Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Prema’s Doriane Pin edged out championship rival Abbi Pulling to set the fastest time in both of Friday’s F1 Academy practice sessions at the Losail circuit.
Pin’s best lap came in the final seconds of session two, denying Rodin Motorsport’s Pulling to the quickest time of the day by 0.101 seconds, while Prema’s wildcard driver Alisha Palmowski was close behind the pair in third ahead of her series debut.
There were early problems for points leader Pulling in session one, spending the first 20 minutes in the pitlane with a starter motor issue.
ART Grand Prix’s Aurelia Nobels was the first driver to post a lap time just before the 10-minute mark, and she initially led Rodin’s Jessica Edgar by 0.1 seconds. Edgar then took over at the top with a 1m58.705s, and she then made a series of improvements to maintain the advantage.
Pin’s first effort of the session came with 15 minutes remaining, and it was good enough to hold second briefly before Palmowski took the position away from the Mercedes Formula 1 junior with her first representative lap. Pin then snatched first place from Edgar by 0.3s with a 1m56.654s, a lap good enough to top the session.
Prema’s other title contender Maya Weug climbed to second, and despite making a further improvement was pipped by 0.003s as the chequered flag fell by Pulling who ended the session 0.290s shy of Pin. ART’s Bianca Bustamante and MP Motorsport’s Hamda Al Qubaisi both also made late improvements to fifth and sixth, demoting Palmowski to seventh.
Pulling immediately lowered the pace at the start of session two, posting a 1m56.453s lap and improving by 0.4s on her next attempt, but her advantage was then reduced to 0.2s by Palmowski. Weug briefly went quickest with a 1m56.025s before Pulling responded with 1m55.785s, while Pin moved up to fourth.
Most of the field headed to the pitlane at the halfway stage, and lap times tumbled when drivers returned to track on new tyres in the final 10 minutes.
ART’s Lia Blocked move up to third before setting a new quickest lap of 1m55.517s on her effort. Palmowski then moved to the top by 0.04s and, after Weug lowered the pace by a further 0.02s, reclaimed first place with a 1m55.043s.
As the session approached its conclusion, Pin pipped Palmowski by 0.02s before Pulling beat the pair with a 1m54.895s, but Pin then set a 1m54.794s on her final lap. Weug ended the day in fourth, with Al Qubaisi fifth ahead of Edgar and Block, and MP’s Emily de Heus the final driver within one second of the pace in eighth.
Free practice round-up
Session one
1 Doriane Pin Prema 1m56.654s
2 Abbi Pulling Rodin Motorsport +0.290s
3 Maya Weug Prema +0.290s
4 Jessica Edgar Rodin Motorsport +0.344s
5 Bianca Bustamante ART Grand Prix +0.449s
6 Hamda Al Qubaisi MP Motorsport +0.496s
7 Alisha Palmowski Prema +0.543s
8 Carrie Schreiner Campos Racing +0.638s
9 Lia Block ART Grand Prix +0.643s
10 Chloe Chambers Campos Racing +07.49s
Session two
1 Pin 1m54.794s
2 Pulling +0.101s
3 Palmowski +0.142s
4 Weug +0.234s
5 Al Qubaisi +0.510s
6 Edgar +0.568s
7 Block +0.723s
8 Emily De Heus MP Motorsport +0.917s
9 Chambers +1.135s
10 Bustamante +1.214s