Ella Lloyd made an impressive debut appearance in F1 Academy at the weekend (September 20-22), recording a pair of point scoring finishes on the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore.
The 18-year-old from Wales joined the grid as the Wild Card Entry and competed in a special-edition livery and race suit to spotlight F1 ACADEMY DISCOVER YOUR DRIVE, the series’ global programme aimed at changing perceptions of motorsport and inspiring the next generation of female talent.
She had just one 30-minute practice session to familiarise herself with the car and circuit, as well as contending with high heat and humidity, but things did not go to plan as she suffered a brake sensor problem, which caused the engine to cut out. Prema Racing, who were preparing the car, were able to remedy the problem, but it further hampered her progress.
Ella did not let that bother her however, as she worked hard to see where to improve for qualifying and put in an impressive performance, as she finished eighth quickest, where she would start for both races.
Unfortunately, her car moved slightly before the lights went out for race one and, though she didn’t gain a significant advantage, was penalised for a false start and given a five second time penalty. She had a good launch off the line, gaining two places on the opening lap, and then showed the same skill and prowess on track that she has all season in British F4, remaining in sixth position on track to the flag, ultimately being classified ninth.
Ella had another good start to race two and, despite the car ahead cutting the first corner, she toughed it out through turns two and three, making the move into turn four to gain seventh place. She had a look at gaining sixth but couldn’t get past and in the heat of the afternoon, overtaking was then at a premium, as she took the flag where she was.
With two solid point scoring finishes on her F1 Academy debut and setting quick lap times in the races, Ella proved her ability to compete on the world stage, even with a disrupted practice session.
The Welsh racer has a quick turnaround, as she will return to the United Kingdom to finish her F4 British Championship season, where she has three podiums so far this season. The final three races will take place on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, in Kent, over the weekend of October 4-6.
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Ella Lloyd commented: Grid 1 – 8, Race 1 – 9 “In free practice I had a brake sensor issue so when I went out, I was warming my tyres up and the car was cutting out due to a safety feature. That meant I missed more than half of the session, but the team worked on it, and I managed to get five push laps at the end. I looked at the data to try and see where I needed to push more and had a pretty decent qualifying, considering I didn’t have much track time in practice. “In race one I had a false start because I didn’t put enough brake pressure on, and I rolled a little bit, but I didn’t gain an advantage, because I stopped and then went after the lights. I made up two positions on the first lap and I had good pace, which would put me around P4, but it was really hard to overtake because there was so much understeer. In the second race I had another good start and made up one position on the first lap, but after that it was really hard to pass because of the understeer and the track temperature being so high, but I still had good speed. “Overall, the weekend was good pace wise, and if I had more track time in free practice, I would have been higher up in qualifying. I showed my speed in both the races, with my lap times being quicker than my position on track. I want to say a huge thank you to F1 Academy for the amazing opportunity and Prema Racing for doing a fantastic job with the car all weekend and making me feel at home.” |
