All language subtitles for LIVE; Race 1 ¦ Shanghai 2025 ¦ F1 Academy (anglais_ASR)

[Music]

Heat. Heat.

[Music]

F1 Academy is all set for the first race

of 2025 following qualifying and there

was action from the beginning. Ella

Lloyd was pushing on and lost it but all

was okay. But that wasn't the case for

Leah Block who was contacted by Raphaela

Ferrer and that has led to a new chassis

being built. Joan Shikonte had a nasty

little moment but in the end she

qualified well but the fastest Maya

setting the outright pace supported by

Ferrari. second fastest Dorian Pa

supported by

Mercedes. So we are looking forward to

the first round of the 2025 F1 Academy

season taking place on the Shanghai

International Circuit as a support race

to the Formula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand

Prix. My name is Ben Edwards, enjoying

my first F1 Academy coverage, joined by

experienced racer Alice Powell. And

we're looking forward to 18 junior

female single-seater racers competing

over a 13 lap event around this 3.4 mile

track with some challenging sections,

but there are some definite overtaking

spots around this track as well.

Weather's looking pretty good, isn't it,

Alice? At the moment, we've got some

pretty high temperatures, so they're not

having to worry about it being too

slippery out there. It's just a question

of going for it. Exactly. And we we're

treated to reverse grid races this year.

We saw these uh when the series first

started back in 2023. We didn't have

them last year. And it's an Alpine is on

pole. Nina Gamman. She will be looking

forward to heading down into turn one

hopefully for her in first place. But

she's got Emma Felber who a really good

job for this young driver. Her first

full season in car racing lines up

alongside her. Yeah, very very

impressive. And I'm also impressed that

both 16-year-olds, the two youngest

drivers, uh, in this F1 academy this

year, are both in the top eight. They

both made the top eight. And Joan

Siconte, who you're looking at there, is

the youngest. She is only two days

difference between her and Alberta Len

who lines up sixth on the grid, but

actually because, as you say, it's a

reverse top eight. Alberta Lson was

third fastest in qualifying yesterday.

So impressive. So let's take a look at

the grid at the back. a block after that

incident and Shiwi who is the Chinese

racer doing this as the wild card entry.

Raphaela Ferrer got the free place

penalty for the incident in that

qualifying. Iva an Agnostiadis is

alongside her. Then it's Courtney Cron

and Aurelia Nobles the Brazilian

18year-old. She's down there in 13th

place starting 12th. Nicole Havda and

Ella Lloyd who we saw having that little

moment in qualifying 11th. She's got

good pace though. Let's see how she gets

on. Khloe Chong back into F1 Academy

after a year out. She's starting 10th.

Tina Houseman in ninth just missing out

on being that top eight reverse. So now

you're looking at the reverse lineup and

Maya Ver Diane P the two of them who

were fastest. Alberta Larson the

youngster doing such a great job. Khloe

Chambers with Red Bull support starting

fifth. Keep an eye on Chloe. She could

go well. Alicia Palmoski and Joan

Sikanti on the second row of the grid.

And then as we get up to the front row,

it is Emma Felber and Nina Gademan who

are setting off from the start. Now Nina

was disappointed with how her qualifying

went, but she's on pole position and

it's something we've seen plenty with

that livery of course because the Alpine

livery was being driven by Abby Pulling

who won the championship last year. She

had plenty of poles and now we've got

another Alpine livery on that pole

position. Yeah, we were talking about it

before. Obviously I was down there on

the grid last year. It's going to be

nice to watch an F1 Academy race and not

feeling stressed this year, Ben. But I'm

really looking forward and that driver

there, Khloe Chambers, she was always a

big mover. If she slightly qualified out

of position, you can guarantee Khloe was

always going forward. So, we'll keep a

good eye on her. But, as you said, Joan

Deconte for her first qualifying session

and being one of the youngest drivers on

the grid did a fantastic job. But she

lines up in third. But the nerves will

be building for these young female

drivers on the world stage. The grand

stands are packed for this first F1

Academy race of the season. So this

being a sprint race, you don't get the

maximum points. You'll get 10 points for

victory in this compared to 25 points

for the main race win. Uh the second

race of the weekend will be done under

the normal qualifying pattern. So we

shall see how that goes. Um yeah, car 25

a procedure infringement. So let's hope

that and of course remember so many of

these drivers are very very early in

their careers. Mistakes are easy to make

and some of these things will come up as

we go along. Yeah, I'm not entirely sure

what that could be. Could be going out

the pit lane a little bit too late. They

get a certain period of time that

they're allowed to leave pit lane. And

we have got uh she slightly slow moving

along. Looks like she's stalled

possibly, but she's managed to to to get

going, which will be good for her. But

this is where it all starts, getting

those tires up to temperature, slightly

warmer temperatures than what we saw

them in in qualifying and for free

practice in that matter. But the track

condition will be quite different, Ben.

We've had a the Formula 1 out several

times with their sprint qualifying and

the sprint race as well. So, it's they

they can't go through the pit lane like

Formula 1, Formula 2. So, they've got to

try and sus out that grip as quickly as

possible. So, let's uh get into the top

three that are lining up on the grid,

and we're going to hear from all three

of them. Starting off with the third

place after, Joan Shikanti.

[Music]

Um I'm definitely hoping to finish in on

the podium. So, um but you never know. I

don't want to jinx anything of course,

but hopefully there'll be a few

overtakes and every gap there will be

I'll be there to take

it. I don't have a lot of racing

experience as everyone knows. I think as

I'm just stepping up from carding, but

I'm confident and also really happy to

start at the front row from P2 and just

staying calm and then it will go the

right way.

basically overall quite a lot better in

races than quali, especially racecraft.

Uh I've grown a lot with since with

high-tech over the winter. So um yeah, I

expect to have a good start, get away

from the chaotic stuff behind me and

then just have a clean clean sweep

really. So Nina Gamman who was talking

there and she raced in the Formula

Winter Series over the winter. That's

what she was talking about working with

and uh that she was actually very

impressive in that. So we will be

watching her starting from pole at this

a good opportunity for her. Yeah, all

that experience that she's gained and

learned over the winter as well as

racing in British F4 last year as well.

She'll be trying to put that to to good

use. And Maya Ver, what a lap that she

completed uh in qualifying yesterday.

She did such a good job and you can

actually go to F1 Academyy's YouTube

page to to watch that on board and she

was pushing the car to the limit. Dorian

Pan will line up alongside her tomorrow.

Now, it's tough for these girls. Last

year, they especially those new to the

championship last year. There was no

reverse grid races, and I think that

could have a massive impact um a massive

impact on uh on how the championship

could play out in the end. We're hearing

that Ella Lloyd is going to have to

start from the pit lane because her

tires were under pressure. Um so,

required to start from pit lane. And oh,

I do feel for Ella Lloyd because

qualifying didn't go quite to plan. She

had shown some great pace. She really

attacks the corners and was fun to

watch, but it went a bit wrong in

qualifying. Now there's another problem.

So there you can see the McLaren back

car heading back into the pit. She has

to start from the pit lane. So she will

basically start from the very back.

She'll be behind Leah Block who didn't

get to do any qualifying because of that

incident that took place with Raphaela

Ferrer. Ferrer with a three place

penalty starting down 16th place. Leah

Block, very few laps done so far this

weekend, but the American 18year-old,

she's into her second season starting at

the back. She's got a good chance. And

Ella Lloyd, well, we'll see how she gets

on. She's had a good wild card entry in

F1 Academy before. Yes. And uh for those

wondering what does that mean? Minimum

tire that the the scrutiner will check

all the the cars on the grid and they

have to run to a minimum tire pressure.

So, clearly she was uh was below that,

but all the cars are on grid. Ben,

right, we're getting all set then for

the first race of the

2025

season. Everybody getting ready,

watching for those red lights coming on.

Here we go in China. F1 Academyy's

underway. And it's a good start from the

pole sitter. Nina Kerman gets away well

ahead of Emma Felbert Mayer. But it

looks as though it's going to be a good

one from Chloe James on the outside in

the red ball colors going around the

outside and into third place already and

maybe even attacking the second. Yeah, I

said watch out for her. But Alicia

Palaski sneaks up the inside. Is she

going to make it stick? Emma is then has

the inside line. They're going to go

toeto toe, wheelto-heel all the way down

this main straight. But that's a bliss

for Nina Gamman. She's looking in her

mirrors left and right and she'll be

thinking this is fantastic. She's got a

gap already. So Felman has now just lost

that second place. But as you say, it's

Paloski who's come through. Alicia

Palmoski, the 18-year-old British

driver. She's got to second. And now

Felma, who was second on the grid, is

definitely under pressure once again

from Khloe Chambers, the 20-year-old

from the United States who showed some

great talent last year. She's now in her

second season. And you're riding on ball

with Khloe Chambers as she now tries to

find a way to get past Felba. Yeah, you

can just see as she gets in the dirty

air of Belamire in front. And here Maya

Ver is going up the inside of the Tommy

Hilfiger Alba Lson. Can she make it

stick? Yes, she does through turn 10.

So, she have a nice clean run. I think

it looks like Alberta is now lost a

place as well to Dorian Pan. We've got a

yellow flag in sector two. Yeah, we'll

find out what that is in just a second.

But as you say, my bird going well. She

was the fastest in qualifying. remember

on a reverse grid that she the Chinese

girl who unfortunately has had a bit of

an off. Oh, she's beed. Oh, and that's

tricky cuz you just can't get going. He

she, as you say, it's just beached on

there. Will, she'll need help to get out

of the way there. So, we've got the

yellow flag out. Looks like that's turn

seven. Nina Gman's desperately trying to

raise the tire temperatures heading

down, but there still racing going on.

Chloe Chambers is going to have a little

look down the inside. Emma covers that

off nicely. She's going to brave it

round the outside. Chloe had a lock up

here yesterday in qualifying, but she

gets forced off wide. She'll just about

keep it, but I think we've got the

safety car, Ben, for that stranded

Sheway car. Yeah, understandable. So,

the safety car is out. Everybody has to

back off, slow it all down, and hold

position. So, that was a really good

getaway by Nina Gamman. That really

worked for her, but also by Alicia

Palmoski, who's in second place. She

started in fourth and worked that first

couple of corners extremely well because

it did look at one point as though Khloe

Chambers was going to dive past, but

that inside line worked extremely well.

At the back you can see Ella Lloyd who

had to start from the pit lane but

unfortunately she I really feel for her

because this is a wild card entry. What

F1 Academy does it calls wild card

entries are a single entry for race

weekend for uh new talent and this was

her chance. She will have another race

of course, but what a what a

disappointing start. Let's have a look

at that start again. I mean, a perfect

start for Nina from pole position.

Jakonte not so well. Dropped back ever

so slightly, but Khloe Chambers did a

fantastic job coming from fifth place.

And I actually thought she was going to

go all the way around the outside, but

it's so tight. It the radius really

tightens round turn one into turn two.

But Alicia, she set it up perfectly,

braved it round the outside and was able

then to have the inside line going down

through turn five into turn six. So on

board with Chloe gets the perfect

launch. You can see that maybe just

released of the the the clutch too

quickly to for Jakonte. And then it's

decision time. Do we go left? Do we go

right? Do we brave it around the

outside? And that is what Khloe Chambers

decided to do. She had a look, kept it

brave. You can just see how it tightens,

tightens, tightens. and not just the

grip out there on the outside for Chloe.

I have to say though, well played by

them because it I've seen so many

mistakes when people trying to overtake

in that section of this track in the

past and actually they all played very

well with it and gave each other just

enough space. But as you say, Alicia

Palmoski did extremely well. She got up

into second place and managed to open up

the gap. Khloe Chambers then went under

attack once again trying to find a way

through, but this was all allowing the

race leader Nina Gman to make the break.

Bowie Chambers really getting in close

with Emma Felber, but they were just

fighting out four positions, but cleanly

done. Now, this is with Mayaver, the

fastest qualifier. Had to start eighth.

Let's have a look at how it went. Yeah,

and she had a look around the outside of

Oh, and Dorian Pan just got blocked

there by Jakonte on the inside. So,

Dorian was having a little look and that

opened the door then for May to go

around the outside of both of them. So,

that was really nicely done. And we've

got Alberta Lson who again did a

fantastic job in qualifying yesterday.

She'll start in third place. So a little

bit of a gap for Maya as a check of the

mirrors. And Ava Agnagostiardis in the

tag her car. A first proper start for

her and she she got away nicely. Yeah,

good to see that. Ava Anagnostis is 17

years old from Australia and uh this is

her first F1 academy entry with the Tag

Hoya backing. So, it's a good view this

she was further down the grid. How does

she get on? Holding a bit of a middle

ground there. Just keeping Yeah, it's

tricky when it gets like that. And

actually, there was an opportunity for

Leah Block to go through. So, Leah Block

in the Williams backed car. There was a

bit of contact, wasn't there? There was.

So, on board with Dorian Pan, vice

champion last year in the series. So,

she's having a look. She's pulled over

to defend from Matt and then saw an

opportunity up the inside goes the Tommy

Hilfiger car. And is there any contact

there? No. just misses out, gets

squeezed onto the curb. So that's where

she loses out to Maya. And Maya goes

around the outside, keeping it very nice

and clean. All these drivers, which as

you said, Ben, there's plenty of times

going to turn one in many series, many

formula where there's been contact

there. And then it's a drag race flat

out all the way down into the heavy

braking zone into turn six. Ton goes to

the inside. Dorian goes around the

outside. maybe was thinking I'll have a

little look going around the outside of

Mayer but a lovely move by Dorian that

was really good as you say late breaking

around the outside and it worked extreme

and this is what she wait did the

Chinese driver who we've seen has

unfortunately got stuck on the curb

there and hasn't been able to get going

so she lost it understandably but then

just was in a difficult position to get

it going and that's there that's

disappointing she's had to get out of

the car and she's out of this race but

she will be back for the second race

this weekend and the Marshalls doing a

good job of getting it out the way as

quickly as possible and we'll be back to

racing very very soon. So 13 lap race

this uh first race for F1 Academy. Let's

listen into some radio. I see you have

good pace and you know Maya has good

racecraft. So let's try to take

advantage as she does. Yeah, we have a

good pace.

So Dorian Pan talking to her engineer

and happy with where she is. He is one

place behind the likely big battler for

the championship I would think. I mean

going forwards Alice, what do you think?

These two both were winners last year.

Maya Berg, she won the last race of last

year and Dorian Pa took three race wins

and yes, Abby Pulling took the

championship, but those two are

definitely contenders for this year's

title. Oh, 100%. going into into this

year. Those are two names that you would

put that would likely to finish into the

top three. But as I said, it's going to

be so important keeping your nose clean

in these reverse grid races. And so far,

that's what Maya and Dorian have done.

But they were teammates last year. So,

they know that each other's strengths

and weaknesses. As the the the premer

engineer for for for Pan there said, you

know, she's got good race car, but

she'll also know where she was a bit

weaker last year. So, Ma's moved over to

the MP Motorsport team. Really enjoying

life there. Got her first pole position

yesterday. So, she'll be looking forward

to moving forward, but I'm really

looking forward to to the battles that

we're going to see, not only in the

reverse grid races this year, but all

throughout the grid and certainly in

this top five. Yeah, reverse grid is

going to make a difference to all the

race weekends. There's no doubt. And the

fact that they've got from seventh and

eighth to fifth and sixth and now we're

under safety car period will actually

help them more because as we saw the

first two or three cars had really

pulled away already and it was going to

be much more difficult for them to get

on terms with them. But when we get the

restart and once the safety car gets

underway uh gets out of the way then

they'll have a real chance to to go even

further up the order and and maybe even

chase for race victory. We'll see. But

Nina Gamman was doing a great job. She

was and you can see drivers are are

trying to keep the tires up to

temperature as desperately as they can.

Using the brakes, using lateral load as

well. Eloid, you can just see at the

back there. This will be good for her

for safety car. Of course, she had to

start from the pit lane. Leah Blocks

done a good job from starting from pit

lane as well. She's already up to P13

after that incident in free practice

yesterday. But, uh, the lead that Nina

had all but disappeared. I would expect

we're going to get the safety car in

very soon. the the car of Sheiwi is now

out of the way and has been recovered.

And Alicia, she's another one with with

good experience racing in GB4 last year.

She was vice champion. She'll be looking

forward to moving forward. She did was a

wild card entry at Katar and actually

did a a really impressive job. Finished

P5 in the the only race that we ended up

having in in Qatar. The Sunday race was

was sadly uh postponed. and Khloe Chong,

she returns to the championship as well

in the the Charlotte Tilbury livered car

and safety car is now ending Ben. Right.

So, we'll go back to racing. Yes, as you

say, she's returned having done it in

2023. They're allowed to do two years in

F1 Academy. She didn't get brought in

for the second year, but she's developed

a lot more since then. And last year

when it was re-reed, F1 Academy decided

to bring her back. Just consistently got

really loud beeps in my ear. I'm not

sure if there's anything we can do to

stop that. If not, no worries. Copy. If

it is disturbing you, the only uh

solution I have is uh just disconnect

the radio. But then we don't have any

communication.

Well, I should think she'll stay. Well,

let's keep with it then because it she

will be very focused on the racing. Yes,

it can be a little distracting

particularly. It's probably more

distracting when you're behind the

safety car in many ways. Yeah, it

depends how uh how frequent those beeps

are, but Nah's backing them up nowading

at down into the heavy breaking zone of

turn 14. She would have rehearsed this,

gone over with the team of where the

possible best place would be to go under

safety car. As you can see, everyone

pretty much behind, waiting for her to

go. Looks like she's gone, Ben. Yeah,

she's accelerating as she comes up to

the last corner and we are getting the

race back underway once again. And Nina

Gman has launched herself very quickly

away. Alicia Palmoski chasing in second

place and then the battle for third

place as Chloe James in the red ball

colors is trying to get past Felia once

again. She's going to go up the inside

into turn one and she has outbreak but

look behind because you've also got the

one who was fastest in qualifying. Maya

is now coming up the inside of Felma and

I think she can I don't know Felmmyer's

doing a great job of defending right

behind them. Dorian Pan might be able to

snatch through as well. So, a good

battle between these two potential

championship fighters as we go through

the season. And coming up the inside,

Iberg now she's going to have to go to

the outside. This is Felmma doing a

great job here for her level of

experience doing a fantastic job getting

her elbows out. She knows she needs to

and she'll have fast charges as the

Tommy Hilfiger car runs slightly wide of

Alberta, but she's going down the

inside. She should make this stick round

the fast turn seven and she does. And

Dorian Pan now knows right if Ma's got

through I have to get through. Still a

yellow flag out in the first sector. But

Dorian Pan is through as well. Yeah,

beautifully done actually. But well done

to Emma Felbomire. She is learning all

of this. This is her first full single

seater season. She's she's come from the

world of carting. But I have to say I'm

really imp Oh dear. Oh dear. Aurelia

Nobles and the damage done to the car.

Oh that's a great shame. Aurelia

originally qualified

13th had dropped a little bit down the

order as you're on board with Albert

Lson here. One of the 16y olds in this

uh lead group and Lson currently running

in eighth position. I wonder if we're

going to be able to get that car moved

without going to another safety car. And

no, we're not. The safety car is taking

on track again. And that means

everybody's going to have to slow down

once more. Yeah. And actually those

drivers that that have made those moves

in the early lap know that there's

potential for for safety cars. They've

got to take every opportunity they can,

but that's such disappointment for for

Nobles. Just trying to see where on

track that may be, but uh can't quite

see it at the moment, but massive

disappointment for her. Uh last year

showed some real strong results last

year and this will be not the way that

she'll want to start her season. So the

restart um and we saw the the fighting

going on, the battles going on. Oh no.

Yeah, that was a shame. So there was

contact there, wasn't there, with Leah

Block? Yeah, that's that's two teammates

that have made contact there, Ben. And

that will be broken rear suspension for

Roy Oral Nobles.

It's a huge disappointment for for Leah.

And I know that will that will upset

Leah for sure. She just was a bit too

late on the brace. You can see trying to

to get away but then realizing quite

quickly that the car is broken. And I

wonder if the left front on Leop's car

is damaged too because that she locked

up hit the front hit the rear wheel with

her left front. I wonder if it's still

going to be running. We will see. Um but

that car still obviously needs to be

moved before we can go back to racing

here. And that has been noted. Of

course, the collision. It was an error.

It was a lock up. And as you say, I

think uh Leah will be feeling, oh,

shouldn't have done that. But it's just

one of the ways you when you're racing,

you got to go for it. And it's easy to

make errors sometimes. That is the

thing. There'll be frustration built up

for Leah as well. Her pace was fairly

strong when they tested here a couple of

weeks ago. And of course, having to

start from from pit lane, she would have

wanted to try to desperately move

forward as quickly as possible. But I

expect um the tractor was already there

on the on the left hand side to to

recover that car. So hopefully they'll

recover it pretty quickly. Uh we're

we're already nearly halfway through the

race uh and not many full racing laps

we've had so far, but already we've had

quite a few few movers throughout the

field and Nina did a fantastic job

getting that restart underway. Let's see

if she does something different compared

to what she did at the the last restart.

Absolutely. We shall have a look. So,

this was uh when the restart took place

uh when the safety car first came in.

What is she doing? She's moving over on

me.

Chloe Chambers, who was going down the

inside. Well, she'd left a a one gap

width, which is what you what you have

to do. That's the rule, isn't it? You

can move, but you can leave a one one

car gap. Yeah, I think that was fair

from Emma. You can't cross over before

the the green flag, which Khloe by the

looks like didn't do. So, she'll be all

safe there. And we just saw that's where

Mia tried to brave it round the outside

and couldn't quite get it done but able

to to make the move a couple of corners

later. But look at this Ben. A fantastic

crowd has turned out to to watch F1

Academy racing on this glorious

afternoon in China. Sun's out shining.

They'll be looking forward to some more

racing laps. Some some young fans. And

that's one thing from from myself being

in the F1 Academy paddock last year. the

amount of young female fans as well that

were down in the paddock. And you do get

to go to uh an F1 Academy race this

year. There are periods of time where

they do open up the paddock for you to

to get up close to and have a good look

at these F1 Academy cars and you you'll

often see some of the drivers walking

around as well. Just trying to have a

quick a little look at Leah Block's car.

It actually looks okay at the moment.

Whether there is any damage to that

front wheel, I'm not sure. But uh yeah,

she's going to have to come from the

back again. Susie Wolf, managing

director of F1 Academy, obviously

keeping a a close eye on everything

that's going on, and she has been key to

developing this series, is now into its

third year. And I talked to her briefly

the other day, and she was saying it's

great now that they're they're getting

more and more young drivers that they

can assess and finding real talent. And

actually, there's probably more uh

drivers they found than who could be in

this, but there's only 18 places. So,

these are the 18 that are lucky enough

to be in it this year. Yes, they've got

a rookie test later on in the year, but

I think that will probably heavily overs

subscribed. I I went to a cart track

here back here in the UK uh last

weekend, and I couldn't get over the

amount of young female drivers through

all the categories all the way up to to

16, 17 years old. And each one that I

did speak to, and I spoke to quite a

few, said, "Yeah, we'd love to get to F1

Academy and beyond one today and I think

that's the effect that F1 Academy is

having not just to these drivers that

you can see on the screen right now but

all the way down to the grassroots

level.

So absolutely uh fascinating to see how

this all develops. Remember the uh the

safety car is ending at the end of this

lap. So we will see Nina Gman still

trying to hold the advantage

over Alicia Palmki. Now, Licia Paloski

doing a great job at the moment in

second place. So, she could be under

pressure from Khloe Chambers. But

remember, we've also got the two rapid

qualifiers as well right behind them.

Maya Bberg and Dorian Patberg who did

that qualifying lap that was nearly half

a second faster than anybody else. Is

she going to be able to find a few more

places once we get this race back

underway? But you have to say that Nina

Gamman is doing a great job up front in

that number three car and she will try

and launch it again. Yeah, you can see

Alicia and those behind already poised

waiting for Nina to to floor that

throttle. They've stopped weaving. I

expect Nina's going to get ready to to

put the hammer down again. Is she going

to do it? This is where she did it last

time. Is she going to do it in a similar

place? It looks like she has been, but

for my eyes, it looks like Pamski is

even closer than she was last time. It's

like Alicia behind knew exactly right. I

know where you're going to go for it.

I'm going to go for it at the same time.

And she got it right. So, it is still

pretty close moving around as long as

you don't weave too much when you've

actually got a car beginning to move

alongside. But they're still warming

tires up and into the first corner. And

she's done it pretty well. Gamman is

leading the race with Paloski in second

place. Third place for Khloe Chambers.

But keep an eye behind the Ferrari

colors of Mayberg. There she is. She

will now be trying to gain a bit more.

We've got another yellow flag. So,

somebody's had a little incident going

into that first corner presumably. We'll

have to have a look at that in just a

moment. But the race leader has once

again made a very, very good getaway.

Paloski getting a little closer.

Paloski, as you say, who did such a good

job in GV4 in the UK. She won the season

opener at Alton Park last year. Ah, it's

Nicole Hava. What a shame. She has gone

off and I can't see damage, but no. Oh,

well, there's a we're going to see a

replay from Chloe Tro. I'm guessing

that's Haba up in front of her. Chloe in

12 crossed the line. So, let's have a

look. Is Chloe going to have a look down

the inside? Maybe there might be contact

made. No. So, just and that's actually

ripped part of the drive shaft off

instantly. So, that was really

unfortunate. That's cold tires for you,

Ben. There's not been many racing laps.

And I unfortunately, I hate to say it,

but I think we're probably going to have

another safety car. Yeah, that is

unfortunate. I hadn't seen that damage

from the angle we saw, but Nicole Havda,

the Canadian 19year-old in her first F1

Academy race, and that's a great shame

to be taken out, and that's another um

possible infringement. No, in fact,

actually, it's another infringement

that's being investigated. Joan Siconte

is being looked at. She has really

dropped down the order somewhat.

Shikanti, she's down in ninth place. Um,

so whether there was something else

going on on that other restart, but

safety car is back out as you said,

Alice, um, when you've got a car broken

like that and it can't take itself away,

then you've got to bring the safety car

out. Yes, you have. So hopefully the the

the Marshall team did a great job

recovering those previous two cars that

we've had. Um, so let's let's see if

they're able to to recover this just as

as quick as the the last instance, and

we will hopefully get more than one laps

worth of of racing. But so far, Nina has

done everything she's needed to do. She

got off the line nicely, and she's had

two fantastic safety car restarts. I I

can guarantee there'll be frustration

from all of those that in and around

that top six who uh wanted to to try and

move up, get ever closer to those podium

place positions. And certainly with

Alicia, she was looking particularly

racy behind Nenina at the restart there.

So, Nicole Havda very disappointed to be

out of this race. Uh it's been a bit of

a tough weekend for her so far because

she's she's got some good experience.

She raced in Formula Regional America's

last year and had some very good

results. Couple of third places uh

several third places in fact. Now let's

have another look at this one, Alice.

And you you'll see to the left hand side

as they slow it down there. It's

actually off goes part of the drive in a

minute. There we go. Off it goes. Uh

Khloe probably had no idea that was

flying in in in front of her, but uh

that was just as I said, cold tires a

bit too late on the brakes for for

Khloe.

And a little bit of tustling going

further on there between Halman and the

Tommy Hilfiger.

Yeah, there we go. The unfortunate

ending for the American Express driver.

That is a great shame that it went out

that way as you say and it was a mistake

for Chloe

[Music]

Chong. Apparently Shikanti has got a

10sec penalty and that was because they

were

still changing the tire pressures at the

last moment which they weren't allowed

to do. You were talking about that

earlier, the tire pressures. Yeah. So

there is a 10second stop and go. So that

is a that's a that's a strong penalty

for her in terms of having to now come

into the pits once the safety car has

has come in and serving that penalty.

But uh all the teams across the grid

will try and desperately run as close to

that limit as they possibly can. uh

you'll often see uh the the engineer and

the mechanics going around the car

several times adjusting those tire

pressures and it can make a big

difference to to how the the car handles

the performance of the car and

unfortunately for for Jonte they were a

bit too close and left it maybe slightly

too late for making adjustments to the

tire pressures and Ella Lloyd had the

same thing either a maybe it was a slow

puncher for Ella or her engineer who

actually was Abby Pullings engineer uh

last

nicknamed Zimba.

Um was maybe a bit too close to the

limit there, but Jakonte is actually

coming in to to serve the the penalty

now. So, she will drop all the way down

to the back of uh of the field.

Actually, I'm not entirely sure whether

you can serve it under safety car. I'm

not sure. Um that bit of the regs I

haven't dove too deep into, but she's

going to come in anyway and uh and serve

the penalty. Yeah, I I wonder if that

that will apply, but um we shall see. Uh

so there she is coming back in and it is

a great shame that they've picked up

this penalty. It's MP Motorsport that

run the car for Jonti and they are

experienced in F1 Academy. No doubt

about it. They uh were the second uh

team in the points in 2023. They've had

some good results over the years and

team titles in other categories as well

in Spanish Formula 4 many times. Uh FIA

Formula 2 in fact um with Felipe

Dugovich some years ago. So MP

Motorsport good team and uh but clearly

it just went a little bit wrong because

as you say you're trying to get

everything to the last moment to get the

best you can. Um that incident also

under investigation obviously when Khloe

Chong made the contact with Nicole

Havda. That's not surprising. But we are

seeing that the safety car will be

ending at the end of this lap. I think

we are a bit smart now on the restart.

We can get the volume

very determined. Yeah. Back from Mayberg

there. She knows she needs to keep it

clean. Here's a replay from Alba Len. So

she gets a really good run. That's Tina

Houseman and the Aston Martin in front.

and I think she was possibly crossing

over before they got to the the green

flag on the on the line there. So, it'll

be interesting to see what the the

stewards do about that. You're not

allowed to to pull up alongside um the

the driver in front that you're

attacking um at the start of the restart

there until you've passed the green

flag. So, we'll keep an eye see if that

gets uh reported at at any point. But

Nah's backed off, slowed the field down

once again for the third time in this

race. Let's see if she does something

different this time. Yeah, I wonder if

she'll use the same system for making

the break, but we'll find out. On board

with Dorian Pan started in seventh.

She's up into fifth place now. Still

behind one of her great rivals of course

in the shape of May as the they still

have to take it easy and then but

interestingly she's going a little

quicker.

I think Nina's gone. I think Nina's gone

already. She's even caught us napping a

little bit there, Ben, as well as

everybody else. the field is much more

spread. The only one that seemed to to

have a sort of know what was going on

was Maya Verk there cuz she's right up

the back of of of Khloe Chambers. She's

actually I would say got the the

smallest gap to the driver in front but

she's well done Nina. You've you've

caught everybody out there. Another

great restart from her. Yeah, very good.

She did go very early as you say and why

not? She had every right to do that. So

Nina Gman still leads. It's the battle

for third that we are keeping an eye on.

And you're riding in fourth place at the

moment with Mayerberg with the Ferrari

backing that she has. She is part of the

Ferrari Academy team and she is now

trying to get onto the podium in this

first race. Remember, she will be on

pole position for the second race this

weekend when more points, many more

points are on offer. You get 25 points

for winning the second race, 10 points

on offer for winning this reverse grid

race. But she is definitely on target

for getting on the podium. Still being

chased by Dorian Pan behind her and Emma

Felba who started second in the Sala

backed car. Uh we're back on board now

with Khloe Jong having made that little

incident earlier. Can she do it clean

this time? Yeah. So that's Ella Lloyd

that would have made her way up past

Chloe when Chloe had that incident

previously. And uh a great job by Ella

Lloyd who remember started from from pit

lane near Bach will have a 10-second

penalty. She's the driver just behind

Chloe in in the Williams livered car.

But a good start from from Nina. A

slight lock up for that inside left as

she went down into turn 11 there.

They're all cleanly through, but there's

battles raging all the way through the

field. There are and it's great to see

and it's great experience for all of

them as well, of course. Uh, so, oh

yeah, as we thought, it wasn't a good

idea for Joan Shikante to come into the

pits for that penalty when the safety

car was out. She should have done it

when we're back to green flag and uh,

that's unfortunate, but it's just

learning. You got to learn from the

early days in your career. And I'm just

surprised the team perhaps didn't give

her the advice on that one. Yeah, and a

lock up from Emma Almire there. She just

tries to cover the inside from Alba

Larson and then Tommy Hilfiger. So,

another penalty for Jakonte. She's going

to have to come in. She's she's quite a

way behind um Agostiardis anyway. But

riding on board with Alba Lararsson.

She's tucked up under the rear wing of

Belamay. Is she going to have a look

down the inside? But I tell you who is

having a look down the inside. That's

Khloe Chambers all over the back of her

teammate Alicia Palmovski. There Chloe

in the Red Bull Ford. Both racing

alongside Campos. But I wonder if there

was a slight mistake by Gman there

because that gap was around about 8/10

over the line. It's now under half a

second. Yeah, that's interesting. I

wonder if there was a little error going

into the first corner. But you're right,

Khloe Chambers is right on the back now

of Alicia Palmoski. This is a close

battle. Fourth place. It's still Maya

Berg. And she's not actually as close as

I thought she was going to be after that

restart. I'm surprised she's got a

problem. Oh, the race leader Nina Gamman

is backed off. She's got a technical

problem. What a shame because she's done

a fantastic job up till now. What a

heartbreak for Nina and that is

devastating for her. As you said, Ben,

she did everything perfectly. Those

restarts. She absolutely nailed it. And

even off the race start as well. But

we've got a battle on now for the win.

The race lead has changed half a second.

You can see Pamaski desperately trying

to break the toe. Going left, going

right, getting the car straight, jumping

on the brakes into turn 11. She runs

slightly wide which will tighten up her

entry for 12. You can see the variety of

lines. Chloe running a slightly tighter

line just to try and get out of that

dirty air. But then she'll tuck right

back underneath the wing of Palovski.

And this is where the tires will lose a

little bit of temperature down this 1.2

km straight. Let them jump on the brakes

as they head down into 14. But you can't

weave too much. which I'm sure that the

stewards will be on the radio at some

point to the Campos team jumping on the

brakes with the battle in the

background. Ben, absolutely. Oh, a

little bit of a lock up and a bit of

contact as well. Alberta Len just making

a touch, but Kelvin Myers managed to get

away with it, I think. But through the

middle comes Dorian Pa taking full

advantage of all this. And yes, she's

got through. That was all a bit of an

incident, though. And hopefully they can

all keep it going. Meanwhile, it is

still Alicia Palmoski who is leading as

we go on to the last lap. The British

driver who has only competed in one F1

Academy race before this season into her

first full season and she is still in

front, but she's still got Chloe

Chambers who has more F1 Academy

experience to her in second place and

then third place. A race winner in the

series already who will be on pole for

the second race. What a battle we've got

going into the last stages. Yeah, Dorian

Pan was so lucky. I actually think she

was ahead of the incident. Larsson then

just into the back of Belmmy, but back

through this battle. Khloe Chambers was

so close to winning on more than one

occasion last year. She did get a win at

Barcelona. Was in the lead at Abu Dhabi

and spun off on the opening lap, but

Maya Burke has snuck up on the back of

these two. She'll she will be able to

taste victory, I'm for I'm sure. But

she's done a great job coming through.

So, riding on board there. You can see

Chloe taking the slightly tighter line

to try and get a bit more clean air on

that front wing. Alicia at the moment

soaking up all the pressure, doing a

fantastic job as they go down into turn

11, but it's going to be tough for her.

410 is the gap. You you ideally need

around about half a second uh more of a

gap going onto that back street straight

because that toe is is is pretty

effective. She's done that. It's over

half a second. So for for her, she'll be

hoping that's enough. Well, it's very

impressive what she's done so far. Can

she hold on down the long long straight

1.2 km? This is where the slipstream of

course following another car. You get a

toe being the car behind getting a

little bit of extra speed. No DRS in in

F1 Academy, but you do get a little bit

straight line speed and she's going on

the attack, but fair enough. You're

allowed to defend once and she does

that, Paloski. But can she get the

braking right? Yes, she can. But it's

still going to be close as they come out

towards the last corner. The left-hander

coming up. One more breaking into the

final corner and then onto the main

straight. And Alicia Palmoski has done

it. She's done a brilliant job. She

takes victory in the first race of the

season in the F1 Academy. The sprint

race starting in fourth. She has taken

victory. Second place to Bowie Chambers.

Oh, an incident. An incident as well.

Ela Mer. Oh, and Houseman involved.

Oh, what a shame. Uh, now I've just seen

on the timing tower on the left hand

side there, Lson's got in front of

Dorian Pan and there was a a big battle

between those two. And actually, I did

hear a screech of of a tire. So, Pan has

locked up and then a late move from from

Houseman there on the inside of MF

Albber. And I'm sure there's going to be

some some waving going on there. Yeah,

for so the Stewarts are going to be

fairly busy after this race, but what a

brilliant victory for Alicia Palmovski

coming into the series in her first full

year. Was a wild card entry last year,

but the Red Bull driver is on the top

step of the podium for this race and she

was under a lot of pressure from Khloe

Chambers, but a nice one two for Campos

Racing. That is very impressive. Alicia

Paloski, let's listen in. And that's it.

That's a one, two. That's a one, two.

Good job. Good job for both. Good job.

She won, as I mentioned yesterday,

earlier in GB4 in her first race last

year at Alton Park. Uh, and she had a

very, very strong season in that running

up as second in the championship. And I

spoke to her team boss, Ed Ives,

yesterday, and he said he was very

impressed with the way she had driven.

uh he thought that she was going to

develop very well in F1 Academy and

she's come along and taken the first

race win of the season and I do feel

that the way she was able to defend

because she was under some serious

pressure from as you say race winners

both of them previous race winners she

did a good job. Let's just have a little

look first though at some of these

incidents. So here's down the inside

where she just went into the back of

Belbber there. So this was a lap

previous to to the final lap. Dorian Pan

on the inside there probably thought,

well, what is going on? I I was minding

my own business and then suddenly I've

got two cars down my inside. So, good

job for her to to

avoid. So, here's that replay again. She

just tries to move back uh onto the

racing line a bit more and goes into the

back of her. So, I'm hoping we'll then

see uh the replay when she did get past

Dorian on the final lap. So we're on

board with Dorian now who will probably

catch in her

peripheral. So that was actually the

final lap. So Dorian just cold front

tires. They do lose temperature on that

really long straight. Locked up the

brakes there. And uh Alba said thank you

very much down the inside catching

fourth place. So great drive by her as

well was as you can see the drivers

coming on line up in front of the podium

positions. And a nice crowd to greet

them there in the grand stands.

Fantastic. What a start to the weekend

with the first of the two races. And

what a start to the season as well for

Alicia Palmoski who's done that one F1

Academy race before last year in Qatar

when she finished fifth. There should

have been two races, but they didn't get

two races in Qatar last year. So, she

only got the one race. So to come back

in full uh season lined up for her with

the Red Bull backing. What a great way

to start by taking victory having

started fourth on the grid being under

major pressure from her teammate right

at the end then as well as Chloe

Chambers was pushing pushing pushing all

the way. But she held on remarkably

well. But you also see the Ferrari

livery on that podium front row because

Maya Ver finished in third place and she

will be starting from pole position for

the second race this weekend and has

shown great pace throughout. So, but

what a great start to the year. It's

lovely to have reverse grid uh into this

idea I think once again because they

used it a bit in 2023. wasn't used last

year, but I do think it's going to open

up the number of potential winners that

we see during the series in 2025.

Alicia's mom there really happy, big

family support behind all of these

drivers. You you'll often see the

families there and Sarah Harrington

uh involved with the Red Bull drivers

giving Chloe some congratulations, but

no, so a great job and it's these these

reverse grid races could be quite

defining and my has done exactly what

she needed to do. Kept her nose clean,

kept out of trouble, chipped away, moved

forward, and as Christian her as well

congratulating his junior driver. How

magic that must be for her to be

congratulated by Christian her. And yes,

the the reverse grid. So, you don't get

the maximum points as I mentioned

earlier. You get 10 points for the win

in the reverse sprint race and you get

25 points for the win in the main race.

Well, I call it the main race, not

really the main race, but the second

race where you line up as you qualified,

you then get the 25 points. drop clear

the Ferrari senior engineer who's been

working Formula 1 for so many years and

it's lovely that he's got this good

contact with Maya Ver with the Ferrari

backing and just talking to her about

her excellent performance because she

did very well. She went from eighth to

third. She did and that's what's going

to end up uh being the big thing is

keeping consistent moving forward

through these through these reverse grid

races. And you've got to be consistent

and consistently up there. And that was

a good start for for her. But just going

back to to Nina, a disappointment as

well cuz she did everything correctly.

But you've got to be there to pick up

the pieces and that's exactly what

Alicia and Chloe did. They made their

way forward from starting. Chloe started

fifth on the grid. Alicia started

fourth. Uh they got themselves up there

into that position as they're being

ushered through. Alicia, always polite

as ever.

Yeah, as you say, I mean, for for Nina

Gamman, it it it really was a

disappointing run. We're not quite sure

what went wrong yet. Whether it was a

gearbox problem or something else, we

will find out. But, um, you know, when

Alicia Paloski, she got into the front

because of the problems with Gman, she

then had to hold on and it was a severe

pressure and it can be so easy to make a

mistake, but she didn't make any. It was

beautifully done. Exactly. And I'm sure

you've got a long time to think going

down that back straight at Shanghai. And

she would have been keeping an eye in

her mirror. She would have been making

sure she hitting every single upshift

going down there. And of course then

making sure she nailed her breaking

point. And she did that exactly. She did

it perfectly. Hit it all correctly. And

Chloe would have been thinking the

opposite, thinking, "Come on, just miss

a gear shift. Just missed your breaking

point." But but she didn't. So great job

for for Campos. And you can see this is

what I love about F1 Academy as well.

All the teams come out to to support.

The Formula One team will come out and

and support their their drivers and give

them a big cheer when they do step onto

the podium. Yeah. Which is lovely to

see. And a lot of big smiles. And Susie

Wolf is there as well, of course, to

congratulate the teams and the drivers

as well. And it was a very, very good

start. Yes, there were rather a lot of

safety car periods in that race, which

is totally understandable. Um thankfully

all the drivers okay. A bit of damage to

some of the cars that will have to be

sorted in preparation for the second

race. So we're getting ready for the

first podium celebration of this 2025

season in the F1 Academy. And finishing

in third place having started from

eighth position. Maya done a great job.

The Dutch driver 20-year-old with

backing from Ferrari. Second place from

fifth place on the grid. Chloe Chambers,

the American 20-year-old into her second

full season. But the race winner, for

the first time in F1 Academy, only the

second ever race she's done in this

series, having done one race last year,

Alicia Palmi has taken the first victory

of 2025.

[Music]

So, the British national anthem and

we've heard that quite a few times of

course in recent times because Abby

Pulling took plenty of victories. last

year to take the championship, but it's

now Alicia Palmoski who has taken

victory and given delight to Red Bull

with their support. And Susie Wolf, the

managing director of F1 Academy, they're

delighted also to see these three

drivers being able to celebrate already.

And uh Petid with potentially all three

of them could be fighting for the

championship as we go through the year.

There are seven events, two races at

each event as we go through the season,

but this is the first one. And what a

brilliant start it has been for Alicia

Palmoski to take the first victory in F1

Academy 2025.

I hope they've got a spare race suit for

tomorrow. They usually do. They get a

couple of race suits. We've got a smile

out of Maya as well. Alicia's probably

got a bit of champagne in her eye. that

that always stings, but she won't mind

that feeling having a a photo with all

the drivers on the top step. And it's

nice also her teammate Chloe Chambers,

they're getting on all getting on very

well. Even though they battled hard, it

was all clean thankfully between them

and that always helps when you race

against your teammate and it ends up

clean and no problem. No, they all did a

great job this this top three and uh

looking forward and I think that sets it

up up very nicely for a good race

tomorrow.

So let's confirm the race result then.

Alicia Palmoski taking the victory

having started from fourth place on the

grid. Khloe Chambers finished in second

and third place went to Mayerberg.

Dorian Pan did finish in fourth place

despite a bit of instance on that last

lap. Raphaela Ferrer shot up. She did a

great job. Started 16th, finished fifth.

Ella Lloyd in sixth place head of Albert

Lson. Anagnostiadis was eighth, Block

ninth and Chong was 10th, Elbert Felmire

was in 11th with Cone Human as Chicante

and Gademan down in

15th. So it was a great shame that Nina

Gman was unable to hold on in front, but

it was some great racing and we are

going to be looking forward to more

action in the second race of the weekend

here in China. F1 Academy providing

plenty of entertainment and lots of

opportunity for youngsters to show what

they can do. Hope you can join us again

for now.

[Music]

Goodbye. Heat. Heat.

[Music]