‘This was a huge bounce back for me’ — Weug determined to continue title charge after spectacular Zandvoort weekend

Maya Weug suffered what she described as “the worst race weekend of my life” in Montreal, but even she couldn’t have predicted such a remarkable turnaround that saw her take pole position, a podium and a race win with the fastest lap at her home event.

After being left with up a 37-point deficit to Standings leader Doriane Pin, the Dutch racer made a comeback to end all comebacks and keep her title dreams alive as she thrived in every session around the Circuit Zandvoort.

The round kicked off with Weug coming out on top in an incredibly competitive Qualifying session, beating Alisha Palmowski to pole by just 0.039s. And while the reverse grid for Race 1 saw her pushed down to P8, she sailed through to claim her first podium since her victory in Jeddah.

The Ferrari driver continued her strong performance in Race 2, evading an early challenge from Ella Lloyd before charging off into the distance and crossing the line just over seven seconds ahead of second-placed Palmowski.

“I’m super happy for the team, for everyone,” she enthused. “I think they could relax a bit today on the pitwall — yesterday was a bit more stressful for them and for myself as well. We’ve shown that the pace is there, like we showed at the beginning of the season.

“It’s difficult to stay focused when you have such a big gap so I just had to relax but not relax too much because in the end, we’re driving around Zandvoort. I think I did quite well with the help of the engineer, of course, over the radio. It was just about trying to stay focused even though I had to manage the tyres a bit in case of a Safety Car.”

Although Pin was promoted to the podium in Race 2 following Lloyd’s five-second time penalty for a false start, the points gap in the Standings no longer feels insurmountable for Weug, especially with two rounds still left.

READ MORE: RACE 2: Weug converts pole into commanding lights-to-flag victory in Zandvoort

“I think we just have to keep going, keep pushing and focus on ourselves because that’s all we can focus on,” she said. “Try to maximise our places and our points because we cannot influence what the others do.

“That’s what we’ve got to do now, looking ahead to Singapore and Las Vegas. I’m honestly super excited and looking forward to the next two rounds because now we’re getting closer and I think we still have a good chance to do it.”

The haul of points has enabled the 21-year-old to leapfrog Chloe Chambers to retake second in the Standings, with the Red Bull Ford driver unable to take part in Race 2 due to an unfortunate mechanical issue. It was bad news for Chambers, but great for Weug as the deficit to Pin has now closed down to just 20 points.

Asked whether this weekend gave her the boost she needed in the title fight, she replied: “Yeah, definitely. I think Montreal was probably the worst race weekend of my life, and for the team as well. This was a huge bounce back for the team and for me.

“I think the team is just stronger than ever together — we are pushing so hard, everyone wants to win the title and that’s what we’re going to keep pushing for. This weekend showed that if anyone can bounce back with 37 points and three rounds to go, then it’s us. I think we can still do it.”