Written by Sophie Harvey, Edited by Gabriel Tsui
You will be relieved to hear that after a two month silence, F1 Academy is back! Marking the midway point of this season’s calendar, the field returns to Circuit Zandvoort for the second year running. As the championship fight begins to heat up, let’s unpack everything you need to know before the weekend commences.
To begin with the latest headline, F1 Academy will host another wildcard entry for the Zandvoort round — Nina Gademan. The Wijster-born 20-year-old only began her single-seater career this year, competing in British F4 with Fortec Motorsports. As she makes her series debut, she’s most definitely one to watch.
Track information
Located to the east of Amsterdam and neighbouring the North Sea, the Dutch town of Zandvoort houses a menace of a track — a 4.259 km (2.646 miles) circuit that sits amongst the dunes, famous for it’s banked corners and ‘Tarzanbocht’ hairpin.
With Max Verstappen winning all three successive Dutch Grand Prix since Zandvoort returned to the Formula 1 calendar in 2021, will we see similar domination in F1 Academy?
Last time in Zandvoort
In 2023, the Dutch outfit MP Motorsport were gaining more momentum than ever — after sealing back-to-back pole positions in qualifying, Hamda Al Qubaisi proved to be a force to be reckoned with.
In Race 1, she secured her second victory of the season in impressive fashion — five seconds clear of a fiery Lena Bühler and Nerea Martí, with the latter capitalising on Marta Garcia’s technical issues to move into the podium position.
Come Race 2, it was Amna Al Qubaisi who lined up on pole — it was a perfect start for the Emirati as she maintained her lead, although short lived. As she spun into the gravel and found the wall at Turn 8, it was Carrie Schreiner who inherited the lead.
Garcia, the title leader, continued applying the pressure to the German, though Schreiner was unfazed — taking home her maiden victory, and it was one to savour.
Fast forward to the third and final race of the F1 Academy weekend, Hamda Al Qubaisi was back in winning fashion, taking home victory and fastest lap, as hometown hero Emely De Heus made it an MP Motorsport 1-2.
At that point in the season, the Dutch outfit were 66 points ahead of PREMA Racing — the first team to reach the 300-point mark.
What to look out for
Snap back to 2024, MP Motorsport are in dire need of a similar performance as their drivers currently sit P6, P10 and P12 in the standings, and they are now second to last in the team’s championship.
Arriving at their home race, could we see a resurgence? Only three points up on ART Grand Prix, a poor weekend could see them sitting in last place, quite the juxtaposition when compared to the previous season.
Talking of home races, Maya Weug and Emely De Heus are our resident Dutch drivers. Weug’s season has certainly taken a turn, from double podiums in Jeddah to two pointless outings in Barcelona. Proven to be far stronger than her current P7 in the standings would suggest, the Ferrari Academy member will be looking for redemption in Zandvoort.
De Heus has also been dealt her fair share of bad luck — as she sits at P12 in the championship — the Dutchwoman had failed to score any points until Spain. By this point last year, she had already taken her maiden victory.
Shifting our focus towards the front of the field, Abbi Pulling continues to impress. Her consistency has scored herself a total of 147 points so far, way ahead of Doriane Pin and Chloe Chambers, who both sit at tied-second with 81 points.
Whilst Pulling is the firm favourite to win the upcoming races, everyone expects Pin to return to her winning ways. Likewise, Chambers enters Zandvoort as our latest race winner — having taken the chequered flag with a seven-second lead in Barcelona, is a repeat performance to be expected?
Another point worth noting is that Pulling and Martí have had previous experiences of Zandvoort from W Series, alongside plenty of drivers participating in an earlier round of British F4 here in preparation for the weekend.
While Pulling has been a constant in British F4 this season, she was joined on the grid by Jessica Edgar, Bianca Bustamante, Aurelia Nobels and Carrie Schreiner. Will the additional experience set these drivers apart?
It will certainly be a fun watch, as anything can happen; there hasn’t been a dull round of F1 Academy so make sure you tune in!
Weekend schedule (BST)
Friday, 23rd August
Practice 1: 9:10 - 9:50
Practice 2: 16:30 - 17:10
Saturday, 24th August
Qualifying: 9:15 - 9:45
Race 1: 16:05 - 16:35
Sunday, 25th August
Race 2: 9:40 - 11:00
Where to watch
As per usual, qualifying and both races will be live-streamed on the series’ very own YouTube channel free of charge.
For more information on where F1 Academy is available in your region, follow the link below:
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