PREMA Racing claimed a podium finish in tricky conditions as the F1 Academy series got its weekend completed at Marina Bay in Singapore. Mercedes-AMG F1 Team junior Doriane Pin ended up second in Race 1 to retain her championship lead heading into the Las Vegas finale.
Starting from P7 of the reverse grid, the Frenchwoman took a top-5 finish in Race 1. Then on Race 2, she cruised to the lead from P2 of the grid and dominated much of Sunday's race. A late rainfall and safety car saw the frontrunners have to restart on slick tyres, and Pin dropped back one spot, finishing second. She still holds a nine-point advantage at the top of the series table.
Nina Gademan delivered a great run in Race 2 to finish in sixth with a clean recovery after securing one point in Race 1. She was among those who switched to wet tyres in the final stages of the weekend. Unfortunately, Tina Hausmann had a challenging weekend, ending up with a top-10 finish in Race 1 as her best result.
The points-scoring finishes achieved at the Singapore Grand Prix enabled PREMA Racing to inch closer to the Team Championship with one round to go.
#3 Nina Gademan
“We had quite a good run in free practice, getting to know the track and making some setup changes. In, the first run felt really good, and we were in the top-6. Then in the second run, which we didn't have enough laps in, compromised the qualy. We started from P11 in both races, but we had strong recovery drives, going from P11 to P8 in Race 1, and then from P11 to P6 in Race 2 with nice overtakes. We scored valuable points, and we are aiming for P5 in the championship in Las Vegas.”
Qualifying: P11 Fastest lap: 2:04.917
Starting position Race 1: P11 Race 1: P8
Starting position Race 2: P11 Race 2: P6
#28 Doriane Pin
"Challenging weekend in Singapore. We started well as it was very close and competitive. Race 1 was a bit of a disappointment because the pace was not as good as we expected. We didn't gain many positions and finished in P5. Race 2 was the main focus of the weekend, starting from P2. We knew we had to give everything we had in the first corner with a good start, and we did it. We showed that we were the fastest and we led the race until the safety car with a great pace. Then we had one last lap, and I guess it was not perfectly managed on my side. We didn't keep the position, and it's quite disappointed although we got P2 and we are still leading the championship. We will do our best in Las Vegas, on a track that none of us knows. I'm sure we can make a difference there."
Qualifying: P2 Fastest lap: 2:03.495
Starting position Race 1: P7 Race 1: P5
Starting position Race 2: P2 Race 2: P2
#78 Tina Hausmann
“I was super excited to come to Singapore, also because our sim preparation had gone really well, and I knew the track from last year. We had high expectations, but things didn’t go well on Friday with some brake issues. I didn’t feel confident enough to go for good lap times. That put us in a tough position for both races, but we tried to do our best with what we had. We tried not to take too much risk and move forward, which worked out pretty well in Race 1. In Race 2, I had the best start of my life, but I got squeezed by another driver. I had to avoid hitting the wall and lost all the positions. We showed great overtaking on some very good drivers, and I think we can be happy about that, take the positives and move forward."
Qualifying: P10 Fastest lap: 2:05.186
Starting position Race 1: P10 Race 1: P10
Starting position Race 2: P10 Race 2: P14