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‘The job’s not done yet, but I’m halfway there’ – Chambers targets home victory after securing front low lock-out for Campos in Las Vegas
Chloe Chambers started her final F1 ACADEMY weekend in the best way possible as she took a commanding pole position around the Las Vegas circuit, with her Campos Racing teammate Alisha Palmowski set to line up alongside her on the front row.
The Red Bull Ford driver carried out an impressive comeback after a broken suspension saw her crash into the barriers in Practice earlier on, recovering to claim pole by 0.380s over Palmowski and mark their third 1-2 Qualifying result of the season.
For much of the session, it looked like the fight for top spot would be between Chambers and Standings leader Doriane Pin, who is looking to beat her nearest rival Maya Weug to the title.
The American driver ultimately found her rhythm and set a rapid time of 2:06.538 while Pin and Weug settled for P4 and P5 respectively, leading to Chambers labelling the result as “super special”.
“I think at a track like this with the long straights and the heavy braking zones, it’s definitely going to be a fight for the race,” she said after Qualifying. “The job’s not done yet but I’m halfway there.
“Tomorrow’s race is just about enjoying it and having fun, and hopefully doing some of my last overtakes. Race 2 is all about trying to focus on myself and drive my own race.”
The 21-year-old is out of the mix for the title, but she has the perfect opportunity to blow Ella Lloyd’s two-point advantage over her out of the water and take third place in the Standings, with the McLaren driver only managing to claim P10.
Chambers’ Qualifying success – her fourth pole position of the season – came in a session where slipstreams were critical to determining a driver’s place on the grid, making team dynamics more important than ever.
When asked whether Campos Racing had held any discussions about their drivers helping each other, she replied: “We actually didn’t have any team game plan, to be honest. I tried to help Rafaela Ferreira out at the beginning a bit, and then I caught some traffic so had to find my own space again.
“I think Alisha did a good job of getting out of my way when she needed to. I tried to give Alisha a bit of a tow before I let off and let her by before the last lap but you always have to think about the team at the same time as yourself.
“I tried to do what I could, but of course it also always matters how the person behind positions themselves. I think I did that really well on the last lap. I actually went into the last lap thinking that I had messed up a bit by being too close to the car ahead, so I think there was still more time on the table. I had a pretty big gap to Alisha in P2 so I’m pretty happy with it.”
Palmowski has tucked in behind her teammate on two other occasions this season, narrowly missing out on a maiden pole position in Miami and Montreal, but her wholly impressive rookie performance has enabled her to sit P5 in the Standings just 26 points adrift of Chambers.
Balancing the disappointment of missing another chance to take pole with the positive outcome for Campos, the Red Bull Racing driver said: “I think I am happy overall. I mean, if I’m going to lose pole to anybody, I would want it to be Chloe so I’m really happy to get the team another 1-2. They’ve worked so hard so I’m just hugely grateful for that.
“It was a stressful session, definitely. It was like a slipstream war of who could get the best tow. Judging the gap to the car in front was a nightmare to be honest – on one lap I was too close, the next I was too far behind.
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“I think that ultimately cost me the chance to be closer to Chloe, or to even be on pole. The gap was just a little bit too big. Overall, it’s a really good result and we’ve got a good chance in Race 2.”
Prompted on what exactly Palmowski thinks she must do to fight for the win, she candidly answered: “Pass Chloe! Obviously I’d really love a 1-2 for the team – they deserve it and it would be the perfect way to end the year.
“I think it’s going to be hard with the slipstream down the back straight. I’d imagine the lead will change multiple times throughout the race, but hopefully if we can try to work as a team and bring home a 1-2, that would be great.”