The 20-year-old from Spalding, UK, entered the inaugural season of Formula 1 ®’s new, all-female series as a title favourite, having starred in W Series and British F4 in recent seasons, and with leading single seater outfit, Rodin Carlin.
But qualifying has proved a thorn in the side of the Alpine Academy racer at each of the two events to-date, with post-session rulings in Red Bull Ring and Valencia demoting Pulling to the back of the grid on each occasion.
Despite limiting the damage with a series of impressive recovery drives – including a first podium in the final race at Valencia – it has left Pulling with an uphill task to keep her championship aspirations in view, but one she looks to give a shot in the arm in Barcelona this time around.
The 2.9-mile Catalan circuit, located in Montmelo on the outskirts of Barcelona, is famous world-wide as the host venue for the Spanish Grand Prix, and holds particularly fond memories for Pulling, as the scene of her maiden W Series podium last year.
Characterised by high-speed, flowing sequences of corners, it’s a circuit that places heavy emphasis on aerodynamic performance, and even changes in wind can drastically alter track conditions from session to session.
The standard weekend format will apply, with two pre-event practice sessions, then two qualifying sessions to set the grid for three races over the weekend. The second race features a partially-reversed grid, with the fastest eight runners from qualifying flipped in the starting order.
Highlights will be available post-weekend on F1TV’s subscription service, with in-weekend coverage on social media via F1 Academy’s channels.
Abbi Pulling said:
“The season hasn’t started how I would have hoped, but I’m keeping my chin up and my focus on moving forward and the future."
“Barcelona is a track that I’ve been to before and had some decent results at, including a podium in W Series last year.
“It was also one of the venues for pre-season testing, which went well and hopefully we’ll return this weekend having made even more progress in the time since. Both the team at Rodin Carlin and I are flat out at the moment, trying to optimise everything we can to improve our performance.
“It’s a long championship ahead, and we still have plenty of time to claw back the points we need to still fight for the title. Hopefully this weekend will be the next step on that journey.”
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