F1 ACADEMY: Chambers conquers Montreal Qualifying to take third consecutive pole position

Chloe Chambers kicked her title challenge up a gear in Montreal as the Red Bull Ford driver secured her third consecutive F1 ACADEMY pole position.

Chambers prevailed in a back-and-forth battle around the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve with teammate Alisha Palmowski and fended off Doriane Pin to lock-out the Race 3 front row for Campos Racing.

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Tommy Hilfiger’s Alba Larsen held provisional pole up to the halfway mark but slipped down the order as the majority of the field headed out on their second set of Pirelli tyres. Palmowski and Chambers exchanged fastest laps, before the Red Bull Ford driver rocketed five tenths clear on a 1m 38.125s with less than six minutes to go.

Opting to leave it late into Qualifying and save a set of tyres, Pin was the first to respond by slipping into second. However, Palmowski reasserted her place on the front row on her final flying lap, three tenths down on Chambers.

McLaren’s Ella Lloyd matched her best Qualifying performance in fourth ahead of Tina Hausmann and fellow rookie Emma Felbermayr of Kick Sauber. Nina Gademan held on to seventh ahead of Chloe Chong, Lia Block and Rafaela Ferreira, with the Racing Bulls driver completing the top 10.

After being unable to set a time in Practice due to an electrical issue, Standings leader Maya Weug’s day went from bad to worse. As her struggles continued, the Ferrari driver qualified down in P15.

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Chambers will have a shot at glory in the first of three races as she lines up on pole on Saturday, with the starting order for established using the final grid from Miami Race 2. Race 1 gets underway at 09:15 local time (UTC -4).

You can read an in-depth report of the F1 ACADEMY Qualifying in Montreal and catch up on any reactions on the official website here.