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Mercedes-Backed Doriane Pin Secures F1 Academy Title In Las Vegas Thriller

French driver Pin won the third F1 Academy season, holding off Maya Weug in Las Vegas.
Ewan Gale|
F1 Academy

Chloe Chambers dominated the final race of the Formula 1 Academy season in Las Vegas as Mercedes-backed Doriane Pin wrapped up the drivers' title.

French driver Pin scored points in every race of the season en route to victory, and despite finishing behind main title rival Maya Weug on Saturday, her win in race one meant she confirmed the crown with fifth.

Chambers led home Alisha Palmowski and Weug for the final podium of the campaign, the American triumphing in her final race in the series.

Friday rain chaos forgotten with stunning Race two

Pin entered the second race of the weekend in a strong position after winning the opening race in the wet on Friday, with Weug crashing out at the end of the formation lap in a bizarre incident with Tina Hausmann.

Left with nothing to lose in her quest for the champion, Weug went on the offensive early and narrowly avoided contact with Pin in Turn 1 on lap two.

Chambers had made the most of pole position to lead Palmowski and Alba Larsen early on in a much cleaner start to proceedings than in the wet less than 24 hours earlier.

But the safety car was deployed on lap three when Joanne Ciconte and Payton Westcott came to grief at Turn 5, with wildcard entry Westcott sustaining heavy damage after contact with the barriers.

When the race restarted on lap six, Pin made a stunning move late on the brakes into Turn 5 to get into the podium positions at Larsen's expense, with Weug following suit a corner later.

Chambers commanded from the front, with Palmowski forced to look in her mirrors as Pin and Weug behind traded fastest laps.

Chloe Chambers, Red Bull-Ford, F1 Academy
F1 Academy

Pin went for a move on Palmowski into Turn 1 at the start of lap 10, but as the Red Bull-backed driver defended to the inside, Weug pounced around the outside to take the high ground for Turn 3 and take third.

Weug's strong pace continued as she attacked the back of Palmowski into Turn 14, though second position was well defended.

The best was yet to come as Ferrari-backed Weug went all the way around the outside at Turn 14 at the end of lap 11 to take second. But a mistake at Turn 1 let Palmowski back through and, in the aftermath, Larsen managed to pick up the pieces to get back ahead of Pin for fourth.

It all meant that Chambers was left alone at the front to take a victory in her final race in the series, ahead of Palmowski, who made up for her disqualification from third in race one.

Weug rounded out the season with third from Larsen and Pin, who confirmed her championship title - greeted by Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff and race drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, as well as F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.

Ella Lloyd made a stellar move on Nina Gademan late in the race to finish sixth and finish as the highest-placed rookie in the drivers' standings, while Hausmann was eighth.

Rafaela Ferreira and Aurelia Nobles rounded out the top 10.

F1 Academy Las Vegas: Race 2 results

Position

Driver / Team

1

Chloe Chambers / Red Bull-Ford-Campos

2

Alisha Palmowski / Red Bull-Campos

3

Maya Weug / Ferrari-MP

4

Alba Larsen / Hilfiger-MP

5

Doriane Pin / Mercedes-Prema

6

Ella Lloyd / McLaren-Rodin

7

Nina Gademan / Alpine-Prema

8

Tina Hausmann / Aston Martin

9

Rafaela Ferreira / Racing Bulls-Campos

10

Aurelia Nobles / PUMA-ART

11

Lia Block / Williams - ART

12

Emma Felbermayr / Sauber-Rodin

13

Courtney Crone / Haas-ART

14

Rachel Robertson / TAG Heuer-Hitech

15

Nicole Havrda / American Express-Hitech

16

Chloe Chong / Charlotte Tilbury-Rodin

17

Payton Westcott / Wildcard-Hitech

18

Joanne Ciconte / Wella-MP

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Ewan Gale
EWAN GALE

Ewan is a motorsport journalist covering F1 for Grand Prix On SI. Having been educated at Silverstone, the home of the British Grand Prix, and subsequently graduating from university with a sports journalism degree, Ewan made a move into F1 in 2021. Ewan joins after a stint with Autosport as an editor, having written for a number of outlets including RacingNews365 and GPFans, during which time he has covered grand prix and car launches as an accredited member of the media.

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