As the opening day of F1 Academy in-season testing in Bahrain concluded, Maya Weug swept both sessions. The Ferrari Academy driver was undoubtably the fastest driver on track, setting a strong 2:04.930 in the morning. The afternoon session had Weug on top again, this time with a superb 2:04.773.
Morning Session
Day 1’s morning session opened with Doriane Pin leading the field onto the Bahrain track. As the cars slowly drove onto the track, their priority was on getting a feel of the track. In the first 30 minutes, Maya Weug set the benchmark with a 2:04.930 before improving to a 2:04.930 on her next attempt. Already in the first hour, the Ferrari driver was 0.293s clear of Pin. Alba Larsen was behind the two in third.
At the session’s midpoint, only 12 drivers had set a time. Slowly but surely, more drivers started to set representing lap times and improving throughout the session. While drivers such as Alisha Palmowski managed to knock Larsen down from third, no one could take the top spot from Weug.
The morning session wrapped up with Weug on top, Pin in second, followed by Palmowski in third. Next came the MP Motorsport drivers, with Larsen ahead of Joanne Ciconte. Chloe Chambers took sixth place followed by Nina Gademan in seventh and Lia Block in eight. Aurelia Nobels and Emma Felbermayr finished out the top ten.
Afternoon session
Lloyd was the driver to lead the pack early on in the afternoon with a 2:07.687. However, in the first 20 minutes of the session, both Weug and Pin bumped her down as they switched between topping the times.
The top spot was briefly seen by several drivers as Weug took a wonderful 2:06.446 before Chambers went one tenth faster. Palmowski was the next driver to beat as she set a strong 2:05.355. Felbermayr followed quickly behind in second, the narrow gap being 0.006s.
With 11 minutes left on the clock, Weug took the top spot once again with a 2:05.354. She was quickly knocked down by Pin who went a tenth faster. The Ferrari driver refused to give up as she stormed around the track for another lap, grabbing a 2:04.773. Weug remained in the top spot for the rest of the session.
Pin grabbed P2, followed by Palmowki over 0.5s behind in third. Larsen took P4 followed by Felbermayr, Ciconte, Gademan, and Lloyd. Next came Tina Hausmann in ninth while Chambers rounded out the top ten.
