Interview
‘I had nothing to lose’ – Chambers outlines how mindset changes helped her claim commanding Las Vegas victory
Chloe Chambers made the most of her final weekend in F1 ACADEMY as she chased down a remarkable win in Race 2 in Las Vegas, getting to grips with the street circuit to deliver a dominant performance.
After securing her fourth pole position of the season, the Red Bull Ford driver led every lap and audaciously used the final lap to set the fastest time of the race, consolidating her P3 spot in the Standings.
The memory of her Race 1-ending collision with teammate Alisha Palmowski didn’t dissuade Chambers from getting a superb launch at lights out. While her lead was under a second on the opening laps, she kept her cool and gradually built up a gap of 4.8s over Palmowski by the time she reached the chequered flag.
Avoiding battles with the Red Bull Racing driver, Maya Weug and eventual series champion Doriane Pin, the American won her home race and accumulated an impressive 28 points in the process, bringing her season total to 127.
Reflecting on the day, she said: “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.”
Chambers’ season has been far from straightforward – originally intending to challenge for the title, she was forced out of the running after a disastrous weekend in Zandvoort saw her take just four points.
They all came from the reverse grid Race 1, as a technical problem saw her stranded on the grid ahead of Race 2, preventing her from competing while her rivals in Pin and Weug both finished on the podium.
“After Zandvoort, my whole mindset changed,” Chambers explained. “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.”