Chloe Chambers’ final F1 Academy race weekend had its highs and lows. Following a crash in Free Practice, she bounced back to take pole in Qualifying. In a battle with her teammate Palmowski in Race 1, Chambers ended her race early after making contact. She redeemed herself thoroughly after dominating Race 2—leading from start to end.
The race ended up being less tricky than the American had predicted, with tow not being as drastic as first thought. This worked well for her, allowing her to steadily build a gap. Chambers even gained the confidence to push for the fastest lap, which she secured.
“It was a really good race from me – pretty boring from my side, to be honest! The first couple of laps I knew were going to be difficult because I was expecting the tow to be a big factor, but it turned out to be slightly less than what I expected.
“That was good for me because it meant that I could steadily build a gap throughout the race. There was some battling behind me that just opened it up more and it gave me the confidence on the last lap to go for the fastest lap, because I saw on the screens that I didn’t have it. I knew I would be able to go for it, so I went for it and I’m glad to have gotten it in the end.”
In what has been a tricky season for the American, Chambers was forced to change her mindset. During the first portion of the season, she was largely in contention for the Championship also. This all changed with a horrific weekend in Zandvoort. Despite this, she finished 3rd in the Championship with 127 points.
“After Zandvoort, my whole mindset changed. I think after Zandvoort I didn’t really have a realistic chance at the title, so for me I had nothing to lose.
“The incident yesterday was because Alisha and I just raced each other too aggressively. On my part, I for sure raced a bit too aggressively with her. Today I was back to start from pole and drive my own race mode and it definitely paid off.”
