Stormy weather at Zandvoort forces F1 Academy to call off first race · RaceFans

The opening F1 Academy race of the weekend at Zandvoort has been called off due to unsafe weather conditions.

The event organisers say the race has been postponed but are yet to confirm details of when it will go ahead.

The F1 support series – the only category racing alongside the world championship at Zandvoort aside from the Porsche Super Cup – is scheduled to run two races this weekend, on Saturday and Sunday.

The opening race of the weekend was set to begin after the Formula 1 qualifying session. However, high winds and rain hit the seaside circuit just as drivers set off on the formation lap for Saturday’s first race, leading to race control aborting the start of the race.

Following many minutes of delays as rain and strong winds battered the drivers and their crews on the grid, race control eventually decided the start could not take place in the conditions.

F1 Academy’s second race is scheduled to take place at 10:40am local time on Sunday morning. It will be followed by the Porsche Super Cup race at 12:00pm, before the grand prix begins at 3pm, leaving very little opportunity for event organisers to reschedule the first race.

Alpine junior driver Abbi Pulling is due to start race one from pole position ahead of Mercedes’ Doriane Pin after setting the quickest time in today’s early qualifying session. However, Pin will start race two from pole position, where the grid is set by each driver’s second-fastest times from qualifying.

It is the third time in the last two months that an F1 support event has been postponed due to weather conditions. The F3 sprint race at Silverstone was rescheduled from early morning on Saturday to 6pm after all other track sessions had been completed due to relentless rain. At the last round in Spa-Francorchamps, the F2 sprint race was postponed after half an hour of rain delays.

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