The Pole's hat-trick confirms that Pulling is the F1 Academy champion

Abbi Pulling was crowned F1 Academy champion after a disastrous qualifying session for her Mercedes-backed rival Doriane Pin in Abu Dhabi.

The Alpine junior was crowned on Saturday in Qatar last weekend, however the cancellation of the second race as a result of barrier repairs and the following staging of a 3rd race in Abu Dhabi meant the job was not yet done.

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This was because, although the second race was not held, pole position points are awarded after the ultimate grid positions have been distributed, meaning Pin retained her two points for this outing.

The addition of a 3rd race for the present weekend meant there have been still 84 points up for grabs and Pulling's lead was just 83.

To deny the British driver the crown, Pin needed to go for max range and hope for a miracle to present Pulling probably the most improbable of zero results.

Considering Pulling had been on the rostrum in every race of the season and had only been outside the highest two places once, Pin had greater than a mountain ahead of him – a task that became insurmountable when the Mercedes protégé saw her first thrice of Friday's session qualifying session removed as a result of exceeding track limits at the primary corner.

Although she ran a series of laps towards the top and her best time in the primary two races was fifth, Pulling secured all three pole positions and an additional six points.

Abbi Pulling, Rodin Motorsport

Photo: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

“I wanted it so bad,” Pulling said on the team radio as she lay on her knees to rest, which gave her 10 poles for the yr.

On his technique to the title, Pulling has to date claimed seven wins from 10 races, the primary of which was an inherited success after Pin bizarrely continued an additional lap after taking the checkered flag within the second race in Jeddah.