In her Rookie season, Alba Larsen is showing the grid just how much talent she has. At current, she sits in 6th in the Championship Standings. The Dane has accumulated a respectable 46 points across the first half of the season. Miami is the only weekend she ended without points.
A strong start to the season
In the opening round of the 2025 F1 Academy season in Shanghai, Larsen dazzled the crowd, securing a P3 in Qualifying. With the reverse grid format of Race 1 in the F1 Academy Championship, Larsen started the first race of the weekend from P6. The final minutes of the session saw her coming together with Emma Felbermayr, both able to continue, and the Dane securing a P7 finish.
Starting from P3 in Race 2 saw Larsen able to hold position for much of the race. In the concluding laps, she was overtaken by Chambers, quickly regaining this position. Much to her dismay, on the final lap, Chambers stormed past to cement her place on the podium.
A hit, and a miss
The following two rounds in Jeddah and Miami, were both positive, and negative for the Dane. The Qualifying session in Jeddah saw Larsen locking in a P5 start for Race 2, while the reverse grid format in Race 1 would see her start P4. Despite a strong Race 1, P5 was all Larsen was capable of. Race 2 saw Larsen battling her brakes, although maintaining her starting position of P5 until the race’s conclusion.
Miami on the other hand, was Larsen’s worst finish to date, taking home zero points. In her worst Qualifying yet, Larsen set the 12th fastest time. Due to not qualifying in the top eight, her starting position for Race 1 would remain the same.
At the conclusion of the Race 1 formation lap, it was confirmed that Larsen would be starting from the pit lane. Despite this, she quickly climbed back to her qualifying position of P12. After multiple Safety Cars, and a fight through the rain, Larsen crossed the line P11. Due to this wild weather, Race 2 was postponed until Canada.
New territory in Montreal
Round 4 took place in Montreal, which for F1 Academy, was uncharted territory. With no prior experience at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, everyone was expected to have a tough weekend, although Larsen’s P12 in Qualifying was disappointing regardless.
Race 1 in Montreal was in place of the postponed Miami Race 2, and therefore took the same starting grid as that race was supposed to. This saw Larsen starting from P12, where she fought her way up to P6, after drama with frontrunners.
The Dane quickly fought her way to P6 in Race 2, although on lap 9, Weug and Larsen made contact. Thankfully for Larsen, both drivers were able to continue on, Larsen ultimately finishing P5. In a race filled with Safety Cars, Race 3 saw Larsen fighting to only P8.
The Championship fight continues
Despite Larsen being outside of the main Championship fight, she continues to show potential to remain in the top of the final Championship standings. With three rounds remaining in the 2025 F1 Academy Championship, anything is possible.
