F1 Academy returns after weeks of rest and the drivers are in Montreal for the Canadian GP weekend. Like all other drivers on the grid, this will be Chole Chambers’ first time tackling Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. This weekend marks the debut of the Canadian Grand Prix, on the F1 Academy calendar.
Chambers is currently P3 in the Championship standings with a total of 55 points to her name. The American sits 9 points behind current Championship leader, MP Motorsport’s Maya Weug. The Red Bull Ford driver will be looking to capitalise on Weug’s poor qualifying.
Race 2 in Miami was postponed until this weekend in Canada due to the weather, and the grid will remain the same. This leaves Chambers starting Race 1 and Race 3 on Pole, also securing Pole position in this weekend’s Qualifying session.
A Canada debut for F1 Academy
This will be F1 Academy’s first ever visit to the iconic Circuit de Gilles-Villeneuve. This will be the 15th circuit to be featured on an F1 Academy calendar since the series’ debut in 2023. Chambers along with the rest of the grid enters the weekend with no prior experience on the track. This has created an even playing field for all drivers and teams.
The American driver expressed her excitement to revisit a familiar track from her times in karting, revealing that the last time she visited the track was back in 2016. Chambers is also looking forward to tackling a track she had no prior testing at. She is curious to see how the weekend will play out.
“Yeah, I mean, for me, it’s really exciting. I grew up racing go-karts here for a couple of years, so I actually haven’t been back to Canada at all, I don’t think, since 2016. So, it’s been a while, but a lot of familiar faces.”
“Yeah, I’m really excited to have a brand new track without any testing. It’s just gonna, I think, mix things up a little bit, so it’ll be exciting to see how the weekend plays out.“
Chambers’ suspected performance for Canada
Although no F1 Academy teams or drivers have taken part in a race weekend at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Chambers held high hopes. The American explained that due to the nature of the track and its layout, there will seemingly be opportunities to gain position.
Despite the difficult nature of this track, it remains fairly repetitive and the mistakes of others drivers will create opportunities.
“Yeah, I mean, the lap here is really short. So there is a lot of positions to be made up with a small amount of time,
“and then because there’s not a whole lot of corners in the grand scheme of things, I think it’ll be really dependent on how consistent you can be and just putting the whole lap together and not making any mistakes, and I think that will be kind of where the speed is at.”
Triple race weekend
The last time we saw the F1 Academy drivers on track was back in Miami. However, Race 2 of the F1 Academy Miami GP was cancelled following persistent rain at the track. As a result, the grid set in Miami for Race 2 will be used to establish the grid for Race 1 on Saturday. This race has been reinstated on top of the usual two races we see in a weekend.
Chambers expressed her enthusiasm in regard to having three races across the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. The American had qualified on pole for the second race in Miami, so missing out on this race was disappointing to say the least.
A busier weekend than usual
Chambers will be looking to maximise her performance across the F1 Academy Canadian GP weekend. With an extra race taking place this weekend, her initial focus will be on the rescheduled Race 1.
The Red Bull Ford driver will be starting on pole, increasing her excitement that the race was rescheduled rather than cancelled. She is looking forward to the unique weekend schedule and excited to see how the weekend plays out. The American driver also added that, “I think it’s really good that they’ve been able to reschedule the postponed Miami race. I think obviously for me it’s a good thing because I’ll be starting on pole, but yeah, I’m really excited.“
She continued on to say, “I think it’ll be interesting to kind of see because usually we have the reverse grid race as the first race of the weekend. So I think it’ll be a little bit different this weekend because it’s a new track for everybody.
“Prior to that first race we only have practice and quali, so the first race will be a normal grid race, so to say, rather than the reverse grid race, so it’ll be interesting to kind of see how the rest of the races are going to play out for the rest of the weekend. But yeah, I mean the more race time that we have, I think the better in all honesty.“
Reflecting on the 2024 season
Chambers has achieved back to back pole positions in the rounds prior to the Canadian GP. Her performance this season has improved in comparison to her previous season. The American driver has achieved podium positions three times across the first three races of the season.
The Red Bull Ford driver reflected on the improvements she made, stating her qualifying performance was something she had worked on. Humourously, she also added that it seemed to be less crucial with the reverse grid advantage for Race 1, this season. The American driver also explained how crucial the months of reset were between this season and last.
“I think compared to last year, I’ve been able to improve on my qualifying performance. I mean, kind of ironically, it’s less important this year because we have the reverse grid race, so there is still opportunity for a lot of points to be made up if you are qualifying in the sixth, seventh, eighth kind of area. But yeah, I mean, I think that’s been a big step forward, but also just having the time in the off season to kind of reset, I think it’s been a really positive thing for me and the last little bit of the year didn’t go super great, so I definitely needed that little bit of time away to kind of reset and kind of reevaluate my goals for this year.“
Chambers is surrounded by support
With drivers only having two years in F1 Academy to prove themselves, and achieve their goals, relationships can become tricky. Many of the drivers on the grid, past and present, have changed teams from their first season to their second. This was not the case for Chambers. The American has valued the relationship and support she sees within her team, and with her engineers.
“Yeah, I mean, the support that I’ve been getting so far this year has been really nice. I think the main thing for me was also staying with Campos Racing.
“I mean, you know, they’re the ones ultimately running the car and, you know, I get to keep the same engineers, same mechanics, so those are the two closest bonds that you have to build in racing. And so only having two years in F1 Academy doesn’t give you a whole lot of time to build those relationships.”
The support from the F1 teams backing her
In her debut season of F1 Academy in 2024, Chambers was backed by American F1 team Haas. Unfortunately, she did not see the best results within her debut season. Towards the end of that same season, she received an offer from Red Bull. With this offer, would have come great consideration, although made the decision to sign with Red Bull.
While the American has expressed she values the familiarity and relationship she built in the 2024 season, Red Bull is a powerful team, and joining them benefits her career. She expresses that the extra support she receives from Red Bull has been beneficial. In saying this, she emphasises that the support from her team has been key.
“But having to switch to a different team or something would be a lot more work for me, so not only do I get the benefit of having the extra support from Red Bull, but also being able to keep the same team around me and be able to go into this year and just focus on maximising my on track performance.”
