Mercedes Junior Driver Doriane Pin believes she failed to challenge Abbi Pulling during F1 Academy Race 1 in Miami due to a lack of pace and balance in her car.
Pin told Motorsport Week: “We definitely need some pace. As a team, we didn’t know the track and I think Abbi has mixed experience coming to Miami, but we definitely struggled a bit with the pace and balance of the car.
“The track improved from the quali to the race because F1 drove just before us but we still lacked some pace. We have to continue and work to find the best thing for tomorrow.”
After setting the fastest time in Practice 1, the Iron Dame fell short of Pulling’s Qualifying times to start both races in the second slot on the front row.
The Alpine Junior Driver cruised to victory in the 30-minute race while Pin tailed behind, finishing five seconds behind the Championship leader in Race 1.
After winning the first two races of the season, Pin is in contention for the Drivers’ Championship, competing with Pulling after she inherited her position in the second race at Jeddah.
“The experience racing in F1 Academy is great – that first weekend in Jeddah was great. The whole weekend was great for me, dominating the whole weekend.”
“We are all on the same page and that’s great because as drivers we learn so much as we go, and learning a new track here is surreal. Every time we are on track we are learning, and we can feed that back to the team and try to improve,” she said.
Pin was recently announced as part of the Iron Dame’s line-up for their first Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) entry, taking place alongside the Frenchwoman’s campaigns in F1 Academy and World Endurance Championship.
“I am honestly very happy to race in FRECA this year,” Pin told Motorsport Week.
“It’s a new challenge and it’s just fantastic that Mercedes and the Iron Dames team trust me, and to give me this opportunity and I will take as much experience as possible.”
The Frenchwoman will miss the final four rounds of WEC, as her busy schedule clashes with both FRECA and F1 Academy.
Pin looks ahead to Race 2 tomorrow, starting on the front row behind the Alpine Junior Driver.
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