Maya Weug entered the 2024 F1 Academy season as a title favorite but had yet to stand on the top step before winning the final race of the season on Sunday. Afterwards, Weug spoke to Feeder Series in the Yas Marina paddock about how she secured her first single-seater victory. 

By Calla Kra-Caskey

After a strong 2023 season in FRegional Europe in which she finished as the series’ third-best rookie, Weug has had a more challenging 2024 in F1 Academy on her return to F4 machinery.

In the first 11 races, the Ferrari-backed Prema Racing driver had taken seven podiums, including five consecutively since her home round in the Netherlands. Despite her podium streak and a strong showing in Qatar, she started the final round in Abu Dhabi on the back foot. She struggled in practice, ending up 14th on the time sheets and 1.498 seconds off pacesetter Chloe Chambers of Campos.

In qualifying, which this weekend set the grid for three rather than two races, Prema gambled by opting to use only one set of tyres for Weug and Pin. At the time, the move seemed to backfire; Weug’s qualifying times put her only seventh for the first race and sixth for the other two, while Pin managed two fifths and one third. 

Having fresh tyres for the races, however, helped set up Weug’s later success, she explained. 

“The team did a good job with the tyre allocation,” Weug told Feeder Series after race three. “We only did one run in quali, which probably compromised us a bit for the quali performance, but in the races we had better tyres.” 

Weug spent most of the first two races battling with Campos’ Nerea Martí. In the first race, Martí overtook her on the opening lap, shortly before race leader Chambers spun. Despite showing greater pace and even pulling alongside Martí several times, Weug could not repass her, coming home seventh.

In the second race, Weug started behind Martí. On lap 10 at Turn 5, she managed to pull off the pass that had evaded her earlier in the day, meaning she crossed the line fifth. 

In the third race, Weug launched from sixth on the grid. Thanks to good start and a first-corner collision between Pin and Chambers, she finished the first lap in third.

On the second lap, she passed Hamda Al Qubaisi for second at Turn 6, leaving only 2024 champion Abbi Pulling ahead of her. 

Three laps later, Weug tried a similar move on Pulling as the one she used to pass Al Qubaisi, but Pulling cut the chicane and remained ahead as Weug ran wide at Turn 7. A lap later, as the pack closed up behind her, Weug managed to make the overtake stick into Turn 7. It was the only overtake for the lead past the first lap this season.

“I just knew I had to make the move as soon as possible,” Weug explained. “The pack was coming and Abbi was struggling a bit today. It was just tough to overtake here. She was defending very well. I was just trying to put her under pressure and force the mistakes, but then I just had to send it into T6 and T7.” 

“[I] didn’t manage it the first time. The second time I even had Hamda on the outside and they both outbraked themselves quite a bit, and then I managed to overtake on the outside into Turn 7.

“After that, I still had to defined into Turn 9. It was quite tight, but as soon as I got the gap behind, I could just pull away and it felt really good.”

And pull away she did – before a safety car deployment on lap 12 of 14, Weug had gained more than 10 seconds on Pulling and the rest of the field. She remained calm after a last-lap restart to seal victory by 2.542 seconds. 

“It was a long time coming,” Weug said. “I didn’t expect to get [a win] today, but it was a great race, very hard fought, and to get it in the end was really good.”

Weug’s victory also helped seal a second consecutive teams’ title for Prema, who defeated Rodin Motorsport by 30 points.

Prema led Rodin by only 28 points going into the final round. Though Pulling was the only Rodin to score points in the first two Abu Dhabi races, she outscored Weug and Pin combined with both of her wins and her triple pole, reducing the points difference to 16.

Pin’s collision with Chambers knocked her out of contention for victory and put Prema’s teams championship hopes at risk. 

Nevertheless, Weug’s overtake on Pulling helped seal Prema’s second consecutive team championship, while solid points for Tina Hausmann in fourth and a recovering Pin in fifth confirmed it. 

There is no indication yet of where Weug will race next year, but it seems increasingly likely that all of F1 Academy’s first-year drivers will return. If that is the case, Weug’s victory strengthens her claim to being a title challenger. She finished the 2024 season third in the standings on 177 points.

“It feels good to be able to go into the winter break with a win,” she said, “and come back stronger next year.” 

Interview by Michael McClure

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency