Pulling tops F1 Academy test in Abu Dhabi as rivals get FE call-ups

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Rodin Motorsport’s Abbi Pulling was fastest in F1 Academy’s in-season test at Yas Marina Circuit last week, as several of her rivals got Formula E call-ups.

Pre-season testing for FE’s 2024-25 season takes place at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit on November 4-7, and the championship has decided that in a session on the final day teams will be required to have a woman in one of their cars.

Several teams have chosen two, and these include drivers from the entry-level Formula 4 category that the all-female F1 Academy championship is part of.

Andretti Global has picked Campos Racing team-mates Chloe Chambers and Nerea Marti, currently fourth and fifth in the standings, and their other team-mate Carrie Schreiner will drive for Maserati.

ART Grand Prix’s Bianca Bustamante makes her FE test debut with McLaren, who will also provide a test opportunity to Ella Lloyd. She made her first F1 Academy appearance last time out in Singapore, and came 11th in British F4 with four podiums.

Runner-up this year in Britiain’s other F4 series, GB4, was Alisha Palmowski. She won three times, was on the podium eight other times and took pole twice. Palmowski will test for Envision Racing.

The only other junior single-seater racer to be called up for FE at present is Marta Garcia. She raced in Spanish F4 before spending three seasons racing Formula Regional cars in the all-female W Series. That resulted in a win and three other podiums, and last year she took the F1 Academy title with seven victories.

For 2024, Garcia stepped back up to FRegional in the European championship but has failed to score. She already has FE experience, having tested with the ERT team in this year’s rookie test, and will drive for Porsche in Valencia.

F1 Academy’s in-season test ran over Friday, Saturday and Sunday of last week, with two sessions per day.

Pulling went straight to the top in session one, a 1m57.630s putting her just 0.062 seconds ahead of MP Motorsport’s Hamda Al Qubaisi. Prema duo Doriane Pin and Maya Weug were 0.2 and 0.333 seconds off respectively, and Chambers was half a second back in fifth.

The pace was lowered to 1m56.505s by Pulling later on Friday, and she grew her gap at the top. Pin was 0.37s slower than her in second, and Al Qubaisi and Chambers were the only other two drivers within half a second of Pulling. There were smaller gaps further behind, with the top 11 covered by 0.971s.

Pulling continued to lead the way on Saturday, topping both sessions. In the first she set a 1m57.235s to lead Pin by 0.187s, and in the second a 1m56.746s put her 0.372s ahead of Marti.

On Sunday she came close to a new personal best but could not quite manage it, setting a 1m56.526s in session five. Pin and Al Qubaisi were split by 0.008s in second and third, and in session six Pulling recorded a 1m56.778s to end the day 0.263s ahead of Al Qubaisi.

Test results