With her 2025 season in F1 Academy reaching the halfway mark, Maya Weug has showed incredible talent as she navigated her way into P3 in the standings. After quite some impressive races at the beginning of the year, and disappointing ones as of recent, Weug will try everything in her power to regain position the standings.
Currently, the Dutch driver has accumulated 72 points over the first four rounds. She is separated by only 17 points from Chloe Chambers after all the points from the Canadian GP were tallied. Weug remains a strong contender for the championship, while a couple of issues stopped her from remaining in the lead, the MP Motorsport driver will attempt to close that gap.
A strong start to the season
The first round of the 2025 F1 Academy season saw Maya Weug, and the rest of the grid driving around a completely new circuit. Weug’s weekend started promisingly from the Free Practice session. Moreover, this good start only helped grow the confidence of the Dutch driver. Maya Weug went on to claim the first pole position of the season this year. Setting a dominant time against her rival and former teammate, Doriane Pin, Weug climbed the grid in Race 1 to return to her place on the podium, finishing third.
The second Race had Weug lose her pole right at the beginning in favour of Pin. Despite her attempts to keep up with the French driver, Maya Weug could not manage to regain that P1. Therefore, the Dutch driver had to settle for second place as the victory was just slightly out of reach.
Snatching the Championship lead
Nevertheless, this newfound driver to prove she can get that win followed Weug into Saudi Arabia. Back on more familiar ground this time, the MP driver put herself out there as a contender for the victory since FP. The Qualifying session showed a slight drop, with Weug finishing third. Her following races showed an incredible comeback. Race 1 had Maya Weug use every single trick in the book, and some clever driving saw her close to the winner of that race as the laps just ran out.
However, Maya Weug did not let that win slip out of her fingers again. Chloe Chambers failed to put in enough of a gap between herself and Weug to account for a 5-second time penalty she picked up. Therefore, Weug just minimised her mistakes and kept putting pressure on Chambers. As a satisfying result for her efforts, Maya Weug became an official race winner in the 2025 F1 Academy championship.
The first of the two American rounds on the F1 Academy calendar was quite underwhelming to say the least. The Ferrari Academy driver kept up her streak of good Free Practice sessions, showing determination and consistency. Yet, Qualifying is where something went wrong for Weug. The damp weather was an unfortunate obstacle for Maya Weug, as she did not manage to improve her time, landing in P10.
Race 1 was extremely action-packed as the Dutch driver tried to make her way up the grid. However, after receiving a black and white flag for excessive movement under braking, Weug only got up into fourth place. As the weather conditions got even worse for Race 2, this session was cancelled. Nonetheless, these issues did not affect Maya Weug’s confidence for the rest of her F1 Academy 2025 season.
It all fell apart in Canada
The fourth round of the F1 Academy 2025 season had Maya Weug and the rest of the grid compete in three different races. This decision came as a replacement for the postponed race in Miami. As the leader of the Drivers’ Championship, Weug had a lot of pressure to perform and gain points this weekend. Yet, technical issues changed the course of her Canadian GP. The Dutch driver spent most of her FP in the pits, not setting any times in this session.
Despite a late improvement in Qualifying, her time only got her up in P15 as the session ended. Race 1 followed the grid set in Miami, so Weug started her race tenth, and her climb began. However, she got called into the garage quite fast with presumably the same technical problem. The MP driver took her first DNF during that race. Race 2 put Weug in a similar position, and her battle with the car had her end the race in P9. Lastly, Race 3 hit the nail on the coffin.
After starting the weekend in the lead of the championship, Maya Weug saw that lead slip away. The Dutch driver did improve as much as her car allowed her, yet her P6 finish in Race 3 was still frustrating. With hopes for fewer issues and more podiums, Weug remains a promising contender in the F1 Academy 2025 Championship. Her consistency and ambition will keep her fighting for that well-deserved title in the final three rounds.
