Women in Motosport

MAYA WEUG

NAME Maya Martine Els Weug
AGE 19 - born June 1, 2004
COUNTRY Germany - Belgium - Spanish
JOB Racind Driver 

Weug started karting when she was seven years old. She has competed in multiple national championships, such as the Spanish Karting Championship, where she finished second in the Alevin Class in 2015. 2016 was Weug's first year on the international karting stage, where she would immediately show her talent, winning the WSK Final Cup in the 60 Mini category, where she beat fellow future academy member Dino Beganovic. In the next four years the Dutch racer continued to compete on the international karting stage, making appearances in both the CIK-FIA Karting European Championship and Karting World Championship; her best result in the former ended up being a 17th place in 2020.

In 2021 Weug made her debut in Italian F4 for Iron Lynx Motorsport Lab as part of their Iron Dames program in association with her FDA-membership. Driving alongside the Italian pairing of Leonardo Fornaroli and Pietro Armanni, Weug would score three rookie podiums, one each at Le Castellet, Misano and Vallelunga, however she would miss out on scoring any points in the main championship, thus ending up 35th in the standings. In an interview, Weug stated that "[they] were so close so many times [to score points]", and said that her lack of experience hindered her throughout the season.

For the 2022 season the Dutch driver would remain with Iron Dames, partnering Ivan Domingues. A mixed-weather qualifying session in the opening round at the Imola Circuit enabled Weug to start third in both races on Sunday, and after scoring her first point in Race 1 she would finish sixth on Sunday. At the following round in Misano, Weug continued this run of form by scoring yet more points, and despite a heavy collision at the end of Race 3 she would be classified eighth due to the countback rule. The Belgian took a tenth place from the next meeting at Spa-Francorchamps, before yet another top-ten finish at Vallelunga. Having scored points in three more races during the remainder of the season, Weug was placed 14th in the championship, one place ahead of teammate Domingues.

Having taken part in several post-season tests with KIC Motorsport, Weug would progress to the Formula Regional European Championship, driving for the Finnish outfit. She achieved her best result in the second race at Spa-Francorchamps, with a rookie win and 6th place overall classification. She was the only KIC Motorsport driver to score any points during the season, finishing in a points position 6 times for a total of 27 points. Weug finished the 2023 FRECA season third among rookies, and 17th among all 42 drivers eligible for points. 

Weug was selected to take part in a one-day FIA Formula 3 test at Magny-Cours in November 2021, alongside fellow Iron Dames racer Doriane Pin and W Series drivers Nerea Martí and Irina Sidorkova.

In October 2020 Weug was nominated as one of twenty female drivers of ages between 12 and 16 to compete in the "Girls on Track - Rising Stars" programme organized by the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission, with the reward for the victor of the shootout being a place in the Ferrari Driver Academy. Weug made it into the final selection stage alongside Doriane Pin, Julia Ayoub and Antonella Bassani, and on 22 January it was announced that she had won the shootout and would be joining the FDA.

Prema Racing announced the signing of Weug and that she will represent Scuderia Ferrari for the 2024 season in F1 Academy.