The 2025 F1 Academy Championship increased the levels of excitement, as we approach the season finale in Las Vegas. After an intense and challenging weekend of racing the streets of Singapore, MP Motorsports’ Maya Weug solidified her position in the title fight for the 2025 F1 Academy Championship title with her victory in Race 2 of the Singapore GP weekend.
This marks the Dutch driver’s third race win this season and puts her a mere 9 points behind current Championship Leader Doriane Pin. Keeping tensions high as we approach Las Vegas where the winner takes it all.
A frustrating start to Race 2
The 2025 Singapore GP weekend started on a high for Weug as she clinched her third pole position of the 2025 F1 Academy season during Qualifying. Her championship rival Pin qualified a close second behind, clocking in a lap time of 2:03.587, only 0.042s slower than Weug herself.
Pin had a better launch at lights out and overtook Weug with ease in the opening lap of Race 2 of the 2025 F1 Academy Singapore GP weekend. The Dutch driver was unable to recover and stayed behind Pin for the majority of the race in P2, dropping over two seconds behind Pin at times.
When asked about losing P1 in the opening laps, Weug started her reflection by apologising to those watching her race for the “heart attack”. She admitted that her launch could have been a lot better and revealed that she was frustrated by her start.
“First of all, I feel sorry for everyone watching – the heart attack I must have given them! I was also not happy for the first 10 laps of the race. I don’t know what happened at the start because it didn’t feel like a horrible getaway for me, but somehow Doriane did a better job, which was very annoying.”
The Ferrari-backed driver also shared her efforts to take back the position in the early laps of the race, but fell short to the sheer pace of Pin’s Prema Racing car.
“I tried to put her under pressure but they just had more pace out there in the dry compared to us today. It’s something we will look into because it’s important to get those starts right.”
A shower and Safety Car
A rain shower followed by Nicola Havrda crashing out of the proceedings shook up the order, with both race leaders electing to stay out on the damp track rather than pitting under the Safety Car.
The MP Motorsport garage had immediately told Weug to stay out as soon as the rain shower started. As it was believed that they would not be able to recover the time lost by stopping. Prema however, was less decisive and had called for Pin to pit in the final corner of her lap. Unfortunately, the call came too late, and Pin had no choice but to continue on her slicks.
The decision against pitting was evidently the right call as drivers who had pitted under the Safety car conditions started to drop down the order after the restart. Chloe Chambers, who was running in fourth for most of Race 2 ended up finishing P11.
Following the restart on the final lap of Race 2, Pin was unable to charge away quickly despite her attempts due to the challenging wet conditions of the track. This gave Weug the golden opportunity to reclaim first place as she dove around Pin for a bold overtake that translated into a victory at the 2025 F1 Academy Singapore GP Race 2.
Weug’s post-race thoughts
In the Dutch driver’s own words, “That last lap was just crazy”. The Ferrari-backed driver shared that she knew the wet conditions would be an advantage for her against Pin and was excited at the sight of the rain shower during the race. Her focus from that moment onwards was to familiarise herself with the areas of the track with better grip.
“I knew that the rain was one of my little chances to get past Doriane today, so when it came down I was quite happy. I just made sure that I knew where the grip was during the Safety Car in each corner, especially Turn 5 and so on.”
Tyre management also played a significant role in Weug’s win, as she was able to maintain a good, constant temperature despite the colder track temperature, which gave her the edge over her championship rival.
“I managed to get good temperature into the tyres – obviously they were cold, but I think they were in a good range compared to the others. That’s what gave me the win today.”
Weug concluded her weekend reflection by praising the team for making the right call during the safety car and her overall comfort with the car all weekend.
“I felt comfortable in the car. It just depends on how much more it would have come down, but in the end we had so few laps left that it wouldn’t have made sense to box and lose all that time and try to regain it. I think we made the right call. We were trying to play the dummy there and it didn’t work but we still got it in the last lap.”
Heading into the season finale
We now approach the season finale of the 2025 F1 Academy season, and the championship title fight reaches its climax, making it impossible to predict who could take the crown. However, one thing is for certain: Weug will continue to push hard and do everything she can to clinch the victory.
Weug shared that she will approach the Las Vegas weekend just like every other racing weekend with the clear goal of winning and maximising the points she can earn.
“I’m super happy for the team, for everyone around me, for my family, for everyone. I’m giving them quite a heart attack this season – not only today, but also in Qualifying yesterday and in every race. It’s thanks to them that we are standing here and can keep pushing for Vegas.”
“(My mindset is) Same as today, same as yesterday, same as Zandvoort. We have to go for the win. We still have nine points left, so step by step we will get there.”
