MELBOURNE: Max Verstappen not surprisingly clinched pole position for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix. More surprising was record eight-time Australian pole winner Lewis Hamilton not making it into the final round of qualifying on Saturday.
Verstappen, who has won both races to start the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, with his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez second both times, will start in the front row for Sunday’s 58-lap race on the temporary Albert Park street circuit.
It was the 35th pole of Verstappen’s F1 career.
Carlos Sainz, returning from appendix surgery ahead of the last race in Saudi Arabia, was second-fastest, followed by Perez in third.
“It was a bit unexpected but I’m very happy,” Verstappen said. “It’s been a bit of a tricky weekend so far. (Ferrari) seem very quick, so it’s a bit of a question mark for tomorrow.”
“Even throughout qualifying, Q1, Q2, I didn’t really feel like (I was) fighting for pole. Then we made some little tickles on the car and that seemed to help me in Q3 to really push it to the limit; both of my laps I was quite happy with it.”
The biggest surprise of the day was Mercedes driver Hamilton. He failed to advance from the second qualifying session, finishing 11th. It was his worst qualifying position at the Australian Grand Prix since 2010.
“The inconsistency within the car — it really messes with the mind,” the seven-time world champion said, citing the afternoon wind as a problem.
“Our car is on a bit of a knife edge. When the wind picks up the car becomes a lot more unstable. But the others seem to (be able to) pick their pace up in qualifying, I’m not sure why. It’s not a great feeling for everyone in the team, but we’ll just keep working away.”
Ferrari’s performance here could have been compromised after Sainz declared he was ready to return to the cockpit, but not feeling 100 percent after surgery for appendicitis ahead of the last race in Saudi Arabia.
But the Spanish driver, who is out of contract at the end of the season, rebounded from a hospital bed a few weeks ago to the front row of the grid in Australia this weekend.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks, so to make it to this weekend I’m very happy,” Sainz said. “I was a bit rusty at the beginning but I got up to speed and I’m feeling good in the car.”
Sainz said he was still feeling the effects of the surgery.
“I am not going to lie, I am not in my most comfortable state, but i can get it done,” he said. “Obviously, a lot of discomfort and weird feelings, but no pain, so it allows me to push.”
Australian Daniel Ricciardo was eliminated in the first qualifying session for the first time at Albert Park after his fastest lap was deleted by stewards. Ricciardo surged into the top-10 near the end of the session and seemed certain to continue his impressive record of never qualifying lower than 15th in Melbourne.
But the 34-year-old Ricciardo was deemed to have exceeded track limits and was pushed back to start from 18th place in his first GP on home soil since 2022.
Alex Albon qualified 12th, repaying some of the faith shown from Williams after the British-born Thai driver sat in teammate Logan Sargeant’s car. Albon’s vehicle sustained extensive damage after he crashed into a wall during practice on Friday, with American driver Sargeant stepping aside for the rest of the weekend.
It was already an eventful week ahead of Saturday’s qualifying. FIA’s Ethics Committee had cleared its president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, from “interference of any kind” at two F1 events last year was followed quickly by a social media post from Susie Wolff, who is director of the all-female series F1 Academy and also married to Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff, announcing that she had filed a criminal complaint in the French courts against the sport’s governing body for statements made about her in December.
It was all against the backdrop of ongoing furor surrounding Red Bull Racing and its team principal Christian Horner.
Verstappen takes pole position for F1 Australian GP, resurgent Carlos Sainz also in front row
https://arab.news/vgqhu
Verstappen takes pole position for F1 Australian GP, resurgent Carlos Sainz also in front row
- Verstappen will start in the front row for Sunday’s 58-lap race on the temporary Albert Park street circuit
- Carlos Sainz, returning from appendix surgery ahead of the last race in Saudi Arabia, was second-fastest, followed by Perez in third
F1 Academy ‘wild card’ entry for Saudi driver Farah Al-Yousef in Jeddah next year
- The all-female event is a support race at the 2025 Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in April
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabian racing driver Farah Al-Yousef will take to the same track as stars such as Max Verstappen, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton when the Formula 1 World Championship returns to Jeddah next year.
The 22-year-old from Riyadh has been selected as the “wild card” entry in the F1 Academy support race during the 2025 Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, which will take place at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit from April 18-20.
Al-Yousef will compete in the all-female F1 Academy races against experienced drivers from countries around the world.
She recently qualified for the Formula Woman World Qualifiers in Dubai, where 50 women from 26 countries competed to qualify for the FW Nations Cup Festival. The event is scheduled to take place in the emirate shortly after the 2025 Saudi Arabian F1 Grand Prix.
Having studied aerospace engineering in the UK, Al-Yousef now plans to focus on her motorsport career. Over the next few months she will test and race behind the wheel of a Formula 4 single-seater car, the same type she will drive in April’s race.
“I’m delighted and so proud to represent my country as the wild card entry for the GP and be the only Saudi Arabia entry for both the GP and the FW Nations Cup,” she said.
“I am so grateful to Saudi Motorsport for assisting me with their support and my training. I can’t wait to start testing again and look forward to having a look at the amazing Jeddah Corniche track.”
President Mohammed Ben Sulayem announces FIA’s return to profitability
- ‘Improvement in financial health due to significant reduction of operating costs through an increase in revenues and savings’
DUBAI: Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the FIA president, has lauded the organization’s return to profitability due to a significant reduction of operating costs driven by an increase in revenues and savings.
The Emirati former professional rally driver, who was appointed FIA president in December 2021, was speaking after financial results to date for 2024 were unveiled at World Council meetings during the FIA General Assemblies Week in Kigali, Rwanda.
The FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) is the governing body of motorsport, including Formula 1, and promotes safe, sustainable and accessible mobility for all road users across the world.
The FIA forecasts an operating result of $2.3 million (SR8.6 million) profit in 2024 — a remarkable improvement given that it stood at just over $25 million loss in 2021. The forecast operating result would be the best of the last seven years and the first positive one since 2018.
This accomplishment is the product of a wide-ranging reform of the FIA introduced by 63-year-old Dubai-born FIA President Ben Sulayem. This included a fully independent financial audit of the organization.
“This achievement is a result of our commitment of reform of the organization in the areas of governance and finance,” Ben Sulayem said.
“The new FIA leadership inherited a financial situation which was not sustainable in 2022. We have worked hard to reduce a sizeable deficit and have stabilized the overall financial health of the federation.
“We have implemented cost-containment measures and revenue-generating strategies to put the FIA on a more sustainable financial footing to meet our primary purpose of supporting our member clubs.”
Several measures have been introduced to streamline the FIA’s accounting and reporting procedures to create a sustainable financial model.
Ben Sulayem said that the future of motorsport was being “driven by innovation and purpose,” noting significant investment from the FIA across global grassroots activities alongside substantial research and development in the safety, volunteers and officials spaces.
The Vision 2030: FIA Motorsport Strategy, which provides a substantial platform for growth and further success, was also unveiled in Kigali during the FIA General Assemblies Week, with more details to be shared in 2025.
“This year has been a time of change and growth,” Ben Sulayem said. “We have built a stronger organization redefining our leadership with high-level appointments that bring a wealth of professional experience to the Federation.
“Together, we are forging the future of global motorsport and as we celebrate 120 years of the FIA, we honor the achievements of our past while propelling ourselves to a future driven by innovation and purpose.
“The FIA is on the right track. The 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season was record-breaking and highly competitive, and we continue our collaboration with Formula 1 and General Motors as we move toward an eleventh team on the grid from 2026.”
The 2024 F1 season concluded in dramatic style with the FIA Formula 1 Constructors’ World Championship being decided at the final race in Abu Dhabi earlier this month. McLaren claimed the honors in the UAE capital city, winning their first FIA Formula 1 Constructors’ World Championship in 26 years.
Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan reveals cancer diagnosis
- “Way back in March and April I was diagnosed with bladder and prostate cancer, and then it spread into the spine and the pelvis, so it was quite aggressive,” Jordan said
- “Some very dark days in there, but we pulled out of it, thankfully”
LONDON: Ex-Formula 1 team owner and media personality Eddie Jordan says he has been treated for “quite aggressive” cancer.
Speaking on the “Formula For Success” podcast which he hosts with former driver David Coulthard, Jordan said he was diagnosed this year and urged listeners to seek medical advice for any health concerns.
“Way back in March and April I was diagnosed with bladder and prostate cancer, and then it spread into the spine and the pelvis, so it was quite aggressive,” Jordan said.
In response to comments from Coulthard regarding chemotherapy, Jordan added: “Some very dark days in there, but we pulled out of it, thankfully.”
Irish businessman Jordan operated his own racing team in lower-level series before moving up to F1 in 1991, giving future seven-time champion Michael Schumacher his first race that year.
Other drivers over the years included Damon Hill, who won the 1996 championship with Williams, future Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who was third in the championship for Jordan in 1999.
Jordan Grand Prix won four races before Jordan sold the team in 2005. Following more sales and name changes since then, the team competes as Aston Martin.
The 76-year-old Jordan also acted as the manager for car design great Adrian Newey when he left Red Bull for Aston Martin this year.
F1 Academy winner Abbi Pulling excited about stepping up to GB3
- ‘It’s such a positive time to be a female in motorsport’
- Brit won record 9 races in the 2024 women-only series
ABU DHABI: In her own words, Abbi Pulling is “living the dream.”
The 21-year-old racing driver wrapped up her historic year on the track by clinching the F1 Academy championship last weekend at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit, where she won two of the three races, and was second in the third.
Overall, Pulling enjoyed a record nine race wins in the female-only series in 2024, along with 10 poles. The Rodin Motorsport driver made the podium in every single race throughout the season.
It was a remarkable step up for the Brit, who admittedly struggled in her first campaign in F1 Academy in 2023, where she went winless to finish fifth in the championship.
“The first year was super hard. The transition from last year to this year, I did a really big deliberate step in my mental attitude and it’s really made the difference this year,” Pulling told Arab News after securing the F1 Academy title.
“I wanted to step up this year and show that I am capable of what I’m capable of and that I can go on to do great things.
“I think this year I’ve done everything I could, at every point I’ve maximized — there was only one race, Zandvoort, where I finished P3. We were fast there but I made a mistake.
“It’s nice and satisfying to be able to come away from a season, knowing that I’ve done almost everything I could. That’s very special.”
What makes Pulling’s year even more special is the fact she was running a dual program, racing in the British F4 Championship alongside the F1 Academy.
In May, she won a race at Brands Hatch — the second stop of the championship — to become the first woman in history to claim a victory in British F4.
Despite missing six races, Pulling finished the 2024 British F4 Championship in seventh place with one win and three podiums.
Her triumph in the F1 Academy comes with a fully funded seat for the GB3 Championship with Rodin Motorsport in 2025. This is a huge relief for Pulling who knows how difficult it can be to secure the finances needed to continue climbing up the motorsport ladder.
After making a promising single-seaters debut in British F4 in 2020 — finishing sixth overall, with four podiums — Pulling had to withdraw from the 2021 championship due to a lack of funding and her future in the sport was unclear.
The W Series — a predecessor to the F1 Academy — came to the rescue as Pulling got a chance to fill in as a reserve driver for the Puma W Series Team. She competed in just four races in 2021 yet finished seventh in the W Series championship with one podium and one pole.
Pulling had a full seat in the W Series in 2022, which she finished in fourth with Racing X. The series unfortunately went into administration and was liquidated. But then came another women-only series to the rescue — The Formula One-backed F1 Academy.
At the start of 2023, Pulling became a full-time member of the Alpine Academy program and made her F1 Academy debut with Rodin Motorsport — a team that one year later would help her make a historic return to British F4 and become the championship’s first female race winner.
“For me, the financial side of things is so important,” said Pulling, excited about her next chapter in GB3. “I had to pull out of a championship in 2021, it was a really tough time.
“But I was so lucky that there was an all-female championship to jump into, that one had everything paid for, and then F1 Academy came along and continued that dream. And for that I’m so grateful, because I wouldn’t be here today without them two organizations taking me on.
“I think you have to put things in perspective. If I was a guy, that would have been the end of the road for me; so I’m trying to make the most out of everything given to me.
“I’m so aware how lucky I am to be in this situation and I just want for the people that either can’t make that first step into karting, or can’t make the jump up into cars, or for whatever reason have to stop, or can’t get in in the first place, I want to do my best for all of them.”
Pulling feels prepared to take that next step up the ladder to GB3, and says she is “living proof” that the F1 Academy can help women transition into higher racing categories in mixed series.
“Obviously paired with a dual program as well,” she added.
“F1 Academy opened me up to the relationship with Rodin Motorsport, which then got me a relationship with Rodin Cars. And then in 2024 I’ve been doing a dual campaign British F4 with Rodin Cars and Rodin Motorsport, and obviously F1 Academy with Alpine Academy and Rodin Motorsport.
“So that alone has opened that door to do a dual campaign, get more seat time. I’m living proof that it’s working.
“Going around to tracks like this, Yas Marina, I wouldn’t have been here without the championship. It’s a very fun track to end the season on.
“They’ve given us plenty of seat time this year, lots of experience managing tires in hot conditions, changeable conditions as well. It’s been a really fun season.”
Pulling paid tribute to Alpine and believes the Enstone outfit have helped her become a “more well-rounded driver,” placing special emphasis on her physical preparation off the track.
Like any racing driver, Pulling’s dream is to one day land a seat in F1, but even if she does not, she is certain another woman will in the near future.
“There’s not been a wave like this ever (for women in motorsport). I’m going to ride it as long as I can,” she said.
“It’s just such a positive time to be a female in motorsport. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. I don’t know when it will be, but I’m certain that we’ll have a female driving in a Formula 1 car soon.
“And if it’s not me, I hope it’s the girls that I’ve been racing against or a young girl that’s been watching that is inspired by what we’ve been doing.”
Pulling’s motorsport dream was sparked when she was just 3 years old, watching her father, Andy, compete on motorbikes. At age 8, she opted for four wheels instead of two like her father, and by 14 was crowned national junior karting champion back home in the UK.
The rest, as they say, is history, and Pulling has now become the most promising female prospect in the world of motorsport.
Is it what she hoped it would be?
“It’s not always as glitzy or as glamorous as people think, but I’m living the dream,” she said.
NEOM McLaren’s Taylor Barnard ‘hadn’t written a speech’ after becoming youngest-ever Formula E podium finisher in Brazil
- Mitch Evans of Jaguar TCS Racing also made history by winning from 22nd on the grid
- Round 4 of the season will take place at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Feb. 14-15 after 6 successful seasons in Diriyah
SAO PAULO: NEOM McLaren driver Taylor Barnard, aged only 20 years and 189 days, has joked that he did not have a speech ready after becoming Formula E’s youngest-ever podium finisher, surpassing Daniel Abt’s record set in 2015.
The 2024-25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship kicked off at the weekend, with Mitch Evans of Jaguar TCS Racing taking first place, Antonio Felix Da Costa of Tag Heuer Porsche in second and Barnard third.
Thanks to Barnard and his teammate Sam Bird, who finished fourth in the action-packed race in Brazil, NEOM McLaren are leading the Teams’ table, having stormed through the field after starting from 17th and 16th, respectively.
“I hadn’t written a podium speech,” Barnard said. “Especially after the start of that race, I took off my front wing and had to change it, come into the pits and I had a Drive-Through Penalty, unfortunately. I don’t know what to say.”
“The team did an absolutely amazing job with the second Attack Mode strategy, it made it easy for me and Sam to pass and get up to the front and we both did a great job. He protected me at the end so thanks to him for the great teamwork. I didn’t expect to be standing here.”
Evans also made history by becoming the first driver to win from the back of the grid, after starting from 22nd in the debut race for the GEN3 Evo car. The introduction of a powered-up “Attack Mode,” now with a four-wheel drive boost, added a new layer of strategy, enabling Evans to charge through the field late in the race. With this stunning performance, Evans now leads the Drivers’ standings.
Sao Paulo delivered 111 overtakes, five leaders and dramatic moments including a safety car and two Red Flags; one followed a crash involving reigning champion Pascal Wehrlein, whose Porsche ended upside down after hitting the wall. Thankfully, Wehrlein was unharmed.
His Porsche teammate Da Costa came second in the race, Mahindra Racing’s Edoardo Mortara secured fifth place, followed by both Nissan Formula E Team drivers Norman Nato and Nyck de Vries in sixth and seventh, respectively. Sebastien Buemi (Envision Racing), Dan Ticktum (CUPRA KIRO) and Jean-Eric Vergne (DS PENSKE) completed the top 10.
Formula E heads to Mexico City for round two of Season 11 on Jan. 11 next year.
Jeddah will be the new home of Formula E in Saudi Arabia, hosting the thrilling race at the iconic Jeddah Corniche Circuit — known as the fastest street circuit in the world — on Feb. 14-15.
It follows six successful seasons racing in Diriyah, and marks a new chapter in Formula E’s history since its inaugural race in Saudi Arabia in Season 5.
