Abbi Pulling converts pole into her seventh F1 Academy win of 2024

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Rodin Motorsport’s Abbi Pulling turned pole into her seventh F1 Academy win of 2024 in the second Singapore race.

Doriane Pin had wheelspin in the second stage of the launch and that allowed Prema team-mate Maya Weug to pass her before turn one, but by hugging the inside line Pin was able to keep her nose level with the rear of Weug’s car.

Down to turn five she also tried to get back alongside, but Weug maintained the advantage and soon ART Grand Prix’s Lia Block was applying pressure on Pin.

Pulling was quicker to build a gap up front than in race one, and was 1.18 seconds clear of Weug by the end of lap two. A lap later they were running nose-to-tail again though, as the safety car was called out.

Its summoning appeared to be as a result of ART GP’s Bianca Bustamante spinning down to last from 10th place at turn seven, but she got going again straight away and was at the back of the back for when racing resumed on lap five.

Pulling was faultless again up front, while Block was caught out by the restart timing and immediately gapped by the top three. A new fastest lap put Pulling 0.7s clear of Weug by the end of the lap, and she continued to pull away over the rest of the 12-lap race.

The hot conditions and difficulties of running in the dirty air of the cars in front, with overheating rear tyres a particularly tricky challenge, meant the field spread out in the points positions. Weug and Pin were isolated in second and third by the finish, with Pin actually backing off on the penultimate lap to get clean air so she could go for fastest lap, Block was fourth and Campos Racing’s Nerea Marti was fifth.

MP Motorsport’s Hamda Al Qubaisi resisted early pressure from Prema’s Ella Lloyd to finish sixth, and Campos’s Chloe Chambers made a great overtake to finish eighth.

On lap two she had pulled off a diving move on Bustamante at turn seven, then after the restart was attacking team-mate Carrie Schreiner who was under investigation for cutting turn two. Entering turn seven on lap 10 she was all over the rear of Shreiner, being far more confident on the brakes and filling her mirrors on both sides as she looked for space.

She almost got squeezed into the wall after turn 13, but was still able to get a switchback move done at turn 14 and once ahead rapidly pulled away.

Bustamante’s race went from bad to worse as she collided at turn one with Prema’s Tina Hausmann halfway through the race, which sent her car airborne and copped Hausmann a 10s penalty. Hausmann later spun at the same corner, meaning she finished last.

Despite brushing the turn seven wall on lap two, ART GP’s Aurelia Nobels had a strong race and came home 12th.

Race result (12 laps)