored quite good points for the Standings,”. She continued on to say, “We are leading the Standings right now and it is great because that was the target. I think compared to the two contenders we are fighting with for the title, we were the one that did no mistakes, scored the maximum points and the faster overall in the weekend.
“This is positive for us and for the rest of the season. We know that we have everything to do good, so I’m keeping working on myself and with my team to go to Zandvoort and do the same.”
The edge of misfortune
Race 2 almost proved costly for Pin, when contact between Palmowski and Lloyd saw the French driver’s front wing touched. The incident sent her tumbling down two places on track, thankfully not ruining her second podium finish.
“For me, it was race over because I hit it quite hard. I saw the front wing was damaged. This move was out of our control, they were touching each other in front of me and I couldn’t avoid anything.
“So, I asked the team to check my front wing when I passed the starting grid in front of the pit lane. Nothing was damaged, luckily!”
Despite contact on multiple occasions across the weekend, Pin prides herself on her maturity and ability to remain in control. She controlled her car as well as she could, and as a result was awarded with the championship lead.
“Race 2 was a bit of the same. I had a few contacts during the race and always by chance, it was good for us because we always stayed on track. I think we were more intelligent than the others. We controlled this quite well and we scored the points, so it’s good.”
