F1 Academy continued its action at the 2025 Singapore GP, with drivers facing Qualifying the humid and wet Marina Bay Circuit. As the championship battle intensified, all eyes were on points leader Doriane Pin, who entered the round with a 20-point advantage over Maya Weug, while Chloe Chambers remained close behind in third. With the possibility of clinching the title early, Pin carried immense pressure into the only Free Practice session and Saturday’s Qualifying.
A thrilling Free Practice session
The sole practice session began dramatically. The sole practice session unfolded with early drama as Rafaela Ferreira retired almost immediately with a smoking car. Maya Weug set the first benchmark before Doriane Pin and Alisha Palmowski exchanged fastest laps. Wild Card Lisa Billard impressed on debut despite a spin, while substitute Megan Bruce retired early with technical issues. Heavy tyre wear created further challenges, yet in the closing minutes Pin secured P1 with 2:03.944, narrowly ahead of Palmowski and Weug, the top three separated by less than a tenth.
Qualifying begins under the lights
At 19:00 local time, Qualifying commenced beneath the illuminated Marina Bay skyline. Billard led the grid out for exploratory laps and immediately demonstrated her pace. On her second lap, she clocked 2:10.614 to take P2, narrowly behind Lia Block. As grip improved, lap times tumbled. On Lap 3, Billard stormed to the top with 2:05.906, ahead of Nicola Havrda and Emma Felbermayr. Yet, Ella Lloyd, who starred as a Wild Card at the same venue in 2024, went faster still with 2:04.958.
The first major interruption came soon after. Palmowski clipped the wall at Turn 5 in her Red Bull-liveried machine, sustaining heavy damage that ended her evening. The red flag flew with 22:57 left, halting the session for recovery work. At 19:15, marshals cleared the track, and Billard once again led the field back out.
For Pin, Nina Gademan, Tina Hausmann, and Weug, the restart became crucial since none had registered a competitive lap. With danger of further stoppages, urgency filled the paddock.
Pin strikes first
With just under 20 minutes remaining, Pin unleashed her first proper flying lap. She dominated all three sectors, stopping the clock at 2:03.885 to seize provisional pole. Moments later, Chambers surged to P2 with 2:04.436, edging Lloyd, who had improved to 2:04.450. Meanwhile, Weug slotted into P5 on 2:04.643, and Billard continued her remarkable run, climbing to second with 2:04.353.
Chambers struck again on her next attempt. Fastest in Sector 1, she crossed the line with 2:03.761, eclipsing Pin’s earlier effort by just over a tenth. At the same time, Lloyd brushed the wall but continued, though without improving her time. Further back, Joanne Ciconte finally set her first lap, but her 2:06.477 left her down in P15, over 2.7 seconds adrift of the leaders.
As the session reached the halfway point, most of the field retreated to the pits for fresh tyres. After a brief pause, they returned for warm-up laps but quickly ducked back into their garages, saving their final push for the decisive closing minutes.
Weug’s charge in the final 10 minutes
Action reignited with nine minutes to go. Gradually, drivers built up tyre temperature before attacking. With six minutes remaining, Weug produced a stunning lap of 2:03.775 to leap into P2, splitting Chambers and Pin. Moments earlier, Pin had gone fastest in Sector 3 but failed to improve her overall lap.
As intensity grew, Alba Larsen lost a lap time for exceeding track limits but later rebounded with 2:04.804 to climb to P9. Felbermayr moved into P6, and Lloyd recovered to P4. However, Lloyd later ran wide at Turn 18, spoiling both her lap and Felbermayr’s following attempt.
Final laps and pole decided
With only a minute left, Pin launched another attack, but heavy traffic from Lloyd and Felbermayr blocked her progress. By narrowly avoiding the chequered flag, Pin earned one final chance. As Weug and Chambers failed to improve, Pin pressed on. Despite a small lock-up, she delivered her best lap of the night—yet it fell short of pole. Weug’s earlier 2:03.453 proved unbeatable.
Thus, Weug claimed a dramatic pole position, with Pin forced to settle for second. Chambers secured third, Lloyd held fourth, and Billard became the evening’s sensation, finishing fifth as the first Wild Card ever to break into the top eight.
2025 F1 Academy Singapore GP Qualifying Results
- Maya Weug
- Doriane Pin
- Chloe Chambers
- Ella Lloyd
- Lisa Billard (Wild Card)
- Emma Felbermayr
- Aurelia Nobels
- Lia Block
- Alba Larsen
- Chloe Chong
- Nina Gademan
- Joanne Ciconte
- Tina Hausmann
- Rafaela Ferreira
- Megan Bruce
- Courtney Crone
- Nicole Havrda
- Alisha Palmowski
