F1 Academy: Weug looking to extend lead in Miami

Maya is on a roll. Aurelia looking for first points of the season.

It’s time for the third round of the F1 Academy season this weekend at the Miami International Autodrome. Thanks to victory at the previous round in Jeddah, Maya Weug heads the standings, clearly in great form since the start of the season. Of the four races run to date, the 20 year old Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy student has one win, two second places and a third to her name and she also claimed pole position in the opening round in Shanghai. On 59 points, she is seven ahead of Dorian Pin. 

A known factor. As was the case in Jeddah, the Miami track won’t be a step into the unknown for either Maya or Aurelia Nobels. “It’s a nice circuit and last year it was a pleasant surprise,” said Weug. “One of the best things about it is that you can overtake, which means qualifying is less crucial and I really like the second sector. Having learned the track last year, we will now be able to focus on fine tuning the car during free practice.”

Momentum. So far so good for Weug. “We head into this round off the back of a positive start at the first two rounds of the season,” added Maya. “But we know that we still have plenty of work to do to achieve what we want come the end of the championship and now we are taking it one race at a time.”

Chasing points. This will also be a special weekend for Nobels. She was out of luck in Shanghai before finishing 10th in the first race in Jeddah and 11th in the second. So for now, her goal is to get some points in the bag. “We have to put everything together,” she admitted. “So far, there have been quite a few setbacks, but we have everything we need to finish in the top ten on a regular basis.”

Programme. Miami action starts on Friday with two free practice sessions at 10.05 and 15.20 local (16.05 and 21.20 CEST). Saturday sees 30 minutes of qualifying at 10.25 (16.25 CEST) with the first race at 14.55 (20.55 CEST). The top eight places on the grid feature the fastest eight qualifiers in reverse order. The winner takes 10 points, with second down to eighth scored 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2,1, with an additional point for the fastest race lap. The main race gets underway on Sunday at 13.05 (19.05 CEST) with full points awarded.