Academy Report: Victor’s Podium Headlines our Jeddah Weekend

It was a high-speed weekend for our Academy as Formula 2 and F1 Academy arrived under the lights in Jeddah for Round 3 and Round 2 respectively.

In F2, Victor Martins continued displaying his strong one-lap pace to maintain his front row Qualifying record, converting it into a podium in the Feature Race, while Luke Browning impressed once again with another solid points finish.

Lia Block faced adversity in F1 Academy but fought back with determined drives across both races.

Here’s how the weekend unfolded for our Academy drivers.

Starting from P9, Victor Martins was quickly involved in a battle with Academy colleague Luke Browning. The pair went wheel-to-wheel through the opening sector, keeping it clean as Martins eventually edged ahead.

By Lap 5, Jak Crawford swept past with DRS, but a dramatic moment later in the race saw him spin out at Turn 1 – handing the positions back. A late Safety Car bunched the pack, and Martins resumed his attack on Gabriele Minì, but couldn’t find a way through before the flag, settling for P8 and a valuable point.

Victor played the long game on Sunday, pitting later than the early leaders to take advantage of better track position. He rejoined right in the thick of it, emerging just ahead of Crawford and holding on despite cold tyres.

The race was paused under VSC after debris at the pit entry, saving Victor from immediate pressure. When the VSC ended, Martins and Crawford went side-by-side through several corners in a thrilling exchange. Crawford eventually got through a lap later, demoting Martins to a net P2.

As others surged through on alternate strategies, Martins brought the car home in P3 – a well-earned second podium of the season that underlined his strong form.

Luke Browning launched from P4 and was immediately locked into a tight battle with teammate Victor Martins. He initially held the upper hand, but Martins edged back ahead by the end of the first sector.

Crawford overtook Browning into Turn 1 on Lap 5 before spinning out later and gifting the place back. Luke stayed out of trouble during the Safety Car phase but couldn’t make up ground, ultimately finishing just outside the points in P9.

A solid start saw Browning fend off Arvid Lindblad to hold P4 in the opening corners. He battled with a DRS issue early on, but when it was resolved – and aided by a mistake from Leonardo Fornaroli – he climbed into the top three.

Later in the race, chaos struck when Alex Dunne misjudged a braking move at Turn 1, which allowed Fornaroli back through. Dunne handed the position back, but the incident had already dropped Luke down the order.

As Pepe Martí and Dunne both mounted pressure, Browning was forced to cut Turn 2 before ultimately conceding position to Marti. He settled into a rhythm and crossed the line P6, another solid points-scoring finish in his rookie F2 campaign.

Lia Block’s weekend began with a setback as a crash in qualifying left her starting at the rear of the grid in both races. But as always, she came back fighting.

Lia made the most of the chaos at the start, avoiding a stalled car to gain a place before Turn 1. By the end of Lap 1, she was up to P14 and quickly caught Joanne Ciconte and Courtney Crone.

She completed a decisive pass on Crone at the Turn 27 hairpin, but her progress was halted early on Lap 3 when Crone clipped the back of her car, spinning Lia out.

The incident dropped her to the back, but damage and retirements ahead saw her back up to P14 under the Safety Car. She picked off a rival immediately at the restart to finish P13 – a spirited recovery drive.

Lia gained ground immediately thanks to a slow start from the cars ahead and was up to P15 by Turn 1. She climbed to P14 after a spin ahead and spent the rest of the race chasing down Aurelia Nobles.

With fewer incidents in Race 2, opportunities were limited – but it was another clean drive as she brought it home P14 and continued to build experience in her first season of F1 Academy.