Ella Lloyd claimed a remarkable maiden victory at the F1 ACADEMY in Jeddah, securing the lead from her teammate Emma Felbermayr at the very first corner and winning Race 1. Despite a tantalising Safety Car restart and intense pressure from Ferrari’s Maya Weug, the McLaren driver held on to first position until the chequered flag. This marked her first win in the series, as Weug made a daring attempt to overtake her right at the end, but Alisha Palmowski secured the podium spot.
Although Felbermayr started from reverse grid pole, Lloyd had the better launch at the lights out, swiftly taking the lead and establishing a substantial gap over her Rodin teammate. Palmowski also had an impressive start, charging through to break into the top three and survive a challenge from Alba Larsen before skillfully securing P2 from Felbermayr.
Throughout the opening laps, the drivers engaged in a fierce battle for position across the field. Mercedes’ Doriane Pin found herself in an intense confrontation with Tina Hausmann, while Weug improved to P3 just ahead.
Unfortunately, disaster struck for Lia Block, who failed to qualify for the second round in a row. In Shanghai, an incident during Free Practice prevented her from participating in Qualifying, and here in Jeddah, she crashed out of yesterday’s session.
While striving to advance in the order, Block was rear-ended by Haas driver Courtney Crone, causing her car to spin and face the wrong direction on the track. Despite regaining control, Chloe Chong’s car sustained damage as she attempted to avoid the incident.
The ensuing chaos prompted the Safety Car to neutralise the pack, putting Lloyd under pressure to execute a flawless restart. As the race progressed, the McLaren driver maintained her position, gradually building a 0.8-second lead over Palmowski.
Meanwhile, Felbermayr faced another setback, dropping two positions to Pin and Hausmann. The Mercedes driver, who held the Drivers’ Standings lead, set out to pursue Larsen in P4. The two drivers engaged in a fierce battle around the circuit until Pin finally secured the position with a remarkable overtake on the inside on Lap 9.
On the subsequent lap, a series of penalties were imposed. Farah AlYousef, the Wild Card driver, received a five-second penalty for a false start, while Courtney Crone was penalised 10 seconds for causing a collision with Block. The 24-year-old driver subsequently became the second retirement of the day, joining Chong in the pits.
As Race 1 drew to a close, there was no time for respite. On Lap 12 of 13, Ferrari driver Weug executed a skillful manoeuvre to snatch P2 from Palmowski, leaving the latter vulnerable to Pin’s pursuit.
Despite Lloyd’s earlier dominance, Weug managed to catch up to her just half a second behind on the final lap. As the two racers engaged in a thrilling drag race towards the chequered flag, the gap between them was just one-tenth of a second. However, Lloyd displayed remarkable skill and determination, securing her first victory in the series.
Weug, on the other hand, secured her 11th podium finish. Palmowski narrowly managed to keep Pin at bay, securing the final podium position. This achievement continues Pin’s impressive streak of consistently finishing in the top five.
In the lower ranks, Larsen secured a fifth-place finish, ahead of Hausmann. Chloe Chambers made progress, improving her position by one spot to seventh place. Nina Gademan, who is still recovering from an injury sustained during in-season testing, secured the final point in eighth place.
Looking ahead, Chloe Chambers will be aiming for victory as she starts from pole position in Race 2. The race is scheduled to commence at 15:05 local time on Sunday (UTC+3).