F1 Academy Weekend Report - Miami: Pin bounces back, while torrential downpour postpones Race 2
- Meghana Sree
- May 5
- 7 min read
Updated: Jun 14
Written by Meghana Sree, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
Miami offered both sunshine and rain for F1 Academy, with Doriane Pin making a victorious comeback in Race 1, but the second race, to be led off the grid by Chloe Chambers, unfortunately cancelled after a torrential downpour.
F1 Academy was welcomed once more to Miami, a track with a vibrant atmosphere and even more vibrant racing action. Complete with special liveries, media frenzy and a buzz of activity for drivers and fans alike, Miami had plenty of exciting moments throughout the weekend.
Heading into the Sunshine State with Maya Weug in the championship lead, the top story was whether the MP Motorsport racer would hold on to the top spot, or if either Pin or Chambers would nick the position from her. Here’s how the weekend panned out.
Top 5 Stories
Race 2 Cancelled and Postponed
The second race scheduled for Sunday has been postponed, after being delayed then eventually cancelled due to adverse rain, making it nearly impossible for drivers to race.
The cancellation appeared certainly fortunate for championship leader Weug, who had only qualified in tenth, but a disappointment for the rest. Chambers was denied the opportunity to convert her pole to a win on home soil and crucially, Pin missed out on the chance to recover the championship lead from Weug — the two separated by just one point now.
Pin returns stronger after Jeddah
Following a tricky weekend in Jeddah, Pin managed to build more confidence into Miami, clinching victory in Race 1, keeping the charging car of Alisha Palmowski at bay.
Setting the pace early by topping the first Practice, the French driver went on to qualify third. Starting sixth for the reverse-grid race, Pin made some calculated overtakes, seizing the lead from Emma Felbermayr’s Rodin Motorsport car to win the race.
Home heroes have a positive weekend
Chambers, Lia Block, Courtney Crone and Wildcard Driver Ava Dobson were the home favourites this round, and they all had a productive run in Miami.
Chambers took pole and a podium in Race 1, while Block had her best Qualifying result this season in fourth. Crone making it into the top ten in the first race made for a big moment of celebration for the American crowd watching on.
While Dobson had a rough start, picking up a three-place grid drop after causing a collision with fellow American Block in Free Practice, she managed to finish 13th after starting 18th, gaining good experience and learning.
Morgan Stanley joins F1 Academy as financial services partner
Announced just ahead of the weekend, Morgan Stanley will be collaborating with F1 Academy as the series’ first ever financial services partner.
As part of this partnership, this round’s Wildcard Driver Ava Dobson was supported by the company, complete with a custom livery to represent them.
F1: The Academy launch date reveal and premiere
The brand new Netflix docu-series set to cover the 2024 F1 Academy season will be released on 28th May, 2025, as revealed ahead of the Miami weekend.
The celebrity frenzy and glamour of Miami also provided the perfect venue for the show’s premiere, which was supported by Formula One names like George Russell, Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar.
Qualifying — Chambers comes through in the wet weather, Felbermayr lands Race 1 pole
After two Practice sessions and no form of testing to rely on, the drivers jumped right into Qualifying hour.
The challenge was further ramped up as the risk of a downpour loomed ahead just as the session started. Drivers quickly scrambled out of the pits to be the first to get competitive laps in.
The busy track saw all 18 cars warming up their tyres, and drivers rushed by their teams to push immediately. Home favourite Chambers beat the rest to it, setting a 2:00.458 as the first benchmark.
As the first spots of rain hit the track, it was an all-Campos top three, with Weug only managing a 2:02.234 behind Chambers, Palmowski and Rafaela Ferreira.
The next minute saw the order shuffle rapidly as others got their laps in, picking their way through the traffic, and Pin popped up in third — yet no one had been able to match Chambers’ lap time.
With 24 minutes remaining, a momentary yellow flag slowed down the action in sector two due to multiple cars being caught out by a slippery Turn 11.
The rain then increased, making it highly unlikely for anyone to improve on their lap times. With the showers not showing any signs of letting up, one big name stuck in an unfortunate position was Weug in P10.
As the cars all pulled into the pits, it was Chambers still in provisional pole, her teammate Palmowski in second followed by Pin to complete the top three.
Ella Lloyd had positioned herself in P4, with the ART Grand Prix pair of Lia Block and Aurelia Nobels in fifth and sixth.
Ferreira and Felbermayr occupied seventh and eighth on the road, the latter clinching pole for Race 1.
At the 18-minute mark, several cars rolled out on intermediate tyres, but the order remained intact till the flag fell, marking Chambers’ second pole this season.
Race 1 — Pin bounces back to the top
After missing out last time she was on reverse-grid pole in Jeddah, Felbermayr was determined to win, but it all fell away after a lock up and damage — opening the door to Pin who flew to victory from sixth.
The race began smoothly for the Sauber driver, who had a great launch. Further back, it was complete chaos after lock-ups from Ferreira and Lloyd sent them off the circuit, catching Block out too. Pin immediately capitalised on the melee and jumped into second all the way from sixth in just the first lap.
While Block and Ferreira escaped unscathed from the incident, Lloyd had to retire, bringing out the Safety Car.
Racing resumed on the next lap, with Felbermayr getting a decent restart, but feeling the pressure from Pin just three tenths behind her, ready to pounce on any chance to inherit the lead.
The French driver’s moment came on Lap 3, when she dived down the inside of the Sauber junior. Felbermayr swiftly retaliated and lined up a move of her own on Pin, reclaiming the lead the following lap.
Right behind the duo battling for the lead was Nobels, ready to pick up the pieces should Felbermayr and Pin make contact. Yet the opportunity wouldn’t come, as Felbermayr locked up and dropped down to sixth, while Nobels was left to the mercy of Palmowski in third.
Lap 6 saw Palmowski make a clean pass on Nobels, who now slipped back from second into third. At the halfway point, another Safety Car was released after a collision between Joanne Ciconte, Chloe Chong and Nicole Havrda.
Attempting to enter three-abreast into Turn 11, Ciconte was tapped by Chong, forcing both cars to retire.
As the Safety Car period lapsed, Pin found Palmowski just two tenths away and eager to steal the win. Luckily for her, the Mercedes junior had the perfect getaway at the restart and managed to keep the British driver behind.
With three laps to go, the battle for P4 was also heating up between the Ferrari Driver Academy pair of Weug and Nobels.
Weug made her way past Nobels just as Block and Gademan overtook Tina Hausmann — Gademan making up an impressive eight positions in the race after her injury in Jeddah.
Gademan was later promoted to fifth following a penalty for Block, who had left the track and gained an advantage over Hausmann.
As the chequered flag fell, Pin crossed the line in the lead, followed by the Campos pairing of Palmowski and Chambers, while Hausmann and Ferreira rounded out the top eight points-scorers.
Race 2 — Torrential rain triumphs leading to a cancelled race
As the time ticked down to the race start, a light shower blanketed the Miami International Autodrome right out of the box, which only picked up as the cars lined up for the formation lap. Ultimately, the Safety Car led the grid for several more reconnaissance laps.
As the rain continued to hammer down, the cars snaked around the track behind the Safety Car while drivers complained of extremely low visibility due to heavy spray; with Palmowski assessing that it was too risky to race in such conditions.
Still under the Safety Car, several drivers were caught out at Turn 11 after aquaplaning off the track and narrowly avoiding collisions.
After several deliberations were conducted by officials, the session was eventually red flagged, but an estimated start time was also provided.
Yet this sliver of hope was quickly snatched away, the track then deemed too hazardous to resume the session. The official call was to cancel the race and postpone it, presumably following the same procedure from Qatar last year — indicating the possibility of a third race in Montreal next round to compensate.
Chambers was awarded two points for her pole position, yet she undoubtedly would’ve hoped for more to make some moves in the championship.
Nevertheless, drivers and teams were understanding of the decision which was taken in the drivers’ best interests to ensure their safety.
Drivers’ Thoughts
Sunday pole-sitter Chambers shared her thoughts after the wet weather Qualifying, stating: “Super excited, different session to what we normally have.
“It started raining right at the beginning so we only had one lap to get the lap in but I managed to do it when it counted and got the pole.”
Reacting to her first ever reverse-grid win, Pin stated: “Really happy, it’s good relief. We played smart today and [I’m] really happy about this win. […] We had the fastest lap as well, so really positive.”
Championship Standings After Miami
Drivers’ Championship
Maya Weug — 64
Doriane Pin — 63
Chloe Chambers — 55
Alisha Palmowski — 44
Alba Larsen — 28
Teams’ Championship
Campos Racing — 108
MP Motorsport — 94
PREMA Racing — 88
Rodin Motorsport — 34
ART Grand Prix — 5
Hitech TGR — 1
Pin had closed down on Weug’s advantage, and was all set to jump up to the top once more had Race 2 proceeded. Now, she will have to wait for Montreal to take another stab at the gap.
ART Grand Prix had a positive weekend this time, with Nobels and Block bagging points for the team.
Rodin Motorsport was on course for a good weekend, but a grid-drop for Lloyd and her retirement, as well as Felbermayr and Chong’s tough luck, meant that they couldn’t score any points this round.
Up Next
We race in Montreal next, from 13th to 15th June at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
A third race in Canada is highly likely, promising more action and dramatic stories in F1 Academy.
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