F1 Academy | FP2 | Miami GP | Maya Weug tops Chambers to claim P1 - Motorsport

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The F1 Academy drivers are back with FP2 at the familiar Miami GP for the third round of the 2025 season. After the first free practice session of the weekend, PREMA Racing’s Doriane Pin managed to top the charts. Campos Racing driver Alisha Palmowski followed closely after Pin, with MP Motorsport’s Maya Weug in P3. The teams will use every moment of track time to gain all the necessary data, especially since this street circuit is known for its mix of high-speed straights and difficult slow corners.

Standings so far

After two action-packed rounds, Maya Weug is currently in the lead in the Drivers Championship with 59 points. The Dutch driver had a great season, however, Doriane Pin is not far behind with 52 points under her belt. Meanwhile, Campos Racing’s Chloe Chambers holds the third position with 47 points, only a 5-point difference separating her from Pin. Moreover, the Wild Card, Ava Dobson, will get the chance to prove herself in this weekend’s GP.

Lights out for FP2

The second FP session got underway for the F1 Academy at the Miami GP circuit. With only 40 minutes on the clock, the drivers hit the track in order to make every minute count.

Campos Racing’s Chloe Chambers was the first one out on the circuit, with the other drivers following suit. Nevertheless, PREMA Racing decided to keep their drivers in the pit.

A yellow flag was deployed after Lia Block came to a stop in sector 1, after an incident with the Wild Card Ava Dobson, from which she managed to recover.

Rodin Motorsport driver, Ella Lloyd, set the fastest time after only 5 minutes, but her time was quickly beaten by Palmowski’s 2:00:247. The American, Chambers, tried her hand at beating Palmowski’s time. Unfortunately, she had a lock-up and lost her pace.

30 minutes till the end

After an amazing flying lap from Maya Weug, she pulled her MP Motorsport car into P1 with 1:59:910. The Dutch driver managed to bring the lap time under 2 minutes.

At her home race, Chloe Chambers harnessed her skills in order to beat Weug’s time. Her lap, 1:59:647, got her a -0.099 difference. Meanwhile, PREMA Racing driver Hausmann’s lap had to be aborted after bottoming out and losing too much time.

The FP1 leader, Doriane Pin, tried to put herself into the P1 position yet again. She only managed to gain the necessary pace to get P2.

Lia Block, the Williams Academy driver, fortunately did not show any major damage, and her fast lap put her in P5 with an incredibly small margin between the top 5.

Tricky T14-T15 for the drivers

A lot of the drivers seemed to struggle with keeping within the track limit. Seeing as 11 of the 18 F1 Academy drivers went out on the track for the Miami GP for the first time, it came as no surprise that they had problems with bottoming.

The French driver, Doriane Pin, set the timing even lower by achieving a 1:59:37, just before most of the teams pulled their drivers back in the pit lane to prepare for a later exit.

As Pin was still recovering in the pits, both Weug and Chambers came out to try and knock the French driver from the pole position.

Only 15 minutes left until the end

Some of the drivers from the middle part of the pack, such as Aurelia Nobels and Ella Lloyd, attempted multiple trials to improve their sectors and figure out their qualifying times. Nobels had a purple last sector and pulled further up into P4.

As the clock was running out of time, the teams started their qualifying simulations. Chambers had an amazing lap which showed her abilities beautifully, by gathering all three purple sectors. 1:58:824 became the time to beat.

The F1 Academy drivers showcased all their might, with Nobles and Lloyd taking the second and third positions. The difference between times in the top 8 was becoming smaller and smaller, with only a second separating them.

Maya Weug tried getting some slipstream in order to take over Chambers’ P1 time, however, she only put her car in P2. Without letting that lap break her confidence, the Dutch driver tried again. Despite a small lock-up in Turn 17, she brought a great lap time over the finish line, 1:58:545.

Minutes before the checkered flag

Ella Lloyd and Aurelia Nobels did some great flying laps, which would’ve had them fighting over the third position. The Rodin Motorsport driver took that P3 after maximising every possible opportunity.

Within her last try to get P1 in this FP2 session, Chambers did not manage to bring her time over the edge. Moreover, Doriane Pin tried losing some more seconds off her time, to no avail.

Whilst the Miami GP proved to be quite the challenge for the rest of the weekend, the F1 Academy drivers managed to avoid any major incidents. MP Motorsport’s Maya Weug topped the standings for this practice session, followed by Chambers in P2. A last attempt at a flying lap for Gademan brought her right behind the American in P3.