F1 Academy Weekend Report - Montreal: Pin reclaims championship lead, an all-rookie podium and more
- Meghana Sree
- 6 hours ago
- 14 min read
Written by Meghana Sree, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
A rollercoaster Montreal round saw Doriane Pin return to the championship lead, while Emma Felbermayr took a redeeming win in Race 2. Chloe Chambers persevered through the weekend to claim a Race 3 victory, while recurring mechanical issues set back Maya Weug, dropping her to third in the standings.
It was an eventful first weekend in Canada for F1 Academy, and with three races to boot, fans were treated to non-stop racing action.
The crucial mid-season round saw massive shake-ups in the championships, with PREMA Racing coming out on top of their rivals in both standings. Here’s everything you need to know from the weekend.
Top 5 Stories
Pin reclaims championship lead as Weug tumbles down to third
A frustrating weekend for Weug plagued by a recurring mechanical issue meant her Qualifying and first two races were heavily compromised.
This was a dream scenario for her closest rival Pin, who bagged the highest points haul of the weekend with a win, fourth and a podium. The French driver boosted her points tally by 46 points to 109, 37 points clear of Weug.
Moving up to second is Chambers, who took victory in Race 3 to rekindle her championship hopes.
Felbermayr on the top step in an all-rookie podium
Felbermayr delivered a redeeming Race 2 win after being disqualified in Race 1 for her car being below the minimum required weight. A stunning last lap move on Nina Gademan saw the Kick Sauber driver seal her maiden F1 Academy win in Montreal, a venue that has recorded historic first wins.
She led from Ella Lloyd in second and Gademan in third to complete the first all-rookie podium of the 2025 season.
PREMA Racing jump ahead of Campos Racing for championship lead
Defending Teams’ Champions PREMA Racing steadily built on their points tally to pass both MP Motorsport and Campos to take the lead.
Campos, the favourites coming into Montreal, were set back after teammates Chambers and Palmowski came to blows in Race 1. The reverse-grid race didn’t yield them any advantage either, while PREMA’s Gademan secured a podium finish.
Eventually, when Chambers did win Race 3, she was joined by Pin in third while Hausmann finished fourth. PREMA’s more consistent points gave them the edge over Campos’ messy weekend, as the title defenders now sit 27 points ahead of their rivals.
Ella Lloyd bags highest points haul of the rookies
The McLaren rookie has upped her game this round and is clearly setting up a reputation for herself as a smart and efficient driver.
Landing P2 in all three races, Lloyd jumps to fourth in the standings ahead of Palmowski and Larsen, becoming the new rookie hotshot. This capped off a strong weekend for Lloyd, coming hot on the heels of Lloyd’s upcoming rookie Formula E test opportunity for McLaren in Berlin this July.
F1 Academy to race in Montreal for the next three years
As the action-packed weekend got underway, F1 Academy announced that Montreal had secured a spot on its calendar until 2028.
Susie Wolff, Managing Director of F1 Academy, stated: “We are thrilled to be racing at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve through to 2028 in an extension that supports our expanding international platform and continually growing global fan base.
“The positive reception we have received from the Canadian fans has been a great privilege to witness.”
The Weekend as it Happened
Qualifying — Back-to-back poles for Chambers in a Campos front row lock-out
Jumping into Qualifying with just one Free Practice to test the track, the drivers lined up for a busy session to decide the pole sitters for Races 2 and 3.
Riding on the momentum from Miami, Chambers sprinted to pole once again, after a tight battle with teammate Palmowski. The only other driver who could challenge the Campos pair was Doriane Pin, who ultimately finished third, four tenths behind.
As the track rubbered in, Chambers set the benchmark time, with a 1:41.127. Lia Block managed to get within two tenths of Chambers but was soon pipped by Rafaela Ferreira, who narrowed the gap to four thousandths.
A clean lap from Alba Larsen then lifted the Danish driver to the top, making the time to beat a 1:40.910. Block then swiftly bested this benchmark by going four tenths quicker.
Meanwhile, Maya Weug was gradually finding her footing, having missed out on Practice due to an electrical issue on the car, but was unable to position herself higher than fifth. After much tinkering on her car yet to no avail, the championship leader finally wound up down in 15th in a disappointing session plagued with engine issues.
With 20 minutes to go, Wild Card Driver Mathilda Paatz was doing well for her first competitive F1 Academy session in eighth, just as a momentary yellow flag was brought out after home hero Nicole Havrda’s spin.
As the session approached the midway point, it was clear Larsen quickly became the favourite for pole, but there was no forgetting the rapid Campos pair of Chambers and Palmowski.
The fastest lap was soon tossed back and forth between Palmowski and Larsen, with Block and Ella Lloyd joining the fray too. Larsen then set a blistering time of 1:39.246, which improved on with personal bests.
Unchallenged for a good chunk of the session, Campos brought the heat back with ten minutes to go with both Palmowski and Chambers jumping ahead of Larsen in quick succession, Chambers a tenth quicker than her teammate.
Track evolution brought the lap times down significantly, and a flurry of activity descended upon the track as the seconds ticked down. Chambers and Palmowski were in a league of their own jostling for pole, a back and forth that was eventually won by Chambers.
In a mighty effort, Pin managed to post a time that lifted her to second, splitting the Campos pair with four minutes to go. However, this front row position was short lived as Palmowski took a final flying lap in her newly liveried car to eclipse Pin by four tenths. Behind the top three, Lloyd slipped into fourth while a final push from Tina Hausmann gave her fifth.
As the times tumbled, Larsen found herself in a disappointing 12th place, surely not what she had hoped for after dominating most of the session. She was pipped by late improvements from Emma Felbermayr, Nina Gademan, Chloe Chong, Ferreira, Block and Joanne Ciconte who completed the top eleven.
Chong in eighth took pole for Race 2’s reverse-grid, while Chambers had comfortably sealed pole for the other two races.
Race 1 — Pin capitalises on Campos clash to win back championship lead
The grid was set with the starting order from the postponed Miami Race 2, with Chambers on pole and her teammate Alisha Palmowski lining up next to her.
Pin in third had a rapid launch, while Chambers and Palmowski ahead were locked in a feisty battle for the race lead. Meanwhile, down in tenth, Weug’s mechanical issues continued to plague her, as she managed a slow start to the race.
At the front end, things were heating up between the Campos teammates, with Pin in third looking for the perfect opportunity to capitalise on the battle ahead. Her moment came on Lap 2 after Palmowski chanced a move on Chambers down the inside of Turn 1, but locked up and slammed into her teammate. Palmowski was sent spinning while Chambers was left nursing a damaged front wing, still in the lead.
Pin seized the moment and swiftly sped past Chambers, who had no choice with her stricken Red Bull Ford car but to let the Mercedes junior through.
Predictably, a black and orange flag was shown for Chambers, who peeled into the pits for damage repair.
While this incident unfolded on track, McLaren-backed driver Ella Lloyd was quietly making her way up the field from seventh, executing clinical overtakes and committed moves to pass Aurelia Nobels and Emma Felbermayr and move up to fourth.
In just two laps, there were overtakes up and down the field but one driver missing out on the action was Weug, whose weekend went south once more with the ongoing mechanical issues. Weug trundled into the pits multiple times across the 17 laps but to no effect, as every time she went back out, the issue seemed to persist.
Back on track, Weug’s championship rival Pin was leading the race, closely followed by Lloyd. The final podium spot was still up for grabs between Felbermayr and Nina Gademan, who had pushed her way up from P13.
Palmowski was trying to regain positions after dropping down to 14th. By Lap 9, the Campos driver had managed to slip back into the top ten and found herself battling Chloe Chong for P9.
Not far behind, Wild Card Driver Mathilda Paatz was keen to join the fight too, putting Palmowski under pressure for the final point. Palmowski however had her sights set firmly ahead.
After several bold attempts trying to break Chong’s tight defence, Palmowski finally passed the Charlotte Tilbury driver down the inside of the hairpin on Lap 10, but Chong was still on her tail.
Chong used the slipstream to sail past Palmowski, but a lockup forced her to cut the corner and give the place back to Palmowski, when Paatz behind slammed into the Wall of Champions to bring out the Safety Car.
The cars trailed behind the Safety Car, making their way through the pits to clear the debris. With the field closely bunched up, the restart would be critical for the top three. Pin would be eager to retain the lead and keep Lloyd at bay, while Felbermayr and Gademan were not done battling for P3.
On Lap 14 of 17, the Safety Car was called in and Pin took us to green flag racing with a calculated restart launch that caught Lloyd by surprise, leaving the McLaren junior to the clutches of her Rodin teammate Felbermayr.
As the laps ticked down, more chaos ensued when Rafaela Ferreira, attempting to challenge Larsen for P6, locked up and was forced to take the escape road. However, the Brazilian driver misjudged her entry speed while rejoining the track and collided into Chong, ending the Charlotte Tilbury driver’s race.
This incident caused a chain reaction of drivers behind having to take avoiding action, leading to another clash, this time between Joanne Ciconte and Courtney Crone, triggering a second Safety Car.
With just two laps remaining, the race was seen out under the Safety Car and Pin was assured the win. Lloyd and Gademan completed the podium, after Felbermayr lost her third place post-race as her car was disqualified for being below the minimum weight.
Post-race penalties were also applied for Palmowski, who received a ten-second time penalty for the Lap 2 incident with Chambers, and Ferreira who was given a five-place grid drop for Race 2 after rejoining unsafely and causing a collision with Chong.
This shuffled the final points scorers to Block in fourth followed by Larsen, Hausmann, Chambers, Anagnostiadis, Nobels and Havrda.
Race 2 — Felbermayr bounces back after DSQ for a maiden win
Race 2’s starting order followed the reverse-grid format with Chong on pole followed by Gademan and Felbermayr.
Right off the bat, Chong defended well into Turn 1 to fend off Gademan, while just behind, Lloyd had managed to sprint past Hausmann and Felbermayr to claim third.
Things quickly began to unravel for Chong, who was overtaken by both Gademan and Lloyd on the opening lap then took a trip over the grass after going wide, leaving her to the mercy of the cars behind.
With Gademan still in the lead, it was down to Lloyd and Felbermayr as they battled for second. The Kick Sauber driver sensed her opportunity on the start-finish straight of Lap 2, using Lloyd’s slipstream to sail past the McLaren driver. As Felbermayr moved up to second, Lloyd lost another position to Pin who was charging up the field from sixth.
Meanwhile, the Campos pair of Chambers and Palmowski were engaged in another battle of their own, albeit a cautious one after their dramatic contact in Race 1. By Lap 3, Chambers was able to build a gap to her teammate and arrived on the scene for the P3 battle.
A three-way combat ensued between Chambers, Pin and Lloyd, with the Welsh driver doing all she could to hold on to that podium spot. Lap 5 saw Chambers eyeing a move around the outside of Pin on Turn 2, but as the two went wheel-to-wheel into the corner, Chambers spun off the track and plummeted down to 14th.
There was tension brewing in the midfield too, this time between Palmowski and Alba Larsen as the two jostled for position. Larsen in the Tommy Hilfiger machinery had rapid pace, earlier setting the fastest lap, and seized her moment on Lap 7 with a move that took her to fifth.
A few places ahead, Pin was still neck-and-neck with Lloyd. After a failed overtake by cutting the corner on the final chicane, Pin was ordered to give the position back to Lloyd.
Larsen meanwhile took this opportunity to attempt a late dive into the hairpin to gain a place from Pin, but ended up banging wheels with the Mercedes driver and received a black and white flag for the same.
Just a few laps later, Larsen’s teammate Weug attempted a similar move on Nobels and this time, the MP Motorsport driver could make the move stick without contact, handing her eighth position.
Nobels wasn’t giving up however, and took the slipstream to squeeze past Weug, but quickly ran out of room and made contact with her fellow Ferrari junior through the final chicane.
Block, who had front row seats to the incident, swiftly capitalised on it and cruised into eighth for the final point.
All the while, the race-long battle for third was still playing out between Lloyd and Pin with Larsen joining the scene too. Pin locked up through the final chicane but came out ahead of Lloyd, having to give the position back a second time.
Larsen spotted her chance and braved her way past Pin into fourth, just as the yellow flags were waved after a crash between Hitech TGR teammates Nicole Havrda and Aiva Anagnostiadis. Havrda later received a three-place grid penalty in Race 3 for the incident.
The Safety Car was promptly deployed on Lap 14, bunching up the entire field. Up ahead, Gademan’s comfortable margin had disappeared to nothing, and she was once more under pressure from Felbermayr for the race win.
A last-lap dash was in store for drivers as the Safety Car pulled in, and while Gademan had a strong restart, she wasn’t able to shake off Felbermayr, who was seeking redemption after her Race 1 DSQ.
After leading so much of the race, Gademan’s win slipped away from her as Felbermayr snatched the lead at Turn 9. The Alpine driver struggled to maintain second too, and Lloyd swiftly nicked P2, leaving Gademan to settle for third.
Race 3 — Chambers masters back-to-back Safety Car restarts for first 2025 win
Chambers reclaimed the pole-win victory that escaped her in Race 1, expertly keeping cool under the pressure of two Safety Car restarts in an action-packed final race in Montreal.
Lining up next to Palmowski once more, Chambers took control off the launch and sprinted ahead while Palmowski was under threat from Lloyd after her lightning start from fourth.
As Palmowski and Llyod came wheel-to-wheel, the pair made contact into Turn 3. The Campos driver was sent spinning, denting Pin’s front-wing on the way too. Pin was able to continue but dropped down to fifth, while Palmowski had to visit the pits to repair the damage.
Further back, Paatz’s weekend came to a disappointing end, as she lost the car into Turn 7 and collected fellow Hitech driver Anagnostiadis in the chaos. With both their cars shattered, the Safety Car was released on the opening lap.
By Lap 8, the track was cleared, and Chambers took us back to racing conditions with a well-executed restart that Lloyd couldn’t challenge. Further back, Pin was hustling to move back up, but was held up by her PREMA teammates Gademan and Hausmann.
Pin swiftly passed Gademan, and then Felbermayr, just a few corners later, dropping her down to sixth. However, the Alpine driver came fighting back and lunged down the inside of the hairpin but jumped over the kerb, tapping Felbermayr.
The Kick Sauber driver was sent spinning and tanked down the order, warranting a 10-second time penalty for Gademan.
On Lap 9, Pin was finally able to zip past Hausmann for third, just as Lloyd set the fastest lap in second to pile the pressure on Chambers.
Meanwhile, things were finally turning around for Weug, who until this race, had been afflicted with a recurring mechanical issue. She was now able to show some real performance as she skillfully made her way up from 15th to eighth by Lap 9 with electric pace.
On top, a three-way battle for the win was being fought by Chambers, Lloyd and Pin, but the action was paused after Block braked into Ferreira, necessitating a Safety Car. An unlucky Nobels was also caught out by Block’s move for the final points-paying position, taking her out of the race.
The action resumed on Lap 12, and Chambers now had two cars ready to pounce for the lead if they saw a gap. The American driver gave her competitors no chance for a move and remained firmly in control, building up to the final laps of the race.
There was a flurry of overtakes following the restart, with Palmowski moving up to eighth and Weug passing teammate Larsen to seal a well-deserved sixth after starting 15th. Larsen tumbled down to eighth after Palmowski too followed Weug’s lead and shuffled up past the Tommy Hilfiger driver.
With three laps remaining, the Safety Car was deployed for a third time after Felbermayr misjudged her braking and slammed into Courtney Crone, in a very similar incident to that of Block.
The race was seen out under the Safety Car and Chambers took home a first win in 2025 with the Red Bull Ford outfit. Lloyd and Pin completed the podium, both drivers having dream weekends — Lloyd scored a hat-trick of podiums this weekend, while Pin is back in the championship lead with a 20-point lead.
Hausmann sealed fourth, narrowly missing out on her maiden F1 Academy podium, followed by Chong, Weug, Palmowski, Larsen, Gademan and Ciconte to round out the points scorers.
Drivers’ Thoughts
Race 2 winner Felbermayr had a rollercoaster weekend after being disqualified from a podium in Race 1, but closed Montreal on a sweet note, and shared: “I was obviously really disappointed because it was my first podium of the season.
“It was just an amazing feeling to finally get the job done after having so many attempts before, but now I have the win. It was an eventful last lap, but I got it done into Turn 8, so I’m super happy about that.”
Chambers too had a weekend of ups and downs and while she jumps into second in the Drivers’ standings, her team slips down from the championship lead.
Assessing the weekend, she said: “We got a decent amount of points this weekend, despite having two pretty low points scoring races yesterday.
“It’s really unfortunate for the rest of the team to have some troubles this weekend. At least from my side of the garage, we have some positives to take away and then hopefully, the three of us can be back up there fighting again at the top in Zandvoort.”
Championship Standings After Montreal
Drivers’ Championship
Doriane Pin — 109
Chloe Chambers — 89
Maya Weug — 72
Ella Lloyd — 67
Alisha Palmowski — 53
Teams’ Championship
PREMA Racing — 178
Campos Racing — 151
MP Motorsport — 122
Rodin Motorsport — 99
ART Grand Prix — 20
Hitech TGR — 6
Up Next
F1 Academy will take a summer break before heading into Round 5 at Zandvoort. The season will resume on 29th August as the chase for both titles continues.
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