Bizarre twist means Pulling has to clinch 2024 F1 Academy title again

A bizarre set of circumstances means Abbi Pulling hasn’t quite mathematically claimed the 2024 F1 Academy title yet despite initially sealing the championship last weekend in Qatar.

Having won seven of the first 10 races, Pulling had a chance to claim the title in the first Qatar race if she finished directly behind title rival Doriane Pin.

Pulling did finish second to Pin meaning she had an 83-point lead with 82 points on the table, mathematically sealing the title before Sunday’s race two.

Pulling celebrated her title victory in parc ferme in Qatar with her Rodin team and the Alpine F1 academy that backs her. 

But just before the scheduled second race on Sunday, a crash in fellow F1 support category Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East caused substantial damage to the barriers. 

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Extensive repairs were needed and on a packed Qatar GP schedule, there was no room for the race to be rescheduled on that weekend despite the best efforts of the series.

Driver development is one of F1 Academy’s primary objectives with plentiful track time a key cornerstone of the series - in 2025 there’s a comprehensive 15 days of testing alongside the 14-race calendar - so the cancelled Qatar race two was rescheduled as a new third race for this weekend’s Abu Dhabi finale.

Adding that extra race ensures there’s plenty of track time over the Abu Dhabi weekend with numerous championship fights still to be decided up and down the field.

The third-best times from qualifying will set the grid for that third race and two bonus points for pole will be awarded, as standard, as well as an extra point for the fastest lap.

That means the total available points from Abu Dhabi is now 84. That's possible by scoring 75 for three wins, six points for three pole positions and three points for three fastest laps - one more than Pulling’s current 83-point lead.

It technically means Pulling is no longer officially the champion, although to overhaul Pulling, Pin would need a clean sweep of all three race wins, pole positions and fastest laps.

Pin would also need Pulling not to score a single point all weekend when the Alpine-backed driver is yet to finish off the podium this season.

Pulling will have her first chance to re-seal the championship in qualifying as Pin will need to secure all three poles (and the six bonus points that come with it) to stop Pulling mathematically claiming the crown again.

The fact this ‘reopens’ the title battle is just a bizarre, unavoidable consequence that’s necessary to ensure there’s a 14th race of the season.

Pulling’s successor?

An incredibly likely Pulling championship win will earn her the 2024 F1 Academy prize of a fully-funded step up to GB3 in 2025.

On the eve of the Abu Dhabi finale, Alpine has announced Nina Gademan (pictured above) will represent the brand in F1 Academy next season.

Gademan impressed during her wildcard outing at Zandvoort earlier this year, finishing fourth on her F1 Academy debut.

She made her full-time single seater debut in Britsh F4 this year and will compete in the F4-based Formula Winter Series with races across Spain and Portugal before her 2025 F1 Academy campaign.

F1 Academy will head to Shanghai, Jeddah, Miami, Montreal, Zandvoort, Singapore and Las Vegas next year.

Ella Lloyd, who tested with McLaren in Formula E’s recent all-female test and was an F1 Academy wildcard in Singapore, will compete with Rodin next year with backing from McLaren while Courtney Crone, a wildcard in Miami, will represent Haas at ART Grand Prix.

RB has already announced it will be supporting two-time Brazilian Formula 4 winner Rafaela Ferreira while Kevin Magnussen mentoree Alba Hurup Larsen has also been confirmed for 2025.

Elsewhere, Mercedes junior Luna Fluxa became the champions of the future academy title winner in F1 Academy's latest discover your drive karting event.