British driver Abbi Pulling sweeps F1 Academy women's races at Miami Grand Prix
MIAMI GARDENS — British driver Abbi Pulling, 21, swept the two Formula One Academy races at the Miami International Autodrome this weekend – leading every lap of both events from the pole position. That gave the Alpine driver three wins in the season’s four races, which feature all women drivers supported by the Formula One race teams.
The big story for American fans, however, was a promising “home race” for 19-year old Chloe Chambers. She earned her first series podium with an amazing late push into third place in Saturday’s race – passing two cars in a single corner to claim the good finish. The Indiana resident was fourth in Sunday’s 13-lapper around the 3.363-mile 19-turn course at the Hard Rock Stadium, which took place only a couple hours before the Miami Grand Prix.
“I just wanted to get a podium at my home race, I hope I did the U.S. proud,’’ said Chambers, who receives technical support from the Haas Racing F1 team.
Later, Chambers posted a photo on social media showing her hoisting that third place trophy, "Can't even put into words how much it means to me to get a podium at my home race.''
Fellow American Lia Block, 17, of Park City, Utah also posted encouraging results in Miami. The daughter of the late rally superstar Ken Block finished 15th in Saturday’s race and answered with an improved 11th place finish in Sunday’s sprint, locked in a tight battle for most of the final laps. She’s supported by the Williams Racing team.
The series uses open-wheel cars with turbo-charged 1.4-liter four-cylinder engines.
And 2024 marks the second season for the F1 Academy, which will hold seven two-race weekends on the year in conjunction with F1 stops. Next up is Barcelona, Spain on June 21-23.
More: Stephen Ross isn't selling control of Miami Dolphins, CEO Tom Garfinkel says
And the series got some major positive news this week with Netflix formally confirming that it will film a docuseries about the F1 Academy – similar to Formula One’s wildly-successful “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” – which will premier in 2025.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: British driver Abbi Pulling sweeps F1 Academy women's races at Miami Grand Prix
