Chloe Chong concluded her first British Formula 4 season with steady improvement, showcasing fighting spirit in all races after a practice accident hampered her progress early on in the Brands Hatch finale - ultimately gaining valuable experience for her future in motorsport.
Chloe Chong completed her first season in British Formula 4 during the Brands Hatch season finale, where she made up places in Race 1 and put in solid performances across all four races of the weekend, including the makeup race for the Silverstone round. She showed particularly good pace in the final contest of the season, capping off a year of substantial progress in her racing career.
In only her second year of car racing, Chong made remarkable strides throughout the season, improving significantly as the year went on. Her second half of the season was particularly strong, where she demonstrated notable speed and improvement in qualifying.
Despite some setbacks and misfortune along the way, it was a valuable learning experience for the young British-Canadian driver, who transitioned into a mixed-gender F4 series for the first time after making her racing debut in the F1 Academy last year, following her progression from karting.
Chloe's primary goal this season was to learn the tracks and gain experience, which she achieved with determination. By the end of the season, she was frequently competing near the top ten in one of Europe’s most competitive F4 series, despite challenging conditions and races often disrupted by adverse weather.
The 17-year-old JHR Developments driver built momentum as the season progressed: she finished 12th at Knockhill, then enjoyed a positive weekend at Donington, where she first topped her personal best with a P11 finish before securing her first top-10 of the year with a 7th-place result.
At the Silverstone National round, the penultimate event of the season, she was once again close to the top ten, securing a P12 finish and setting her sights on a strong performance at the season finale on the challenging Brands Hatch GP circuit.
Brands Hatch GP, a track that offers little room for error and limited testing opportunities during the season, saw Chloe immediately show her potential. During pre-event testing in the week leading up to the event, she was consistently close to the top ten. On Wednesday, she clocked the tenth-fastest times in both sessions run on the Indy layout, which boosted her confidence heading into the weekend.
During Friday's practice on the GP layout, Chloe was then 13th fastest in the morning, less than a second off the ultimate pace-setters, showing she had the potential to fight for points. Unfortunately, the afternoon session was disrupted when she went off track, causing a lengthy red flag. Although Chloe was luckily unhurt, the incident cost her valuable track time ahead of Saturday's qualifying.
The final qualifying session of the season on Saturday morning saw Chloe initially put in a good lap, running inside the top ten on her first representative lap. She improved to 9th place before a red flag interrupted the session. When qualifying resumed, another red flag shortly after meant that Chloe couldn't capitalize on her earlier pace, eventually qualifying 19th on the grid for Race 1.
Chong started Race 1 at the Brands Hatch GP circuit from 19th position on the grid after a challenging qualifying session. At the start, she managed to hold her position in the opening laps despite pressure from the cars around her. She initially lost a position to Berg but stayed ahead of Bearman and Pulling, the latter having pitted with damage early in the race.
As the race progressed, Chloe settled into a good rhythm, consistently improving her lap times and maintaining her position despite facing pressure from Bearman, who was attempting to pass her.
Chloe's defensive driving was impressive, as she kept Bearman behind, even improving her times in Sector 1 to strengthen her hold on her position.
On lap 9, an incident involving Ninovic brought out the safety car with six minutes remaining in the race, which neutralized the field.
The race ended under the safety car conditions, with Chloe crossing the line in 17th place, having gained two positions from her starting slot. Following a post-race penalty for August Raber, she was promoted to 16th place, marking a solid start to her weekend.
The second race of the weekend was a makeup race for the Silverstone round that had been postponed due to inclement weather. Chloe began this race from a promising 12th position on the grid, providing a good opportunity to score a strong result. However, at the lights out, she faced some difficulties, losing three positions on the opening lap and dropping to 15th.
On the second lap, Chloe’s challenges continued as she fell to the back of the field. Despite the setback, she didn’t give up and started to improve her lap times. Chloe consistently set her best laps, as she closed the gap to Fu who was running just ahead of her. Matching Fu's pace with consistent 1:26.3 lap times, Chloe was determined to regain positions.
By lap 9, Chloe's persistence paid off as she successfully overtook Fu to move up to 17th position. Meanwhile, at the front of the pack, Robinson had extended his lead over Seewooruthun and Sherwood, with the latter receiving a five-second penalty for track limits.
Chloe continued to improve her personal best lap times, eventually recording a 1:26.0, which allowed her to secure 17th position by the checkered flag.
Race 3 saw a reverse-grid format come into play, which meant plenty of action was expected from the field. Chloe lined up 19th on the grid, ready to make the most of the opportunities ahead.
She initially dropped to 20th at the start as Berg made a recovery drive from the back. Early in the race, Sherwood quickly took the lead from pole-sitter Ella Lloyd, while Campbell Pilling also looked strong before facing issues.
However, the race took a dramatic turn when Sherwood had a heavy crash with around 12 minutes remaining, causing significant damage to the barriers at Sheene's Corner. The incident led to a red flag, and the race was stopped. Fortunately, Sherwood was unharmed, but the race could not be resumed.
Chloe was involved in a close battle with Harrison just before the red flag was deployed, showing good pace and looked strong for recovery drive. Although she was unable to capitalize on her strong form due to the early termination of the race, she finished in 19th position.
The final race of the weekend and the season took place under mixed weather conditions, with rain arriving just before the start, making tyre and strategy choices critical. Chloe started from 18th on the grid, and despite the tricky conditions, she had a phenomenal start, rocketing through the pack to gain seven positions almost immediately, moving into the midfield battle.
Unfortunately, a series of incidents on the opening lap, including Higgins sliding off into the gravel at Turn 1, led to a safety car and then a red flag to clear the track. The race was subsequently restarted with the drivers returning to their original grid positions, negating Chloe's excellent start. This was a blow to her progress, as she had made one of her best starts of the season.
When the race restarted, Chong was once again on the charge, immediately gaining two positions to pass Fu and Scoular. She continued to fight hard in the challenging conditions, maintaining her focus on closing in on Campbell Pilling.
Her confidence grew as she matched the pace of the cars ahead, even as grip levels remained challenging on the wet track. Chong was running in 15th before another safety car was called with 10 minutes to go, triggered by off-track excursions from Raber and Fu.
When the race went green again with only two minutes left, Chong pushed hard but was overtaken by Berg and Scoular during the tricky restart, ultimately finishing in 17th place.
Despite losing some positions in the chaotic final laps, Chloe’s performance in the wet was promising.
"Brands GP was brilliant until it wasn’t", Chloe commented about her weekend. "From a top 10 in practice 1 to a crash in practice 2. Unfortunately it set me back for the weekend. Even though I made up 7 places at the start of race 3, the red flag halted all progress and set me back to where I started", she continued.
Chloe's ability to recover from setbacks and adapt to changing conditions however was a positive takeaway from her season.
"Although there were loads of ups and downs I am sure I have come away from this year as a 100% better driver", she said. "All year we’ve moved up the order consistently and it’s shown with winning the Pirelli Overtaking award at Zandvoort, achieving the most places gained out of the entire field for any round of the season."
Her consistent race pace, particularly in the second halves of the races, highlights the progress she has made this season as a driver; the experience and knowledge she has gained from competing in such a competitive field will undoubtedly be valuable as she moves forward in her racing career.Â
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