Despite an unfortunate round at Aragon, Chloe Chambers' Formula Winter Series experience provided valuable track time and two race weekends to prepare for the upcoming F1 Academy campaign, which remained the primary goal of the Red Bull Ford supported driver.
As part of the Red Bull F1 Academy program, Chloe Chambers began her preparation for the 2025 season—her second in the all-female championship—with a part-time campaign in the highly competitive Formula Winter Series, joining Campos Racing for a two-race program.
The young American, who secured a race win and established herself as one of the frontrunners in the F1-promoted championship during her debut season, was quickly up to speed at Valencia - where she had an encouraging weekend with a best finish of 13th place and a Female Trophy victory in Race 3.
Teaming up with fellow F1 Academy driver Rafaela Ferreira, Chambers returned to the Red Bull-liveried Tatuus T421 car for the Motorland Aragon round. The 29-car grid featured some of Europe’s most competitive F4 drivers, many preparing for full-time campaigns.
However, Chambers’ weekend at Aragon proved to be a challenging one, with a series of unfortunate circumstances, including incidents beyond her control and a chaotic final race in changing weather conditions that prevented her from securing the results she deserved.
Her weekend got off to an uphill start, as she missed the pre-event test sessions on Thursday. With only three practice sessions on Friday to make up for lost track time, she quickly found her rhythm and ended the day inside the top 20.
Qualifying went underway on Saturday morning; with two minutes remaining, Chambers was running in P14 but faced challenges with track limits, as many drivers had lap times deleted. With just one minute to go, she had yet to set a representative time but managed a 2:01.450 on her final attempt, securing P17—a solid result given the conditions.
Shortly after, Chambers set her first representative lap time of Q2, initially placing P22. She continued improving throughout the session and, on her final run, recorded a 2:00.267 to secure P16 in a strong effort that gave her good chances to move forward in the races.
The first race of the weekend, in cold but dry conditions, race started with dramatic opening corners, as Robinson and Harrison suffered front-wing damage, and Rehm picked up a puncture. Meanwhile, Gabriel Gomez and Kabir Anurag retained the lead and looked to break away.
Starting from P17, Chambers’ race took an unlucky turn immediately: she was hit by Schranz, who dived in at the hairpin, forcing her off track.
She rejoined the race but dropped to P25 and had a long recovery drive ahead. Despite the setback, Chambers displayed strong pace, setting times in the 2:00.3s and steadily closing the gap to the cars ahead. She gained positions and moved up to P23.
On lap 13, she set a 1:59.500, running competitive lap times in clear air. Ultimately, she recovered to P22, showcasing impressive speed - however, the early contact had cost her the opportunity to fight for a better result.
Drivers faced a wet track on Sunday morning, with mixed conditions for the start of Race 2. Following a tricky first race, Chloe Chambers lined up in P26.
At lights out, everyone struggled to get off the line in the slippery conditions. A Dante Vinci's car stalled, but the field made it cleanly through Turn 1.
Chambers immediately started to climb the order and gained two positions on the opening lap, moving up to P24. However, the Campos cars both struggled in these tricky conditions, and Chambers was overtaken by Payton Westcott on lap 3. Aleksander Ruta spun and dropped down the order, allowing Chambers to reclaim P24.
As the race settled, Chambers lost one position to the recovering Ruta but then passed Alba Hurup Larsen to hold P24. As the laps went by, Chambers found more pace and started moving forward once again. She pressured and eventually overtook Mathilda Paatz for P22, but soon after, the Red Bull-liveried car found the gravel and unfortunately dropped to the back of the pack.
Although she managed to rejoin, she lost significant positions. A safety car was deployed, setting up a one-lap shootout to the finish.
Chloe Chambers took the chequered flag in P26 after a challenging race marked by the incident but still showed fighting spirit to bring the car home.
Later in the day, the final race of the weekend—and for many, the final race of the series due to upcoming F1 Academy testing in China—proved to be a dramatic one.
Drivers faced a very wet track after a rain shower, but most opted to start on slick tyres, hoping for a quick dry-up. However, many pitted for wet tyres at the end of the formation lap, setting up a highly strategic race.
At lights out, chaos ensued, with multiple cars sliding off track while trying to find grip.
Chambers eventually pitted at the end of the first lap for wet tyres, as those who had pitted before the start were significantly faster.
Up front, big battles unfolded as drivers struggled for grip; Schranz, on wet tyres, charged from P21 to take the lead on lap 2 but then spun, handing the lead to Bart Harrison, also on wets. Chambers rejoined in P26, over a minute behind the leaders, but with wets proving to be the right choice at that moment.
In just a few laps, Chloe overtook 10 cars, climbing to P16 as she charged past drivers still on slicks. She continued making up positions, passing both Alba Hurup Larsen and Andrea Dupe to move into P14 on lap 7. Running in the 2:17s, she was now gaining on Sebastian Bach.
However, as the track began to dry, the advantage swung back to the slick tyres.
Just as she had fought her way forward, Chambers now found herself at a disadvantage. Thomas Bearman and Andrija Kostic, both on slicks, overtook her as she struggled on the fading wets.
With five minutes to go, Chambers dropped to P18 as the faster slick-equipped cars closed in, lapping over seven seconds quicker. Despite falling to P21, she managed to stay ahead of Nina Gademan, who was on the same strategy.
She took the chequered flag in P21 and was later promoted to P20. Although the changing conditions had worked against her, Chambers showed strong pace in the opening stages, and her race was looking promising.
Nevertheless, her Formula Winter Series experience provided valuable track time and two race weekends to prepare for the upcoming F1 Academy campaign, which remained the primary goal.
"Although the results don’t show it, we were able to build a strong foundation for the F1 Academy season", Chambers summarized. "Now time to fly to Shanghai for the first official F1 Academy preseason test in China"
Just a few days later, F1 Academy will kick off its first official pre-season test at Shanghai International Circuit—the same venue that will host the start of the 2025 season. For the vast majority of the field, it will be a brand-new circuit.
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