Doriane Pin left Montreal with momentum on her side, turning a moment of chaos into championship control in Race 1 — before Emma Felbermayr returned with a vengeance in Race 2 to take her first win on a weekend that refused to follow any script.
Race 1: Pin capitalises as Red Bull duo implode
When the lights went out in Race 1, Chloe Chambers led the field cleanly into Turn 1, fending off Alisha Palmowski who had slotted in behind. Doriane Pin sat just behind, watching it all unfold — and before long, she had the perfect opportunity.
Palmowski, perhaps sensing a narrow window to overtake her teammate, went for a move that didn’t stick. Locking up on the inside, she slid into Chambers, triggering a sequence of collisions. The Red Bull Ford driver spun, Chambers’ front wing was damaged, and suddenly the polesitter was limping back to the pits.
Pin navigated through the mess with surgical precision. She briefly relinquished the lead when Chambers retook it — incredibly — before her damaged front wing gave way entirely. The Black and Orange Flag left no choice but to pit, and from there, Pin was in clean air.
Ella Lloyd, who had started seventh, was suddenly running second. Behind her, Emma Felbermayr found herself in podium territory for the first time, scrapping with Nina Gademan as the trio settled into a rhythm.
Midfield action kept things lively. Maya Weug struggled with a recurring issue on her Ferrari, visiting the pits more than once. Palmowski mounted a gritty comeback drive, dicing with Chloe Chong in a fierce battle over the final points. The two went back and forth — Palmowski lunged at the hairpin, Chong bit back with the slipstream, but it was a mistake at the final chicane that ultimately let the Red Bull driver back through.
Then came a twist — Matilda Paatz brushed the wall and brought out the Safety Car. Pin’s 1.8s lead vanished. Still, she judged the restart masterfully. Lloyd, caught off guard, couldn’t respond in time, and Felbermayr had no room to attack either. The pack barely had time to settle before another incident — Ciconte spinning Crone at the hairpin — led to a second neutralisation.
The race finished behind the Safety Car. Pin crossed the line first. Lloyd followed. Felbermayr, provisionally third, looked to have secured her first podium — until post-race scrutineering found her car under the minimum weight limit by less than half a kilogram. The heartbreak was swift. Gademan inherited P3.
Race 2: Redemption and resilience from Felbermayr
If Race 1 had been a story of opportunity, Race 2 became a tale of redemption. Kicked down the order by disqualification, Emma Felbermayr came back hours later with a vengeance — and this time, she wouldn’t be denied.
With the reverse grid putting Chloe Chong on pole, the start was always going to be frantic. Nina Gademan, sharp off the line, found a gap and took it. She grabbed the lead at the end of the first lap, bringing Lloyd and Felbermayr with her. Chong quickly faded.
On Lap 2, Felbermayr made her first statement — slipstreaming past Lloyd to move into second. Behind them, chaos brewed again. Chambers attempted a bold lunge on Pin into Turn 2 but lost control and spun across the run-off, dropping to P14. Up front, Gademan began to build a margin.
Pin and Lloyd reignited their scrap from earlier in the day. The pair went side by side into the final chicane — both missed the corner, and although Pin exited ahead, she was told over team radio to give the place back. While they argued positions, Alba Larsen quietly slipped into the mix, passing Palmowski and later pressing Pin herself.
Meanwhile, Weug muscled her way past Nobels, only for the PUMA driver to fight back. The two clashed wheels into the final corner — a close call that let Lia Block pounce into the points.
Out front, Gademan was putting together her best race yet. But the pressure was rising. A black and white flag for track limits loomed large. Felbermayr continued to reel her in — the gap shrinking with every lap.
Then came the curveball: teammates Nicole Havrda and Aiva Anagnostiadis collided, bringing out a Safety Car with just two laps to go.
What followed was a masterclass in timing. Gademan went early on the restart, but Felbermayr read it perfectly. At Turn 9, the Austrian committed. Lloyd followed her through at the hairpin. Within two corners, the leader had been shuffled to third.
Behind them, Pin saw her moment to get back at Larsen, reclaiming fourth before the final chicane.
Felbermayr crossed the line first, bouncing over the kerbs and hanging on to what she’d lost earlier in the day. Lloyd secured her second P2 finish of the weekend. Gademan, though visibly disappointed, still earned her second straight podium.
Post-race penalties and fallout
Felbermayr’s earlier disqualification came down to weight — her car tipped the scales at 602.6kg, just under the legal 603kg minimum. It was a technical heartbreak rather than a performance flaw.
Palmowski didn’t escape scrutiny either. Her Race 1 lunge on Chambers was deemed reckless, earning her a 10-second time penalty that dropped her outside the points.
Meanwhile, Rafaela Ferreira picked up a five-place grid drop for causing a collision with Chong after rejoining unsafely in Race 1 — both drivers were forced to retire.
After a double-header filled with what-ifs and second chances, the standings have taken a new shape. Pin walks away with a 24-point lead, but Lloyd’s consistency and Felbermayr’s resilience have made it clear — this championship is far from over.
If Montreal was any indication, the rest of the season won’t lack for twists and with one more race to come this weekend and news announced that F1 ACADEMY will continue to race at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve until 2028, inclusive, following a three-year extension to the existing agreement, there is plenty of action to come.
What’s Next?
Chambers will line up on pole for the third and final 17-lap race on Sunday. Lights go out for Race 3 at 10:55 local time (UTC -4).