Chloe Chong makes strong British F4 return with top 10 at Snetterton

F1 Academy racer Chloe Chong made her return to the Wera Tools British Formula 4 Championship for a one-off round at Snetterton—and did so in style, securing a top-ten finish, her second-best result ever in the series. She added a P13 and a P14 to complete a very solid weekend of consistent drives and strong pace.

Photo credits: Roberts / JEP

F1 Academy racer Chloe Chong made her return to the Wera Tools British Formula 4 Championship for a one-off round at Snetterton—and did so in style, securing a top-ten finish, her second-best result ever in the series. She added a P13 and a P14 to complete a very solid weekend of consistent drives and strong pace.

Chong, who made her single-seater debut in 2023 in the newly-founded F1 Academy, stepped up to British F4 in 2024, racing for JHR Developments in her first year of mixed-gender F4. She had a season of development and learning, making progressive improvements all year and eventually securing a P11 and a P7 at Donington Park in the eighth round, scoring 16 points over the season.

Chong returned to F1 Academy in 2025, joining Rodin Motorsport in the Charlotte Tilbury-sponsored entry. From pre-season testing, she showed a significant step forward in performance, often running close to the top five. However, the first rounds of the season were not representative of her potential, as a series of setbacks and incidents meant she could only finish one race in the top ten—Jeddah’s Race 2—across the first three rounds.

Aiming to continue her development with the Rodin Motorsport team, the British-Canadian driver returned to British F4 at Snetterton—without prior testing—and joined a highly competitive field, proving she can fight for top-ten finishes.

Missing the mid-season test ahead of the event, Chong got behind the wheel on Friday morning as official practice began. She immediately showed strong pace, topping the female entries with the 14th-fastest time in 1:48.349, less than a second off pace-setter Fionn McLaughlin.

Chong nearly matched that time in FP2, clocking a 1:48.390 to go 19th fastest, but shortened the gap to the leaders.

In Saturday morning’s qualifying, conditions were damp, but all drivers opted for slicks. Chong’s first timed lap of 1:55.4 put her in the top ten early on. She then dipped below the 1:52 mark with a 1:51.8 to take P15 with 10 minutes to go. As the session progressed and others improved, Chong responded with a 1:50.6 to climb back to P14, then shaved off six more tenths for a 1:50.0 and provisional P13.

In the final minutes, she secured P15 on the grid for her British F4 return, just over two tenths off the reverse-grid pole.

For Race 1 on Saturday afternoon, the second-fastest qualifying lap determined the starting grid, and Chong lined up in P14. As lights went out, McLaughlin led the field ahead of Joslyn and Palmer. Everyone got through Turn 1 cleanly, with Al Azhari gaining three places into second.

Chong initially dropped a position at the start but recovered to P15 by the end of Lap 1, running as the top female driver with Kosterman and Larsen right behind. Kosterman eventually found a way past, but Chong kept pushing, even as Edge joined the battle behind.

When Avramides and Mercier made contact and had to pit for repairs, Chong capitalized and moved up to P13 on Lap 3, once again chasing Kosterman. Chloe opened a small gap to Larsen, who was battling with Hewetson, and refocused on Kosterman ahead. She consistently improved her lap times, running in the 1:52.6s range.

With McLaughlin pitting due to front wing damage, Al Azhari inherited the lead. Chong, now in P12 and still closing in on Kosterman, broke into the 1:51s. On Lap 7, she made a clean overtake to move up to P11, again leading the female drivers. Once ahead, Chong picked up more pace, clocking a 1:51.0 and opening a two-second gap to the JHR Developments car behind. She even lapped faster than Bearman ahead, despite an eight-second gap with three minutes to go, and dipped into the 1:50s by the final laps.

At the chequered flag, Adam Al Azhari took a controlled win over Joslyn and Jeff-Hall. Initially classified in P11, Chong was promoted to P10 after post-race penalties—securing her second top-ten in British F4 and her second-best finish in the series. It was an impressive drive marked by strong pace in clean air.

Photo credits: Roberts / JEP

On Sunday morning for Race 2, the track was again damp, but all drivers started on slicks. August Ryba was on pole of the partial reverse grid ahead of compatriot Bergstrom. Chong started from P14.

Conditions proved tricky, and the race was red-flagged after a chaotic start. Hartfield and Campbell-Pilling crashed, Bergstrom went off at Turn 1, Raber ran wide in the following corner, and Al Azhari took the lead amid the chaos. A multi-car crash at the back took out several cars, but all female drivers avoided the incidents.

The race was restarted from the original grid positions, but red-flagged once again and subsequently rescheduled for later in the afternoon. On the third attempt, everyone got through Turn 1 cleanly. Chong avoided more incidents ahead and moved up to P13 with a great opening lap.

She quickly set a 1:51.6 and began chasing Palmer and Piszcyk, who were in a tight midfield battle. On Lap 3, she gained another half-second on Piszcyk.

Chong applied pressure to Piszcyk, setting her personal best of 1:51.046 on Lap 5, but couldn’t quite find a way past her Rodin teammate. She improved again with a 1:50.7, consistently running top-10 pace and staying within half a second of the Australian. Despite her late push for P12, Chong came just a tenth short at the line, securing another convincing P13 finish—once again as the top female driver.

In the final race of the weekend on Sunday afternoon, Fionn McLaughlin started from pole. Chloe Chong lined up in P15, aiming to make up ground. McLaughlin had a great start, with Molnar moving into second as Joslyn got a slower launch. Several cars locked up and ran wide in the opening corners, but everyone avoided major incidents despite Jeff-Hall losing positions.

Caught in the midfield shuffle, Chong lost two places and dropped to P17 on Lap 1. She settled into the 1:52s and pulled away from Larsen, then caught up to Mercier by Lap 3 and began a hard-fought battle.

Still under pressure from Jeff-Hall behind, Chong kept pushing; she overtook Mercier on Lap 6 to take P16.

When Robinson pitted and then Al Azhari and Fu collided, Chong was promoted to P13 after Fu retired and Al Azhari pitted with damage. Chloe then closed in on Fernandez and ran consistently quicker by a few tenths, while defending from Jeff-Hall. The final laps saw a tight five-car train involving Fernandez, Chong, Jeff-Hall, Larsen, and Mercier.

Despite defending strongly, Chong lost P13 to Jeff-Hall on the final lap, crossing the line in P14. The five cars were separated by just a handful of tenths at the flag. Chong’s P14 was nevertheless another solid result—gaining a position from where she started and further proof of her pace despite being held up for most of the race.

It was a very positive weekend for the F1 Academy driver, who displayed her potential in a clean, consistent set of races. “Showed up with no testing, adapted quickly to everything thrown at us. Fought hard in the races and even came home with a couple points,” Chloe commented. “More importantly we achieved all the objectives we came here with. Definitely showed what we can do when not limited by circumstances outside of our control.”

“Mega thanks to Rodin Motorsport for all the support this weekend, the energy was immaculate. Very grateful to be able to compete thanks to my amazing supporters and sponsors!”

Chong will now turn her focus back to F1 Academy as she heads to Montreal, Canada, for what will effectively be a home race on 14–15 June.