F1 Academy: Aurelia in the points in Montreal, a nightmare for Maya

Weug suffered with a technical problem for much of the Canadian weekend, while Nobels was unlucky to only score points once.

The F1 Academy season has now reached the halfway mark after the round in Montreal last weekend and there’s now a long break until it resumes in Zandvoort on the last weekend of August. Looking back at how the season has gone so far, it’s clear that after four of the seven rounds, Maya Weug is on great form. However, the 21 year old Dutch Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy student suffered a series of technical problems in Montreal, only picking up a few points. “It wasn’t the easiest of weekends,” commented Maya. “The problems started on Friday morning as soon I drove out of the pits at the start of free practice. I immediately there was something wrong with the engine and although the team tried various things to fix it, nothing worked. So, the team took the car apart before qualifying and we were all confident the problems were behind us, but after two laps, the engine again started to malfunction with what seemed like an electrical problem. I could only qualify 15th and the team worked all night to try and sort it, even changing components including the steering wheel, battery and transponder, in other words everything that hadn’t already been changed prior to qualifying.”

Disappointment. “It was really frustrating when on the lap to the grid for Race-1, the problem reappeared,” continued Weug. “I knew then it was going to be a tough race, pitting several times to try and fix the problem. The worst moment came just before the start of Race-2 when the same thing happened and so we tried changing other components, including the spark plugs as we discovered this was the problem, which we managed to do just in time. We finally managed to start the race and although there was a slight problem with turbo response, I made up some places to finish ninth.”

Relief. Weug was thus able to contest Sunday morning’s third race without any problems. “It was a relief to be able to race without thinking about anything else,” concluded Maya. “I had very good pace especially as I’d done so few laps over the weekend up to that point. Even though the Safety Car was out for much of the race, I managed to move up from 15th to sixth, to score a few points. Race 3 was a reflection of what our weekend could have been like but for the technical problems. It would have been a great weekend, but there’s nothing we can do about that now. I’d like to thank the team for all their hard work. We now have a long break and we’ll make the most of it to prepare for when the season starts up again. I want to win this championship.” Weug left the Gilles Villeneuve circuit with 8 points, dropping to third in the standings.

Aurelia. Aurelia Nobels could also have expected to leave Montreal with a better points haul than she actually managed. In Race 1, the 18 year old Brazilian started sixth and was soon up to fourth. On the opening lap, she attacked Dorian Pin, which left her with a damaged front wing so she had to pit to change it. She rejoined at the back of the pack and fought her way back up to ninth, disappointed that a probable podium finish had slipped from her grasp. Nobels had to overcome starting races 2 and 3 from 13th on the grid and that’s where she finished Race 2. In the final race in Canada, she was involved in a collision with Lia Block and Rafaela Ferreira and so, when a top ten placing had looked assured it again slipped away, even though her race pace confirmed she continues to make progress. Now she too will spend the break analysing her performances so far this season to be as well prepared as possible for the final three rounds of 2025.