She was the first driver to cross the finish line. But due to a communication problem, Doriane Pin ended up only second.
The French driver Doriane Pin dominated the season opener of the F1 Academy junior racing series. At the second race in Saudi Arabia, the 20-year-old caused a curiosity. Pin was the first to cross the finish line in Jeddah in her racing car, but instead of doing a celebration lap, she continued to give full throttle.
Pin, who drives for the Mercedes-backed Prema team, had not registered the win and raced around the track again, apparently missing the checkered flag. We continued along the slopes at full speed – and crossed the finish line again. The race management then decided to wave red flags. Only then did Pin hit the brakes and park her car.
Her team also only reacted to the faux pas after the red flags were used. The race engineer asked on the radio: “Doriane, what are you doing? It’s gone.” Pin replied: “Sorry, you didn’t tell me anything.” The race engineer apologized and asked that she slowly come back onto the grid. “Very slowly back into the grid.”
After the race, the driver explained that she had previously been instructed to beat the fastest lap. “I had a little problem with the radio. I couldn’t hear anything from the engineers, so I didn’t know if it was the last lap or not. I kept pushing in case it was the last lap,” said Pin.
The race management punished the 20-year-old’s action with a 20-second penalty. As a result, Pin lost the victory and even slipped to ninth place. Abbi Pulling won the race.