9 Iconic F1 ACADEMY Moments in Singapore
If you mention “Singapore” to a Formula 1 fan, chances are their eyes will light up. The Marina Bay Street Circuit joined the F1 calendar in 2008 for its first Singapore Grand Prix. However, the street race was just added to the F1 ACADEMY’s season last year. The racing series dedicated to supporting young women in motorsports — specifically in the F1 world — kicked off its initiative in 2023 and is now close to concluding its third season.
In its F1 ACADEMY edition, the Singapore race finishes after 14 laps around the 4.9 km circuit (a two-lap increase from 2024). The street circuit marks Round 6 of F1 ACADEMY’s 2025 calendar and the battleground for the championship, with the current season wrapping up later in November.
If last year’s Singapore race weekend was any indication, anything can happen — even in 14 laps. To celebrate the conclusion of its 2025 installment today, EnVi rounds up nine iconic F1 ACADEMY moments in Singapore.
The Battle for P1
F1 ACADEMY’s 2024 Singapore weekend kicked off with a bang, starting with the battle for P1 during the Qualifying session. Doriane Pin took the temporary Pole position in her Mercedes, inching out Alpine driver Abbi Pulling’s time. But Pulling, who was the standing champion at the time, wasn’t done quite yet.
With only five minutes left on the clock, Pulling pulled through on a 2:03.631 lap time, making Pole position for the two races all hers. The British driver maintained the lead throughout the 30-minute competition, converting her Pole positions into P1 for both Race 1 and Race 2.
Show Me the Second Row
The F1: The Academy docuseries on Netflix opens by introducing Lia Block. An American Rally champion, Block grew up racing thanks to her father, the late Ken Block, who also was a professional racing driver. While she knows cars, F1 ACADEMY was a bit of a mystery to Block as an open wheel racing series.
In a season of struggle, the Singapore street circuit came at the perfect time for Block. In Qualifying, the Williams-backed racer nabbed P4 — the second row of the grid — when her current standing was 13 out of 15 drivers at the time.
“Just to have those two laps, both in fourth place, it shows that I actually belong there. It’s not a fluke that one lap was super-fast and I couldn’t do it again,” Block shared with F1 ACADEMY after the session. Having Pulling, Maya Weug, and Pin in front of her encouraged Block to keep pushing harder towards the finish line. In the end, Block’s hard work and tenacity paid off, concluding her Singapore weekend with two P4 finishes.
The Fight for Third
Tension was high in the fight for third during Race 1. Towards the end of the race, Pin got slapped with a false start penalty, which added five seconds to her final time. This opened up a rare opportunity for Block to challenge Pin for P3. If Block managed to cross the line in under five seconds, the Williams driver could claim her first podium with F1 ACADEMY.
But Turn 14 had other plans. Block almost spun but kept control of the wheel. However, the small delay caused her to lose time, ending up 5.2 seconds behind Pin to remain at P4.
Edge-of-Seat Racing
Race 2 was no less exciting than the Saturday event the day before. Right after the lights went out, Weug in the Ferrari and Pin in the Mercedes fought to claim P2. From Turn 1 to Turn 7 in the first lap, the two drivers were wheel-to-wheel battling it out.
In the end, Weug held onto the position after taking over the inside and pulling away. “The plan was to have a good start and I think we managed to do that. I got the move done on Doriane. That was our plan, to be aggressive on the first lap and to have our elbows out,” Weug explained to F1 ACADEMY.
“(The opening lap battle with Doriane) was edge-of-the-seat racing for me as well!” she added. “[W]e both gave each other racing room, which was fair and we had a good battle.”
A Perfect Overtake
Chinese American driver Chloe Chambers also made a splash in Race 2. The then-Haas driver started in P9 on the grid but dropped down to P11 in the first lap. During lap 10 (out of 12), however, Chambers made the overtake of the day: she overtook Campos Racing teammate Carrie Schreiner. This aggressive yet successful move launched Chambers up to P8.
Singapore’s street circuit is known for its difficult to overtake and move positions, as noted by multiple F1 ACADEMY drivers in the Netflix show. “I was just really trying to put the pressure on Carrie, hopefully to try to force her into a bit of a mistake, and then give myself the opportunity to capitalize on it,” Chambers told F1 ACADEMY after the race. “It’s a good bounce back.”
Maya Weug Takes Pole
During the Qualifying session this past Friday night, Weug claimed Pole position for Race 2 at the 2025 Singapore Grand Prix. For the majority of the 30-minute session, Chambers held onto a 2:03.761 lap time, marking her for provisional Pole. But Weug fought on, especially in the last five minutes of Qualifying when Chambers sought to have one last go at retaking Pole back from Weug. The Dutch driver was finally able to celebrate her 2:03.453 time as the session concluded.
Pin also proved — yet again — to keep Weug on her toes. The Mercedes “Pocket Rocket” managed to cross the line at the end of the session to get one last chance at a new record time. Although she pushed hard, especially through the tricky sections, Pin ended with a 2:03.495 time. It was enough to join Weug in the first row but not enough to take Pole.
“That was the most scary 20 seconds of my life,” Weug told her team over her radio.
Clinching a P1 Start (and Finish)
After qualifying in P8 for Race 2 on Sunday, Race 1’s rules — a.k.a. the Reverse Grid race — kicked in. For the Reverse Grid race, whoever claims P8 in Qualifying automatically becomes P1 (Pole position) for the Reverse Grid race. The grid lineup rearranges itself, with the P1 driver shifting into P8.
On an Instagram post celebrating Block clinching Pole, the American driver commented, “I’ll take it 🤷♀️.” The Reverse Grid race shuffles up the order to give drivers an opportunity to score points and hone their racing skills.
Speaking of opportunity, Block set the pace on Saturday as the race leader throughout the whole event. She also kept a widening gap with Weug (who had jumped up to P2 from P8) so the Dutch driver was unable to make a move for P1. After pushing all the way through the 30-minute race, Block finally claimed her first F1 Academy podium — and during her birthday weekend, too.
The Racetrack is a Battlefield
Race 1 on Saturday proved how the competition is not over until it’s over. Over the 30-minute race, two safety cars were deployed before the halfway point. Weug had a major moment, too, starting at P8 but steadily overtaking the other drivers one-by-one, including Brazilian-Belgian driver Aurelia Nobels. In the end, the Dutch driver clinched P2 after clawing through six places and nabbed a solid podium finish.
Nobels herself held off Pin, who is the current championship leader, in wheel-to-wheel action. The Brazilian-Belgian driver held off the French “Pocket Rocket,” despite having to fight through tense corners against Pin.
Chambers and Ella Lloyd, the British rookie backed by McLaren, also battled during the Reverse Grid race. At Turn 16, the American and the Brit fought side-by-side and almost touched wheels in a heart-stopping moment. However, Chambers maintained her position in the end and concluded the race with a P3 finish.
Race 2 Surprises
Rain in the forecast always makes for an interesting race. In the middle of F1 ACADEMY’s Race 2, rain started falling in one part of the Marina Bay circuit. As the rain picked up, the drivers’ teams were split between two choices: stay out and risk not changing to wet tyres or pit quickly and switch to rain-appropriate tyres. A safety car also got deployed after Nicole Havrda, the driver supported by American Express, hit the wall during lap 11.
Before these twists, Chambers chased down Lloyd in the hunt to reclaim P3 after losing it to the rookie at the start of the race. With about half a second in between the cars over the course of 13 laps, the two kept viewers on the edge of their seats. The Brit eventually stamped her name on P3 following a decision to stay out on track while Chambers went into the pit to change tyres. Lloyd moved up to third place in the championship standings, as well, overtaking Chambers with 101 points to the American’s 99 points.
In the final plot twist of the race, Weug overtook Pin in a dramatic final lap. The Ferrari-backed Dutch driver clinched a satisfying P1 after three consecutive P2 finishes. Her fourth win of the 2025 season, now only nine points stand between Weug and Pin for the F1 ACADEMY championship title.
Keep up with F1 ACADEMY on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, X, and their website. Watch F1: The Academy on Netflix here.
Want more F1 Academy? Check out the lessons EnVi learned after watching F1: The Academy on Netflix here!
