Maya Weug: the dark horse in this intense championship battle
The 2024 F1 Academy is heating up between Rodin’s Abbi Pulling and Prema’ Doriane Pin as the pair are separated by only 23 points heading into the third round of the season. Both have each had a turn to showcase their ability with Pin dominating the Saudi Arabian GP and Pulling in the Miami GP. However, while fans eagerly await to see who will take the throne, there’s one driver people should watch for - Maya Weug.
Who is Maya Weug?
Source: f1academy.com
Maya Weug is a Dutch-Belgian driver who began her single-seater career in the 2021, racing in Italian F4. That same the 19-year-old made history by becoming the first ever female to join the prestigious Ferrari Driver Academy that has groomed the likes of Charles Leclerc, Jules Bianchi, Lance Stroll, and Sergio Perez. Weug joined following a competition known as ‘Girls on Track - Rising Stars’ where she beat out Pin, Julia Ayoub, and Antonella Bassani.
Weug joined the 2024 F1 Academy season with Prema Racing and is representing Scuderia Ferrari.
2024 F1 Academy season
Weug was partnered alongside Pin and Tina Hausmann to represent Prema Racing. Even before lights out, all eyes were on Pin following her success earlier in the year with one win and pole position in the F4 UAE Championship where she finished 10th. Meanwhile, Weug had just completed her 2023 FRECA Championship where she finished 17th with 27 points under her belt.
Although Pin put herself on pole for both races, Weug wasn’t far behind in P3, only 0.273 seconds behind Pulling in P2. Weug managed to hold off Nerea Marti’s Campos to finish P3 in Race 1 and P2 in Race 2 following Pin’s penalty and left the weekend P2 in the standings 11 points behind Pulling. .
Entering the second round in Miami with only a single point between the Prema pair, Weug was determined to extend that gap but fell short after qualifying P5 for Race 1 and P6 for Race with Pin in P2 and P3. Although the Ferrari driver managed to improve her position to P3, a five-second time penalty for leaving the track during her battle with Haas’ Chloe Chambers left the American smiling ear-to-ear after collecting her first podium in her home race. However, Weug still left the weekend with decent points and now sits third in the championship only 14 points behind her teammate and 48 behind leader Pulling.
A 48 point difference seems a lot for the Belgian to chase, but there are still 5 rounds left to go and 10 races before someone will be crowned. Can Weug put herself in contention or is the championship battle already decided? Will Weug and Pin keep themselves out of trouble for the remainder of the season or will we get a Rosberg-Hamilton situation brewing as they battle for P2?
Third round of the 2024 season kicks off in Barcelona on the 22nd July.
