After a strong pre-season test in advance of the season opener , Ella headed into Practice and Qualifying in the battle for the points.
Qualifying was a battle for track position, that also provided you with a good slipstream down the long straights.
Ella ran consistently in the Top 10 , until the final moments when she was just pipped and finished P11 on the timesheets.
Ella was less than 0.1s off a top 6 starting position - meaning she would start P11 in both of the races.
Race 1 on Saturday afternoon saw Ella make a difficult start, losing a few spots before settling into her rhythm and managed to pick off a couple of positions.
The long corners and huge slipstream made overtaking difficult , as Ella battled for the points until the latter stages
Ella crossed the line in her debut F1 ACADEMY race in P11, narrowly missing out on a Top-10 finish after having to manage her tyres to the chequered flag.
Race 2 saw Ella make a better launch , but ended up emerging from the opening battles in P14 with work to do.
She kept her nose clean and consistent , picking up a couple of positions by half-distance and was in the slipstream train that developed for the points-paying positions in P10.
A late Safety Car sadly didn’t quite fall Ella’s way to help her make further ground , as she came home in P12 at the finish - rounding out her first race weekend in F1 ACADEMY and her second ever single-seater event.
Following the cancellation of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah, Ella will be next in racing action for F1 ACADEMY at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Circuit in Montreal, on the 22-24 May.
Photos by Getty Images / McLaren
