RACE 3: Chambers overcomes intense stop-start pressure to take superb Montreal victory

Chloe Chambers stayed in full control in Canada to convert pole position into her first victory of the 2025 season. Fending off McLaren’s Ella Lloyd, the Red Bull Ford driver mastered two Safety Car restarts to deliver a lights-to-flag win.

Lloyd scored her third consecutive second-place finish in Montreal, whilst Pin recovered from a tricky opening lap to secure the final spot on the podium.

The Campos Racing duo of Chambers and Alisha Palmowski once again lined up on the front row, with polesitter Chambers holding firm off the line. A rapid start from fourth-placed Lloyd put her alongside Palmowski through the first chicane.

The pair banged wheels on the run to Turn 3, sending Palmowski spinning. Pin narrowly avoided being collected despite a knock to her front wing but dropped down to P5 behind PREMA Racing teammates Tina Hausmann and Nina Gademan.

Contact ensued further back after Wild Card Mathilda Paatz lost it out of Turn 7 and crashed into the path of Aiva Anagnostiadis, necessitating a Safety Car by the end of the opening lap. Returning to green flag conditions on Lap 8, Chambers floored it into the final chicane to put space between herself and Lloyd. Pin fired her way past Hausmann on the restart, going later on the brakes at Turn 3 for fourth.

Race 2 winner Emma Felbermayr was also making moves, pulling off a quick dive past Chloe Chong for P6. A good run into Turn 10 put her side-by-side with Gademan at The Hairpin, but the Alpine driver clipped the kerb on the inside and tagged Felbermayr, sending the #5 Kick Sauber spinning. Gademan was later handed a 10-second time penalty for the incident.

Lloyd kept the pressure up on Chambers, setting the fastest lap heading into Lap 9. Fighting over the podium, Pin got the tow on Hausmann to breeze past the Aston Martin driver for third, whilst Maya Weug sought to salvage a result from her unlucky weekend, having made up eight places to P7.

Another Safety Car was called after Lia Block misjudged her braking into Turn 8 as she tried to get past Rafaela Ferreira for the final point on Lap 10. Hitting both the Racing Bulls driver and the wall, Ferreira’s car spun over the track and collected Aurelia Nobels, who retired with damage following the contact.

Chambers pulled off a near identical restart on Lap 13, but Lloyd had sussed it out already and stayed close to the American.

Larsen tried to go around the outside of Chloe Chong for P5, but the Tommy Hilfiger driver left the door open for Weug. Banging wheels at Turn 3, it was the Ferrari driver who emerged in front as Larsen dropped back to eighth.

Palmowski then pounced, demoting Larsen down another place before diving past Gademan at Turn 10 for seventh. Larsen followed the Red Bull Racing driver through, getting the tow on the #3 Alpine car into the final corner.

The Safety Car would make a third and final appearance after contact on Lap 14 between Courtney Crone and Felbermayr under braking left the Haas car facing the wrong way.

As the Race approached the 30-minute mark, there was not enough time to get back to green flag racing, allowing Chambers to take the chequered flag for the win with Lloyd and Pin completing the podium.

Hausmann matched her best F1 ACADEMY finish in fourth ahead of Chong. Weug recovered valuable points as she rose from P15 to P6 ahead of Palmowski and Larsen. Wella’s Joanne Ciconte finished ninth as Felbermayr rounded out the top 10, after Gademan's penalty dropped her down from P9 to P13.

WHAT’S NEXT?

PREMA Racing leave Montreal with the lead of both Standings, with Pin now holds a 20-point advantage over Chambers on 109 points, with Weug a further 17 points behind in third. The Italian squad are 27 points clear of Campos Racing in the Teams’ Standings.

The F1 ACADEMY drivers now head on summer break before the 2025 season resumes with Round 5’s visit to the Circuit Zandvoort from August 29-31.