F1 ACADEMY: Gademan storms to maiden victory ahead of Block and Weug in Zandvoort Race 1

Everything seemed to fall into place for Alpine’s Nina Gademan as she led every lap of her home race to take her first victory in F1 ACADEMY, beating Lia Block and Maya Weug to the chequered flag.

The reverse polesitter executed a perfect start at lights out, charging away from second-placed Tina Hausmann and Williams’ Block to establish a strong gap to the rest of the field. From there, she never faced any close challenge for her lead and secured her best result of the season on her 22nd birthday.

There were plenty of battles further down the order, starting with Red Bull Ford’s Chloe Chambers and Mercedes driver Doriane Pin fighting for position. The American driver claimed that she was forced wide, resulting in her dropping multiple places on the opening lap.

Disaster then struck for Aston Martin-backed driver Hausmann, who clattered through a board and found the barrier, bringing out the Safety Car whilst the debris was cleared from the track.

Although the pack was neutralised, Gademan controlled the restart well to maintain her lead, but a mistake from Pin saw her lose out to McLaren’s Ella Lloyd and series contender Weug, who quickly gained another position from the Welsh driver and sought to challenge Block for second place.

She was ultimately unable to get close enough on the final lap and settled for the final podium spot, with Lloyd crossing the line in fourth place ahead of Chambers and Pin. Red Bull Racing’s Alisha Palmowski took seventh place, and Kick Sauber’s Emma Felbermayr claimed the last available point in P8.

Weug will target another strong performance in Race 2, which is set to get underway at 1040 local time on Sunday. You can read an in-depth report of Race 1 in Zandvoort, as well as post-race reactions, on the F1 ACADEMY website.