Photo: Formula 1
MP Motorsport’s Hamda Al Qubaisi has closed in on the F1 Academy points lead with two victories at Zandvoort.
Her first win came in race one from pole position, taking the finish 4.964 seconds ahead of ART Grand Prix’s Lena Buhler in second place.
Buhler was in second from the off, while points leader Marta Garcia and Nerea Marti fought over third at first. Garcia established herself in the position, but then a car issue later in the race sent her to retirement and promoted Marti to the podium.
Further back, Rodin Carlin’s Abbi Pulling recovered from 12th on the grid to finish seventh.
Hamda’s sister Amna had reversed-grid pole for race two, but could not convert it into victory despite an early lead as she crashed and caused a safety car period that promoted ART GP’s Carrie Shreiner into first place.
Shreiner had to defend from Garcia after the restart for her first win, and Buhler charged up the order to finish third.
Hamda Al Qubaisi struggled and finished ninth, but rebounded in race three where she once again had pole and turned it into her third win of 2023.
Emely de Heus made it an MP one-two after passing Buhler, who finished third for her seventh podium of the season.
Carlin’s Jessica Edgar was in contention for fourth before a car issue dropped her to the back and Garcia held on to her points lead by finishing fourth.
Results round-up
Race 1 (17 laps)
1 Hamda Al Qubaisi MP Motorsport 28m41.892s
2 Lena Buhler ART Grand Prix +4.964s
3 Nerea Marti Campos Racing +11.646s
4 Jessica Edgar Carlin +12.883s
5 Emely de Heus MP Motorsport +21.449s
6 Carrie Schreiner ART Grand Prix +22.635s
7 Abbi Pulling Carlin +21.163s
8 Amna Al Qubaisi MP Motorsport +26.710s
9 Lola Lovinfosse Campos Racing +27.300s
10 Bianca Bustamante Prema +27.516s
Fastest lap: H Al Qubaisi, 1m36.942s
Race 2 (11 laps)
1 Schreiner 20m01.835s
2 Garcia +0.484s
3 Buhler +0.750s
4 Edgar +1.194s
5 de Heus +1.713s
6 Marti +1.995s
7 Megan Gilkes Carlin +2.522s
8 Bustamante +3.197s
9 H Al Qubaisi +3.469s
10 Pulling +4.373s
FL: Pulling, 1m37.691s
Race 3 (17 laps)
1 H Al Qubaisi 30m01.599s
2 de Heus +1.972s
3 Buhler +2.417s
4 Garcia +4.118s
5 Bustamante +4.793s
6 Marti +5.734s
7 Chloe Grant ART Grand Prix +9.180s
8 Schreiner +12.800s
9 A Al Qubaisi +13.289s
10 Maite Caceres Campos Racing +13.726s
FL: H Al Qubaisi, 1m37.023s
Championship standings
1 Garcia 155 2 H Al Qubaisi 150 3 Buhler 122 4 Marti 96 5 Pulling 84 6 A Al Qubaisi 78 7 de Heus 73 8 Bustamante 69 9 Edgar 41 10 Schreiner 34