F1 Academy: Chloe Chambers holds off Ella Lloyd to claim her first victory of the season

Chloe Chambers took a lights-to-flag victory in the third F1 Academy race at Montreal which was heavily disrupted by three safety car periods. Chambers made an excellent start and held off Ella Lloyd who secured her third runner-up result of the weekend, and championship leader Doriane Pin.

Photo credits: F1 Academy Ltd

Chloe Chambers took a lights-to-flag victory in the third F1 Academy race at Montreal which was

heavily disrupted by three separate safety car periods. Chambers made an excellent start and held

off the challenge posed by Rodin Motorsport driver Ella Lloyd who secured her third runner-up

result of the weekend. Championship leader Doriane Pin took the third step on the podium, while

also claiming fastest lap, as she retained her lead in the overall standings.

Tina Hausmann secured an excellent fourth place finish, while Chloe Chong converted her improved

pace into her first top-5 result of her F1 Academy career. Maya Weug was the biggest mover as the

Ferrari-supported driver finished sixth after starting in 15th , while Alisha Palmowski took the

chequered flag in seventh after opening lap contact forced her to pit for a new front wing.

Following a thrilling day of action on Saturday with two races taking place at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve,

Pin claimed the championship lead after victory in race one and a fourth-place finish in race two.

Technical issues prevented Weug from scoring any points across the two races, however with those

resolved she was aiming to end the weekend on a high.

Chambers was arguably the fastest driver heading into race three having claimed pole position,

while also setting the fastest lap of the race in the first contest. However, contact in race one and a

spin in race two limited her points scoring opportunities. Nonetheless, Chambers drew level with

Weug in the standings ahead of race three and was looking to use her pole position advantage to

now close the gap to Pin.

It was a rollercoaster day for Felbermayr who thought she had secured her first podium result in F1

Academy during race one after taking the chequered flag in third, before her Rodin Motorsport car

was later disqualified for a technical infringement. Nonetheless, the Austrian driver delivered a

stunning performance to take the victory in race two with a last lap pass on Nina Gademan, who

herself achieved a career best result with two third-place finishes.

Ella Lloyd and Alba Larsen have both displayed excellent racecraft during the event and this has

perhaps been a legacy of their programs in regional Formula 4 Championships. Lloyd had finished

both earlier races in second position, while Larsen charged through from the rear of the field to

finish fifth in race one, before securing a second top-5 result in race two.

Other standout performances from the first day of action included Tina Hausmann, who took the

bonus point for fastest lap in race two and Nicole Havrda who achieved her first points scoring finish

of the season in race one.

The grid for the final race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was based on the results from Friday’s

qualifying session and this saw Chambers lining up on pole position from teammate Palmowski in

second and Pin in third. Lloyd was targeting a hat-trick of podium finishes starting from fourth with

Hausmann in fifth and yesterday’s race winner Felbermayr in sixth. Weug lined up from 15 th position

on the grid and she was looking to score championship points to end her weekend on a positive

note.

Photo credits: F1 Academy Ltd

As the lights went out, it was a great start from Chambers who held the race lead out of the opening

turns. Lloyd made a fantastic getaway from the second row of the grid and she looked to the inside

of Palmowski into turn two. The drivers then ran side-by-side towards turn three with wheel-to-wheel contact then made. This spun Palmowski and damaged her front wing, while Lloyd continued

in the runner-up position. Pin had to brake in avoidance and although she made contact with

Palmowski, her car was undamaged.

This promoted Hausmann into third with her Prema Racing teammate Gademan now into fourth

position. Pin sat fifth while Chong made an excellent start to move into sixth position. As the drivers

exited turn six, Mathilda Paatz spun on the dirty outside line and as her car spun back across the

circuit, she was collected by an unfortunate Aiva Anagnostiadis. With both cars heavily damaged, the

safety car was deployed while a recovery could take place.

This was a fortunate break for Palmowski was able to pit and replace her front wing and rejoin at the

back of the queue in 16 th position. She was now looking to follow Weug through the field who had

gained three positions on lap one to run in 12th spot.

It was a lengthy neutralisation as both cars had stopped on the exit of turn seven, an unconventional

spot for an incident to take place. While the drivers circulated behind the safety car, a decision from

the stewards was announced that there would be no further action concerning the lap one contact

between Lloyd and Palmowski.

The race resumed on lap eight and Chambers timed her jump well to open out a gap of half a second

over Lloyd. A number of drivers were on the move, the highest of which was Pin who got an

excellent exit out of turn two which enabled her to overtake teammate Gademan into turn three.

Race two winner Felbermayr was also gaining positions as she overtook Chong, while Alba Larsen

passed Rafaela Ferreira for eighth and Weug got the better of Aurelia Nobels for 11 th spot.

After Gademan fell behind Pin, she had lost momentum and Felbermayr had now pulled clear on the

exit of turn nine. In an attempt to fight back, Gademan looked to the inside of the Austrian racer at

the hairpin and the cars made contact. This spun Felbermayr and further delayed Gademan, with

Chong slipping up the inside to move into fifth position.

Weug also benefited from this incident as she ended lap eight in ninth position, while Palmowski was

already on course for a strong recovery drive as she moved her Campos Racing machine into 13 th . As

lap nine began, Pin got an excellent run down the main straight and completed a move on

Hausmann for third while also setting the fastest lap of the race. Pin was now closing in on the race

leaders as Lloyd was applying the pressure to Chambers out front.

Weug’s strong race continued on lap 10 as she passed Ferreira for seventh. As the battles in the

midfield reached turn eight, Lia Block made contact with Ferreira under braking and as the Brazilian

racer spun, she was collected by her compatriot Nobels. With the cars of Block and Nobels unable to

rejoin with damage, the race entered a second safety car period. At this point, the stewards

announced a ten-second penalty was to be awarded to Gademan for the contact with Felbermayr at

the hairpin.

The race resumed on lap 13 and this time it was a more even restart at the head of the field with

Chambers unable to break clear of Lloyd and Pin. Larsen attempted to claim fifth away from Chong

into turn one, however the Danish driver was then exposed to the challenge of Weug. Weug looked

to the inside of Larsen into turn three and light contact was made which lost Larsen momentum and allowed Weug to move ahead. Palmowski was one of the drivers able to pass the Tommy Hilfiger

supported driver with the British racer now back up to seventh position.

Photo credits: F1 Academy Ltd

On lap 14, Felbermayr was keen to make up for lost time and as she attempted a pass on Courtney

Crone, who herself was running strongly inside the top-10, contact was made under braking. This

spun around the American driver who lighted impacted the wall while Felbermayr was able to

continue. However, Crone’s car was damaged and the recovery of her machine resulted in a third

safety car period.

Due to the earlier delays and the limited green flag running, the race became time limited and thus

ended behind the safety car with Chambers securing her first victory of the season. It was a hard-

fought win over Lloyd who completed a tremendous weekend by finishing all three races in the

runner-up position. The podium was completed by championship leader Pin who also set the fastest

lap of the race.

Hausmann secured her best result of the season in fourth, while Chong’s strong pace was rewarded

with a career best finish in fifth. Weug banked vital championship points with a fantastic

performance to take the chequered flag in sixth, while Palmowski’s recovery ended in a seventh-

place finish. Larsen secured an eighth-place result while the top-10 was completed by Ciconte and

Felbermayr.

Havrda finished in 11th in her home race with Ferreira in 12th , while Gademan was classified in 13th

after her ten-second penalty was applied. Crone, Block, Nobels, Paatz and Anagnostiadis were the

five drivers who failed to finish in another incident-filled race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

After securing a victory in race one, a fourth-place result in race two and a podium finish to end the

weekend, Pin leaves Montreal as the championship leader. Chambers is now up to second after

claiming her maiden victory of the season in race three, while Weug now sits third after a weekend

of damage limitation after technical issues plagued the first half of her weekend.

The F1 Academy drivers now take a summer break before making their single European appearance

of the season at Zandvoort in the Netherlands on the weekend of August 30th /31st .

Photo credits: F1 Academy Ltd