F1 ACADEMY: Chambers beats Pin under the floodlights in Jeddah for first pole position

Red Bull Ford’s Chloe Chambers fought hard to bring home her first pole position in F1 ACADEMY, logging a 2m 04.320s lap to deny Doriane Pin the top spot by two tenths.

Trading fastest efforts with the Mercedes driver and her Campos Racing teammate Alisha Palmowski, Chambers seized the top spot with three minutes to go to achieve the Spanish team’s first pole position since Round 2 of the 2023 season in Valencia.

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Running was halted during the first seven minutes, as Williams’ Lia Block brought out the red flags after hitting the barrier at the final corner.

Chambers was the first driver to break into the 2:04s in the latter stages, before stamping her mark with a 0.496s advantage with three minutes remaining. Pin did close the gap down to two tenths but had to settle for second, with Maya Weug jumping back into the top-three on her final attempt.

Rookies Palmowski and Alba Larsen completed the top-five ahead of Aston Martin’s Tina Hausmann. Ella Lloyd managed to secure seventh at the chequered flag ahead of Rodin Motorsport teammate Emma Felbermayr. Nina Gademan was ninth and Chloe Chong rounded out the top-10.

Kick Sauber’s Felbermayr will start her second F1 ACADEMY weekend from reverse pole for Race 1, with Saturday’s race starting at 15:20 local time (UTC+3).

READ MORE: Pin singles out her priority in Jeddah as she aims to recreate 2024 winning form