Although she believes she should have been leading the Drivers’ Standings, the reality is she has a five-point deficit to Pin heading to a track that favoured the Mercedes junior last year. Whilst Pin seized both pole positions and would have been on course for back-to-back wins if not for a post-race penalty in Race 2, Weug finished five seconds behind her on track.
During the in-season test at Jeddah, Weug acknowledged that there were things she was doing wrong last year that she’s addressing. If she can master her one-lap pace and seal a second consecutive pole, the limited overtaking opportunities around Jeddah should play in her favour.
READ MORE: Untouchable Pin sees off Weug to take Shanghai Race 2 victory
Leading contenders start to emerge
Pin might be sitting pretty at the top of the Drivers’ Standings, but the French racer hasn’t got much breathing room from the pack behind. Two points behind second-place Weug, Chloe Chambers delivered back-to-back podiums in Shanghai but knows she needs to nail her Qualifying on a regular basis, a feat that proved to be a struggle last season.
Alisha Palmowski is the leading rookie in fourth and is brimming with confidence after winning the reverse grid Race 1 last time out. Despite this, the Red Bull Racing driver felt that the trip to the Chinese circuit would be one of her weakest weekends of the year.
Based off her efforts in testing, the Briton seems happier with the set-up direction as she set the fastest time across the three days of running.