Maya Weug takes Jeddah victory after F1 Academy polesitter Chloe Chambers penalised
Ferrari junior Maya Weug was able to stay within five seconds of polesitter Chloe Chambers to take victory after she was penalised.
JEDDAH–Maya Weug took victory in the second F1 Academy race of the weekend in Jeddah after holding on to polesitter Chloe Chambers during the hard-fought race.
Chambers led lights-to-flag but was penalised for forcing Weug off the track earlier in the race, with the Dutch-Belgian keeping within five seconds of the Red Bull driver to take the race win.
"Last year [my win] was in the last race, so it feels good to have it already on the second weekend of the season," said Weug.
"The car was feeling great all weekend, just some small mistakes... well I wouldn’t say mistakes. It was just a bit messy in qualifying, which cost us starting further forward."
The first-time polesitter managed to hold off frontrunner Doriane Pin from the front row and hold her lead as the all-female series went into turn one, while Weug charged through to second.
The Ferrari junior was full of confidence after making her way through the field to a podium finish in race one and was soon fighting for the lead, going wheel-to-wheel with Chambers.
The pressure from Chambers sent Weug off the track momentarily but the Ferrari driver was into the lead briefly on lap three before the wheel-to-wheel action resumed.
Weug bounced over the kerb and went wide, allowing Chambers back into the lead and Pin up to second.
That move too was only brief, with Weug taking much more pace into turn four and regaining second and setting her sights on the American in the lead once again.
The situation changed when Chambers was handed a five-second penalty for forcing Weug off the track during one of their encounters, the Dutch driver now just having to stay within five seconds to take victory at the chequered flag.
Chambers did her best to build a gap over the rest of the field but could not escape Weug, who was close enough to be promoted to the top step of the podium. Chambers was second, with Pin completing the podium in third.
For Weug it was a return to the podium for the second day in a row and the first victory for team MP Motorsport since 2023.
Alisha Palmowski was fourth in a consistent showing to continue her form as a contender so far this year, while Ella Lloyd was eighth despite stalling on the grid.
Aussie Joanne Ciconte was ninth and took her first points of the year, while Aiva Anagnostiadis was seventeenth after getting caught up in an incident on the first lap.
Weug leaves Jeddah in the lead of the standings on 59 points, just ahead of Doriane Pin on 52 points. Chambers is third on 47, with Palmowski fourth on 36 points.
Aussies Joanne Ciconte and Aiva Anagnostiadis are 12th and 13th in the standings respectively each with one point to their name.
The F1 Academy now heads to the Miami Grand Prix on 2-4 May.
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