Alpine Junior Driver Abbi Pulling dominated both sessions of the F1 Academy in-season testing at Zandvoort.
Pulling overcame the on-and-off showers in Zandvoort and led the rest of the grid to top the timing sheets on both days of testing.
The British driver tailed the Iron Dame throughout the 2024 F1 Academy season-opener as the only driver on the grid within one second of Doriane Pin.
She gained her first Race win of the season in Race 2 in Jeddah after the race-winner Pin received a penalty for taking the chequered flag twice.
Pulling told F1 Academy: “You say not ideal, but I love these kinds of conditions, It’s something that has always suited me, throwing a car around, and ending pretty fast. Luckily, I’m British so I’m not too much of a stranger to it.”
Dominating the testing sessions, Pulling looks ahead to the next F1 Academy race in Miami this weekend.
In an exclusive interview with Motorsport Week, Pulling shared: “It was an amazing way to start the season, you can’t ask for much more coming away from the first race of the season.
“I am disappointed in a way that it’s not truly my first race win. In my head, I’ve still got a race to win in the championship.”
On the first day of in-season testing in Zandvoort, Pulling got off to a strong start before the rain in the afternoon.
Pulling set out first with a 1:54.484 before cutting her time down to a 1:48.170, 2.9s clear of the second-runner Maya Weug.
The first of many red flags was waved when ART Grand Prix driver Aurelia Nobels caught the Turn 13 gravel trap, with Chloe Chambers falling into the same trap in the same corner.
The Williams Junior Driver Lia Block took an early slot in second after a short spell of rain, before a third flag was called when Pin spun at Turn 3.
Jessica Edgar initially set the fastest time after the restart until Chambers snatched the lead with a 1:47.553.
Nerea Martí finished ahead of the Haas driver by just 0.057s, pushing Pulling out of the top three in the morning session.
All three Campos Racing cars finished in the top five with Carrie Shreiner in fifth while Nobels was sixth, Lola Lovinfosse in seventh, Block in eighth, and the two Red Bull drivers rounding off the top ten.
The afternoon saw Weug and Edgar fight for the top spot on the timesheets amid two red flags in the downpour.
Pulling returned in the last hour of testing in style, going quicker than Edgar by one-tenth with a 1:48.412.
A third red flag was brought out as Bianca Bustamente turned into the gravel at Turn 7 just before Pin came into play.
The 2024 race winners Pulling and Pin traded places atop the timesheets but the Alpine Junior came out on top by just two-tenths.
Weug completed the top three in the afternoon, with Edgar and Bustamente following behind.
Tina Hausmann secured sixth, Martí sat in seventh while 0.081s split Lovinfosse, Chambers, and Nobels in the rest of the top ten.
Pulling started the Day 2 morning session ahead of Rodin Motorsport teammate Edgar, leading by 1.3s.
She set an early benchmark at 1:51.396 before two red flags caused by the wet weather at Zandvoort paused the session.
Haas-nominated driver Chambers struggled in the wet and found the gravel at Turn 7, followed by Visa Cash App RB driver Amna Al Quibasi two corners later.
Despite the tricky conditions at Zandvoort, the two PREMA drivers Weug and Pin took turns topping the timing sheets after the restart.
The Ferrari Academy driver was one of the only drivers on track to have raced at Zandvoort, faring better than her teammate Haussmann.
Four red flags interrupted the morning sessions as downpours ruined the laps of Rodin Motorsport drivers Edgar and Lovinfosse.
The hectic morning session ended with Pulling on top with a personal best time of 1:44.311 as Edgar followed 1.359s behind in second, while Hamda Al Quibaisi completed the top three.
Kick Sauber-nominated driver Schreiner finished the morning session in fourth, with the Williams Junior Block in fifth ahead of Hausmann.
Chambers placed seventh while the Ferrari junior sat in eighth, the Tommy Hilfiger driver Martí followed behind in ninth and McLaren’s Bustamente rounded up the top ten.
The final afternoon session offered three hours of testing for the 2024 grid after a tumultuous morning was littered with spells of heavy rain.
Pulling immediately topped the timesheets with a 1:41.867 before Amna Al Quibaisi brought out a Red Flag after catching the gravel at Turn 10.
The Ferrari Junior almost caught Pulling, but the Brit momentarily pulled ahead and improved her time before Pin set the fastest time.
Clocking in a 1:36.045, the Alpine Junior set the fastest pace by three-tenths ahead of the Ferrari and Mercedes Junior Drivers.
Amna Al Quibasi went off again at Turn 13 in the last hour, while the top three drivers Pulling, Pin, and Weug fought for the top spot.
Pulling finished atop the timing sessions in the afternoon, as Weug and Pin followed closely behind in second and third place.
Martí followed 0.069s behind the Mercedes driver but Hausmann secured the third sport in the top five for Prema in fourth.
Puma-nominated driver Nobels sat in fifth while Schreiner secured seventh ahead of MP Motorsport’s De Heus.
Bustamente improved on her morning time, finishing in ninth ahead of Red Bull Junior Driver Hamda Al Qubaisi.
The drivers look ahead to the Miami Grand Prix this weekend, where the second F1 Academy will take place in between Formula 1 sessions.
