Weug sweeps the opening day of Bahrain in-season testing

Maya Weug was the driver to beat on Day 1 of in-season testing, topping both sessions on her first appearance at the Bahrain International Circuit.

In the morning, the Ferrari driver was quickest out of the box, setting an unbeatable 2:04.930 in the first hour of running. Her form showed no signs of abating in the afternoon segment, as a late 2:04.773 put her 0.167s clear of title rival Doriane Pin.

MORNING

Doriane Pin led a slow stream of cars out for their reconnaissance laps at the green light, with the session primarily focused on their initial exploration of the Sakhir track rather than outright lap times.

As the opening half an hour passed, Maya Weug set the first representative time of the day on a 2:05.956. Improving to a 2:04.930 on her next attempt, the Ferrari driver put herself 0.293s clear of Pin, with Tommy Hilfiger’s Alba Larsen in third.

Only 12 drivers had a time on the board as the session’s midpoint approached as personal bests slowly trickled in. Alisha Palmowski slotted in third, four tenths away from Weug. The Dutch driver’s hold on the top spot would remain untroubled throughout the remainder of the session.

The MP Motorsport trio all ended the morning inside the top five, with Larsen ahead of Joanne Ciconte in fifth. Chloe Chambers was sixth-fastest, whilst a late improvement from Nina Gademan elevated her into P7 ahead of Lia Block. PUMA’s Aurelia Nobels followed in ninth and Emma Felbermayr rounded out the top 10.

AFTERNOON

Lloyd kicked off the afternoon running, posting back-to-back fastest laps to set the initial benchmark at a 2:07.687. The McLaren driver’s efforts would be quickly beaten inside the opening 20 minutes, as Weug and Pin enjoyed brief stints in the top spot.

Breaking four tenths clear of Pin and Felbermayr in third, Weug posted a 2:06.446 to go comfortably quickest into the second hour. Chambers then moved herself out in front on a 2:06.365, narrowly beating Weug and Larsen’s efforts, leaving the top three separated by only 0.089s.

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The Red Bull Ford driver bettered her earlier effort into the final hour, only for her lap to be immediately beaten by two consecutive personal bests from Palmowski, lowering the time to beat down to a 2:05.355. Felbermayr slotted into second, steadily cutting the deficit down from two tenths to 0.006s.

Weug shot up to the head of the order on a 2:05.354 with 11 minutes left on the clock, but was soon displaced by Pin, who went a tenth quicker than the Ferrari driver. A flurry of action saw Weug become the first driver to break into the 2:04s and she followed that up with a 2:04.773 to top her second consecutive session.

Pin had to settle for second, with Palmowski over half a second off the pace in third. Larsen rounded out the afternoon in fourth followed by fellow rookies Felbermayr, Ciconte, Gademan and Lloyd. Tina Hausmann was ninth, just in front of Chambers in P10.

The drivers will be back in action for Day 2 of testing from 09:00 local time (UTC+3), with six more hours of track time ahead of them.