F1 Academy Weekend Report – Zandvoort: Dutch delight with Weug and Gademan's home victories
- Meghana Sree
- 11 hours ago
- 11 min read
F1 Academy enjoyed another weekend of thrilling action in Zandvoort, where crowds were treated to Maya Weug and Nina Gademan's home wins, Lia Block's maiden podium and a dramatic championship rivalry that Doriane Pin still leads from Weug while Chloe Chambers slips back.
F1 Academy returned to the familiar sand dunes of Zandvoort to resume the 2025 season after the summer break.
History was made on Saturday with Nina Gademan's home win to celebrate her birthday, while fellow Dutch driver Maya Weug delivered a pivotal turnaround on Sunday, muscling her way back into the championship battle.
Here's everything you need to know from another exciting weekend of F1 Academy action.
Top 5 Stories
Pin retains championship lead, Weug inches closer
Out of the top three in the Drivers’ Championship, Weug was the clear top scorer across the weekend, with a Race 1 podium and win on Sunday lifting her back to second ahead of Chloe Chambers.
Championship leader Doriane Pin and Chambers meanwhile had sub par weekends. Pin struggled with pace and could only manage a third place in Race 2, that too only after a penalty for Ella Lloyd was applied. Meanwhile, Chambers’ best result in Zandvoort was fifth on Saturday, with an unlucky mechanical failure leading to a DNS for Race 2.
Just 20 points separate Pin from Weug, Chambers a further 14 behind. With four races remaining, the tally could still swing anyone’s way.
Gademan’s record-breaking Race 1 victory
After coming close on a number of weekends this year, Gademan finally claimed her maiden F1 Academy win in Race 1, starting from reverse-grid pole.
It was a rollercoaster of a weekend for the Dutch driver. On Friday, she was declared unfit to drive in FP2, but was able to bounce back in qualifying the following day to secure eighth place.
Executing a clean lights-to-flag victory in the next session, Gademan’s win was made sweeter by the support from her home crowd and her birthday celebrations that day.
Block takes much-awaited podium
Now in her second and final year of F1 Academy, Lia Block’s podium secured in Race 1 has been a long time coming.
The American driver qualified on the front-row for the reverse-grid race, and withstood late-race pressure from Weug to hang on to second place.
With four races remaining, Block will be setting her sights on bagging a win too before she leaves the series.
Kosterman becomes first 2025 Wild Card entry to score points
Esmee Kosterman had a hugely positive weekend, qualifying ninth and converting it into points on Sunday after climbing up to seventh.
Saturday was a learning experience for the Dutch driver, who had to start from the pit lane. Despite this, she managed to set the fastest lap on several occasions through Race 1, and eventually finished 12th.
Race 2 was a happier affair for the Wild Card Driver, scoring points and following the footsteps of Gademan who also took points as a Wild Card entry last year in Zandvoort.
PREMA continue tight hold on championship
After Campos Racing’s early season dominance, PREMA took over the Teams’ Championship lead in Montreal and haven’t dropped it since.
While the gap was only 27 points heading into Zandvoort, a better weekend for PREMA sees them extend their lead to 45 points – aided by Gademan’s win, Pin’s podium and misfortune for their rivals in the form of Chambers’ Race 2 DNS.
The Weekend as it Happened
Qualifying – Weug seals pole in frenetic mixed conditions
Qualifying began bright and early in Zandvoort, posing a challenge to the F1 Academy grid with wet-dry conditions around the undulating circuit.
Weug seized pole after a clinical lap in tricky conditions – with traffic, a damp track and competitive rivals right on her tail. Alisha Palmowski and Lloyd followed, the two Britons competing with each other to be the best performing rookie this year.
Almost immediately into the session, Aiva Anagnostiadis was tapped by teammate Nicole Havrda, sending her spinning off at Turn 1 and inviting the red flag.
Once action resumed, drivers poured out of the pits on wet tyres, still wary of gambling for slicks. Five minutes in, Weug set the benchmark time with a 1:48.399, taking advantage of the rapidly emerging dry line on track.
However, some patches on track around Turn 1 remained damp, which caught out the likes of Alba Larsen, Lloyd and Wild Card entry Kosterman who all took a trip through the gravel and down the escape road while attempting to push.
Pin then came through with a 1:47.784, just as several drivers took the call to bolt on slicks.
Block, one of the first to ditch the wet tyres, had a wobbly push lap and was unable to make significant improvements. Just behind her, Courtney Crone was the first to improve on slicks, putting together a solid lap that took her to third.
With plenty of time still on the table, the grid scrambled to the pits to switch tyres.
Meanwhile, several drivers were still going deep into the first corner and sliding off at later turns, indicating that conditions were still unpredictable on track.
Tina Hausmann and Rafaela Ferreira were a few who hit the wall after spinning at Turn 3, but managed to keep going – Ferreira taking a wing change to do so.
Palmowski then set the fastest lap of the session but found her time deleted for track limits at Turn 3, demoting her to 14th.
She found herself unable to go back out to make an improvement, as at that moment, Aurelia Nobels careened off the track at Turn 7 and beached her car in the gravel, bringing out a red flag.
When green flag conditions resumed, it was a frenetic scrap to hit the track first and pump in a lap ahead of traffic.
Lloyd was the first to capitalise on the evolving track conditions, cracking into the one minute and 41 seconds range ahead of the rest, but she was soon pipped by Chambers who went a tenth quicker.
Provisional pole was passed around like hot potatoes between Chambers, Pin, Emma Felbermayr, Lloyd again, Block, then Weug – but it was the Ferrari driver who could make her lap stick in P1.
Setting an electric lap with one minute to go, her position was at risk of being snatched away by Palmowski who was rapidly improving, but ultimately, the Campos driver could not find an answer to Weug’s benchmark and settled for second.
Meanwhile, Pin was only fifth, while Gademan took pole for the reverse grid format.
Race 1 – Gademan takes emotional maiden win in front of home crowd to celebrate birthday
After several wins that got away from Gademan, notably in China, the universe held the best for the Dutch round on her 22nd birthday, as she secured a maiden F1 Academy victory on home soil.
After being declared unfit on Friday before FP2, Gademan came roaring back to seal the win, ahead of Weug and Block – Block taking a much-awaited first podium in the series.
Havrda occupied the back-row, after receiving 10-place grid penalties for both races for overtaking under red flag conditions in FP1. She was joined by Nobels who had failed to set a time in qualifying.
As the formation lap got underway, Kosterman in ninth, the best Wild Card qualifier thus far, was asked to return to the pits for a pit lane start under unexplained circumstances.
The lights finally went out for the reverse-grid race, as Gademan managed the perfect launch from the grid to fend off teammate Hausmann in second, the latter under pressure from Block after a slower start.
Just behind the top three, a dusty moment for Chambers saw the Campos driver take to the escape road after being forced wide by Pin, as she dropped positions from fifth.
Into Turns 8 and 9, Gademan was joined by Block challenging her for the lead after the Williams driver pipped Hausmann for second, while Hausmann found herself on the defence against teammate Pin.
The Aston Martin driver’s run would soon come to an end however, as she crashed out from P3 at Turn 8, bringing out the first Safety Car of the session. As the pack returned to green flag racing on Lap 4, Gademan held on to the lead ahead of Block.
Meanwhile an exciting battle for fourth was playing out between Lloyd and Weug, who had made up three places and was sizing up a move on the McLaren driver.
However, Lloyd escaped Weug’s attacks as she capitalised on a mistake from Pin on Lap 5, sliding up to third while the Mercedes driver now had an unrelenting Weug for company.
Further behind this fray, Larsen had climbed up to ninth after starting 14th, and began to gear up for an attack on Felbermayr for the final points position.
With 10 laps to go, the top two remained intact. The podium spot was up for grabs between three drivers – Lloyd, Pin and Weug.
A clean swoop down the inside of Pin saw Weug take fourth, the French driver dropping back into the clutches of Palmowski and Chambers behind.
The Campos pair were caught up in a battle of their own, and Chambers soon took back a lost position in sixth, still one spot behind where she started.
A brave and feisty move from Weug on Lap 9 allowed the Dutch driver to sail into third past Lloyd, the McLaren driver’s skillful defence tactics no match for Weug’s bold lunges on home turf.
Chambers was another driver on the attack with confident moves, as she snatched back fifth from Pin out of Turn 8.
Meanwhile, Larsen, still stuck in ninth, received a black and orange flag that forced her to peel into the pits for damage repair on the front wing. With just six laps to go, chances of the rookie scoring points became slim despite a defiant drive up to sixth earlier on.
Larsen’s teammate Weug had better fortunes, climbing up from eighth and now attempting to maximise her points total by chasing down Block for second. Behind the Ferrari driver, her early race rivals Lloyd and Chambers found themselves banging wheels in a close battle of their own for fourth.
Weug swiftly closed down the gap to Block, reeling in the Williams driver while Gademan comfortably stretched her legs in P1.
Unfortunate for all of Weug’s tantalising overtake attempts on Block, the Ferrari driver ran out of laps and had to settle for third behind the American driver taking her maiden F1 Academy podium.
Up front, Gademan executed a clinical pole-flag victory at home on her birthday weekend.
The top eight to score points were rounded out by Lloyd in fourth, Chambers, Pin, Palmowski and Felbermayr.
Race 2 – Weug storms to dominant victory on home soil
Weug became the second Dutch winner of the weekend, sprinting to a well-deserved victory that demonstrated regained form after losing momentum in Montreal. Palmowski took her first Race 2 podium, followed by Pin in third after Lloyd’s penalty for a false start.
While the grid lined up for Race 2 with the most points of the weekend up for grabs, Chambers was hindered by a failure on her car, which took her out of the race before it could even start.
It was a moment of devastating heartbreak for the driver second in the championship, who drops back down to third following the DNS.
Meanwhile, seeing Chambers duck out of the race start, Block trundled onto the Campos driver’s grid spot then quickly reversed the car back to her own position – but it was too late as the lights had already lit up. Block subsequently collected a 10-second penalty for the start procedure infringement.
As the race got underway, Weug immediately sprinted ahead of Palmowski and Lloyd with a great launch off the grid. Lloyd quickly pounced on Palmowski, taking second out of Turn 1.
The early laps saw plenty of lockups across the grid, including one from Palmowski as she chased down Lloyd to retake second.
Towards the back of the field, a lockup from Havrda caught out Nobels, the two cars spinning but able to keep going, bringing out a momentary yellow flag.
While the mid-field was a tangle of cars trying to make their way past each other, Weug was cruising ahead in first with a comfortable lead. The Dutch driver benefitted from Lloyd having to defend from Palmowski in third, hampering the Welsh driver’s chances of attacking for P1.
With 10 laps to go, Felbermayr running in ninth spun out of Turn 10, plummeting down the order and promoting Chloe Chong to the final points-paying position.
Meanwhile, eighth placed Block’s penalty was confirmed, bringing the battle for 11th between Courtney Crone and Larsen into the picture too. On Lap 10, Larsen made a tidy pass on the American driver and set her sights on Chong, then in 10th.
As the laps ticked down, the key battles across the field were for fifth between PREMA teammates Hausmann and Gademan as well as the scrap for 10th.
The fight for second on the other hand quickly lost steam after Lloyd received a five-second penalty for a false start – allowing Palmowski to relax her attack on the McLaren driver.
Behind the top three, drivers were told to push harder to cover Lloyd’s five seconds, especially Pin who needed to keep close behind the top three to clinch a podium spot.
The French driver’s teammates continued their tussle for fifth, Gademan calling out Hausmann for making too many mistakes earlier in the race. Despite her best efforts, the Race 1 winner ran out of laps to make a top five finish ahead of Hausmann.
Larsen meanwhile got her move done just in time, sailing past Chong off Turn 13’s exit and hanging onto P10 through Turn 1 – converted to ninth after Block’s penalty.
Ahead of the young rookie, Ferreira bagged eighth, while Kosterman crossed the line in seventh – becoming the first Wild Card entry to score points this year.
Kosterman’s points, Weug’s commanding victory and Gademan’s emotional Race 1 win all combined made it a weekend to remember for the Dutch crowd looking on.
Drivers’ Thoughts
Weug without a doubt had the perfect turnaround from a disastorus Montreal outing, and couldn't have picked a better venue for it than her home round.
Speaking of her championship hopes, the Dutch driver shared: "I think we just have to keep going, keep pushing and focus on ourselves because that’s all we can focus on.”
“Try to maximise our places and our points because we cannot influence what the others do. That’s what we’ve got to do now, looking ahead to Singapore and Las Vegas.
"I’m honestly super excited and looking forward to the next two rounds because now we’re getting closer and I think we still have a good chance to do it.”
Another Dutch hero was Gademan, whose weekend was a flurry of emotions: "We’ve been waiting for this one a long time.
“Obviously, Race 1 in Shanghai with the technical issues. This should have been our third win already!
“I’m super happy now to take it at my home race, it’s really special. Then to see so many fans in the stands is so nice and then [for them] to cheer me on as well on the podium. They were almost constantly cheering me on the whole time, it’s just fantastic.”
Championship Standings After Zandvoort
Drivers’ Championship
Doriane Pin — 127
Maya Weug — 107
Chloe Chambers — 93
Ella Lloyd — 84
Alisha Palmowski — 73
Teams’ Championship
PREMA Racing — 224
Campos Racing — 179
MP Motorsport — 159
Rodin Motorsport — 118
ART Grand Prix — 28
Hitech TGR — 12
Up Next
F1 Academy will head to Singapore in a month's time to kick off the penultimate round of the season at the challenging street circuit, where the battle for the F1 Academy championships will continue from 3rd to 5th October.
