Chloe Chambers stormed to her third pole position of the 2025 F1 Academy season after an exciting qualifying session at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull Ford-backed driver set a blistering lap of 1:38.125s to top the timesheets and secure pole for Sunday’s race 3. Teammate Alisha Palmowski will join Chambers on the front row, with Mercedes’ Doriane Pin rounding out the top three. Elsewhere, Championship leader Maya Weug will start from P15 for races 2 and 3 following a difficult Friday in Montreal.
With this result, Chambers has secured a double pole position for the weekend. Tomorrow, on her 21st birthday, the American will start Race 1 off the front row, following a cancelled Race 2 last time out in Miami.
Early Qualifying Exchanges
As the green lights signalled the start of the 30-minute session, several drivers quickly traded fastest laps. Rookie Alba Larsen made an early impression for MP Motorsport, briefly leading the pack with a 1:40.910s before Williams Academy driver Lia Block took over at the top.
Palmowski soon showed the pace she had in practice with a strong benchmark of 1:40.101s. McLaren’s Ella Lloyd closely followed behind, just 0.053s off her pace. Moments later, the 16-year-old Larsen found further pace to jump back to the top with a 1:39.552s, holding a lead of over six-tenths as the field struggled to match her time in the opening half of the session.
Final moments of qualifying in Canada
During the closing stages of qualifying, the flying laps began to come in. Mercedes junior Dorianne Pin mounted a serious charge, briefly threatening to take provisional pole as she climbed into the top three.
However, the real stars of qualifying in Montreal were the Campos Racing duo of Chambers and Palmowski. The rookie managed to claim provisional pole in the dying minutes of the session. However, her teammate responded instantly with a fast 1:38.696s. Palmowski wasn’t done yet, reclaiming provisional pole by just 0.057s, setting the stage for a thrilling final push.
As the chequered flag was waved, Chambers delivered a near-perfect final lap to secure her third pole in four rounds. Finishing half a second ahead of her previous best time.
Chloe Chong will start Race 2 from reverse grid pole, marking a positive moment in a difficult season for the Brit.
Here is the final classification for the F1 Academy Canadian Grand Prix qualifying session:
- Chambers
- Palmowski
- Pin
- Lloyd
- Hausmann
- Felbermayr
- Gademan
- Chong
- Block
- Ferreira
- Ciconte
- Larsen
- Nobles
- Paatz (Wildcard Entry)
- Weug
- Crone
- Anagnostiadis
- Havrda
