Wednesday 4th December 2024
Alisha was delighted to be invited to and take part in Round 6 of the F1 Academy™ race weekend in Qatar, as a support to Formula 1, at the Lusail International Circuit between 29th November - 1 December. This represented a fantastic opportunity for Alisha to compete in a one off weekend against the current 2024 grid as part of the Prema Racing team.
Alisha's main 2024 race season in GB4 had already completed and the timing of this fell perfectly and also included 3 test days at the Lusail International Circuit several weeks ahead of the event.
FRIDAY 29th NOVEMBER:
Free Practice 1: P7
This was the first session of the weekend following the previous pre-event testing where Alisha had topped a session and never dropped below 6th out of 16 during the 6 sessions. Alisha went out with her team mates in a simulated qualifying session. This included a limited number of push laps where Alisha wasn't able to put her best sectors together on a single lap, placing her 7th. However, the individual sectors / theoretical best lap placed her 3rd, a focal point for the following session.
Free Practice 2: P3
This session saw Alisha initially go out on a used set of tyres immediately following the Formula 1 free practice session which offered a much higher level of grip to anything Alisha had previously experienced. This session also transitioned into evening where the flood lights were activated - another first for Alisha. During the first half of this session Alisha was able to achieve some very competitive laptimes, briefly going fastest but remained within the top 3 overall. Half way through the session the majority of the grid went into the pits and changed to new tyres for a final push. Alisha immediately went quicker and briefly went fastest again before dropping again to 3rd, before a very impressive lap saw her again go top and also to be the first driver to dip into the 1:54's. Alisha held this before being pipped by just 0.041 dropping her to 2nd. A later lap by one of Alisha's team mates topped the overall session by just over 1 tenth resulting in Alisha finishing in P3 and remaining one of only 3 drivers to get into the 1:54's, keeping her very much in the mix of the front running group.
SATURDAY 30th NOVEMBER:
Qualifying: P6 & P4
This session saw similar weather conditions in daylight to free practice session 1 the previous day. Unfortunately, due to an incident in the race immediately before, recovery of damaged vehicles delayed the start of the qualifying session that ultimately reduced the overall qualifying duration period from 30 to 23 mins. Whilst Alisha was not expecting to experience the same grip levels as the previous free practice session (due to following Formula 1 and the time of day) she did immediately notice a dramatic shift in the balance of the car which then exhibited a large amount of understeer throughout the lap. Alisha pushed on and tried to drive around the balance issues but wasn't able to replicate her earlier performance and in doing so suffered from notable graining to her front tyres. She therefore qualified P6 for race 1 and P4 for race 2. This was still a very solid performance although Alisha was a little frustrated she wasn't a few positions further forward.
This session can be viewed at the following link:
Race 1: P6 - P5
This first race took place later in the evening and again followed an earlier Formula 1 free practice and so conditions were expected to be similar to free practice 2 on Friday evening. However, Alisha didn't have the best tyres following the issues in qualifying and the remaining new set were saved for the 2nd race on Sunday.
Alisha got off to a good start - matching those ahead and around her off the line. On the run down to turn 1 she was able to get alongside a car in front and make the move up into 5th.
From there it became apparent that Alisha was faced with another dramatic shift in the balance of the car which now exhibited a large amount of oversteer. During the first few laps her pace was good and she was matching the laptimes of the car ahead in 4th. As the laps continued Alisha felt the car was becoming looser, with traction out of the bends a challenge and a general loose rear. At approx. 1/3 race distance Alisha felt the tyres noticeably deteriorate as a result and at this point she was aware her pace would drop and she may struggle to hold position to the end of the race!
As the laps continued she began to drop from the car ahead as the pack behind began to close. The last few laps saw Alisha driving very effectively to defend the position and maintain 5th to the line. A great result for her inaugural F1 Academy™ race.
This race can be viewed at the following link:
SUNDAY 1st DECEMBER:
Race 2: Race Cancelled
For this race, Alisha lined up in P4 on the grid and had a new set of tyres and as a result she felt this could be a very positive race. However, due to considerable barrier damaged caused in the previous race, the race start was initially delayed several times whilst repairs were being carried out before finally being cancelled as the repairs remained ongoing for a considerable period of time. This was a huge disappointment for Alisha as she only managed to experience a single race during the weekend.
The 2nd race was later rescheduled for the following race weekend in Abu Dhabi, meaning Alisha wouldn't get to run the race as another wild card was due to attend that round.
The pre-race can be viewed at the following link:
Overall, this was a very positive weekend even though Alisha felt she could ultimately have achieved more especially if race 2 had gone ahead as planned. That said Alisha remains the second highest Wild Card in the championship during the season despite only completing a single race and only being 3 points behind in second place.
A big thank you goes to all the staff at F1 Academy™, in particular Delphine Biscaye & Susie Wolff for the extremely warm welcome and also to Prema Racing for the support both leading up to and during the weekend.
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