Chambers thrilled to deliver ‘best case scenario’ after securing first F1 ACADEMY pole in Jeddah

Chloe Chambers was overjoyed to have qualified on pole for the first time in her F1 ACADEMY career, with the Red Bull Ford driver glad to end her nine-round wait in Jeddah.

The American stormed to pole with her late effort of a 2:04.320, overcoming teammate Alisha Palmowski and Standings leader Doriane Pin, who was two tenths back in second.

A triple front row appearance in last year’s season finale in Abu Dhabi was Chambers’ previous best, whilst her Campos Racing team have not topped Qualifying since Nerea Martí scored pole in Round 2 of the 2023 season in Valencia.

Reflecting on her achievement, she admitted that she was cautious to believe her engineer Santiago Navarro on the radio at first and that the pole felt long overdue after coming close on several occasions last season.

“I’m feeling really good,” the 20-year-old said. “I asked on the radio if it was confirmed because I didn’t want my engineer to say, ‘oh you’re on pole’ and then somebody else come across the line and take it away.

“My first pole position, I’ve had a few close ones last year but to finally get pole position and be able to start the race on Sunday from that first grid spot I think is a really good feeling.”

Qualifying had proved to be one of Chambers’ weak points in the past and although she thinks it’s too soon to say those struggles have been completely banished, Chambers believes the team are reaping the rewards of their testing programme earlier this month.

“For this round, we have our Qualifying where we wanted it to be,” noted Chambers. “We made a really big effort during the test to really try to nail the strategy down with the tyres and the runs that we were going to do.

READ MORE: QUALIFYING: Chambers puts it all together as she seizes maiden pole position in Jeddah

“I think all of us in Campos Racing did the same runs and I think it was definitely a benefit to us. It'll be an exciting race tomorrow for the three of us and then Sunday's race is what I'm really looking forward to.”

Chambers has two very different races on her hand — surrounded by cars in her P8 start for the reverse grid Race 1 and with a clear run down to Turn 1 from pole in Race 2.

Nevertheless, her starts remain no less critical with the Jeddah Corniche Circuit’s limited overtaking opportunities leaving the opening corner as both her best chance to make up ground and vulnerable to a move for the lead.

Contending with the likes of Pin and Maya Weug alongside Palmowski on the second row in Race 2, Chambers will want to bring home her second victory in the series and add to her tally of two podiums so far this season.

Solely focusing on herself rather than her rivals, the Red Bull Ford driver acknowledged the significance of Sunday’s race to her hopes of kickstarting a title campaign.

“The start is the most important part because then you can try to open up a bit of a gap through Sectors 1 and 2," she explained. "My starts so far during the two races in Shanghai have been pretty decent, practice starts have been good, so I think I have a pretty good chance at holding it off the line.

“Then from there, I just have to drive my own race, not making mistakes and trying to take opportunities where they come.”

She added: “This is going to be a super important race for me. The biggest points haul comes on Sunday. To be in the perfect position starting on pole for Sunday is the best case scenario.

“Then of course, tomorrow's reverse grid race is just about making up positions, trying to make moves stick where they can and try not to risk anything too much at the same time.”