F1 Academy: Abbi Pulling claims win and third place in Zandvoort to extend lead over Doriane Pin at top of standings | F1 News

Britain’s Abbi Pulling extended her lead at the top of the F1 Academy standings by taking a victory and a third place in Zandvoort.

The first race had originally been scheduled for Saturday evening, but torrential rain saw it postponed, meaning both of the series’ races took place just a couple of hours apart on Sunday morning.

Pulling won Race 1 before her nearest title challenger, Doriane Pin, triumphed in Race 2. Pulling finished third in the second race whereas Pin could only manage fifth in the first, meaning the Brit extended her advantage to 71 points.

Alpine’s Pulling, the pole-sitter for Race 1, got off the line strongly and cruised to victory to make it five victories in the first seven races of the season.

Mercedes junior driver Pin started from second and finished in that position on the track but was demoted to fifth after a five-second penalty was applied for a false start.

Nerea Marti took second with Maya Weug completing the podium, while Nina Gademan became the first Wild Card driver to secure a points finish by taking fourth.

Pin was on pole for Race 2, and this time got away from the grid legally to retain the lead.

Pulling, starting from second, had a poor launch and was easily overtaken by Weug.

The Brit applied heavy pressure to Weug, particularly during the middle phase of the race, but was unable to get past the Ferrari driver.

Gademan once more finished fourth on track, but was demoted to 10th after receiving a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Aurelia Nobels as she passed her on lap 9.

Pulling said: “We all saw what happened at the start, it was a bit disappointing. But at the end of the day P3 is still great points. We’ve extended the gap still this weekend.

“I think I was probably the fastest car out on track, it just was a matter of not getting off the line. We had so much pace following Maya really close but it’s a hard track to overtake on.”

Pin’s victory was her first since the opening race of the season, with the weekend marking a return to form for the French driver after she struggled with a rib injury last time out in Barcelona.

The fifth of the seven-round season takes place in Singapore from September 20-22.

Sky Sports F1’s live Dutch GP schedule

Sunday August 25
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Dutch GP build-up
2pm: The DUTCH GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Dutch GP reaction

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