Alpine Junior Driver Abbi Pulling extends her lead in the Drivers’ Standings as she cruises to Race 1 victory at the Miami International Autodrome.
Pulling finished Race 1 five seconds ahead of the Mercedes Junior Driver Doriane Pin as Chloe Chambers fought her way to third at her home race.
Track cleaning due to an oil spill during the Porsche Carrera Cup race delayed the F1 Academy Race 1 formation lap by 20 minutes.
The third race of the 2024 F1 Academy season was just 13 laps, with no room for pit stops in the blistering Miami heat.
Pulling got off to a quick start with a smooth exit out of the first corner while the McLaren Development Driver suffered an agonisingly slow start to the race.
Tina Hausmann faced an early retirement after contact with Aurelia Nobels put her in the wall in the third sector, calling a brief yellow flag on the first lap.
Williams Academy Driver Lia Block made up some places in the first lap but dropped to ninth after the chaos ahead.
The McLaren-nominated driver fell nine seconds behind the pack, but quickly made her way to 12th by the third lap.
A tough battle between Block and the Emirati racer Amna Al Qubaisi saw the American rally star lose her place in the points as the Visa Cash App RB driver overtook her on the third lap.
Chloe Chambers took two places to move up into P4, going around the outside of Nerea Marti and Maya Weug in a three-way battle towards the first breaking zone.
Marti concluded the three-way battle on the following straight, overtaking the Ferrari Academy Driver for seventh place.
Bustamante stormed her way through the field, gaining two more positions by the sixth lap as she found herself tailing the MP Motorsport car of Amna Al Qubaisi.
At the halfway point of Race 1, the Championship leader Pulling led the pack 2.5s ahead of the Iron Dame in second place.
Block spun going into Turn 6, losing control of her car while engaging in a wheel-to-wheel battle with one of the Campos Racing cars.
The Wildcard Entrant Courtney Crone struggled throughout the race, remaining firmly at the back of the grid until Block entered the pits.
Despite her hard work moving up into P9, Bustamante picked up a time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage towards the end of the race.
Carrie Schreiner defended hard against the Red Bull Ford-sponsored driver, forcing her to cut the corner.
Their battle continued as Emely De Heus attempted to take the German driver around the outside, but lost speed on the straight.
Chambers stunned at her home race, overtaking two drivers for the second time in Race 1, passing Weug and Al Qubaisi for third in Lap 11.
Cruising ahead of the Frenchwoman in second, Pulling created a four-second gap while the Haas-nominated driver aimed to close the three-second gap to Pin.
Hamda Al Qubaisi faced pressure from Nerea Marti in the final lap as the Tommy Hilfiger driver completed the overtake on the straight.
Chambers managed to hold off the Ferrari Academy Driver less than a second behind her, earning her first podium on home soil.
Finishing behind Chambers, Marti finished in fourth after a tough battle with the Ferrari Academy Driver who was bumped down to sixth after a penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
The Red Bull-nominated driver took fifth, followed by Jessica Edgar firmly in seventh ahead of the Emirati in eighth.
Bustamante finished in ninth despite her stalled start and time penalty, and the Charlotte Tilbury driver rounded off the top 10.
With visits from F1 Academy sponsors Charlotte Tilbury and Tommy Hilfiger across the weekend, the all-female series has received overwhelming support in Miami.
Looking ahead to Race 2 tomorrow evening, the Championship standings are bound to change as the drivers become increasingly more competitive with each event.
