Chloe Chong: Going for the Grid
The age of 16 conjures up ideas of exam stress, our first jobs and house parties, but not for F1 Academy’s youngest driver and social media sensation, Chloe Chong. Glorious gets the goss on what’s driving female participation in the world’s most high-octane boys club.
By Ellë Bolland
What were you doing at the age of sixteen? The mere mortals among us had finished our GCSE’s, we got our first proper jobs, and we spent those hazy Summer evenings in a park with a few beers we’d stolen from the fridge. One thing we weren’t doing though, was jumping in the driver’s seat. Fast forward one year to the age of seventeen, we were cursing at the clutch we just couldn’t get to the biting point, foot to the floor trying to accelerate with the engine of the car screaming for us to go. We were jolting back and forth while the car was practically hiccuping as we finally pulled away. Oh yes, we were finally of the legal age to get behind the wheel. Chloe Chong on the other hand, had already flown around a race track at 150 mph, shared a race weekend with Sir Lewis Hamilton, and competed at the US Grand Prix in Austin as part of the F1 Academy support race. It begs the question; how did she enter the high-octane, high-adrenaline world of motor racing before she was the legal age to drive a regular car?
“Honestly, racing started in go-karting for me! My Dad’s a huge F1 fan so I naturally became interested in the sport. Obviously I couldn’t jump in a car straight away, so I tried go-karting when I was 6 years old. It’s actually very accessible; you literally turn up, they give you a race suit and helmet, and away you go”, she tells me.
Chloe is so humble that she makes it sound easy, but I know I can hardly win on a Scalextric track – let alone on tarmac. “Once you win events in rental go-karts, you start racing in your own go-kart on professional tracks across the UK and Europe. I started to win competitions so got selected for training camps and academies, which is when the F1 Academy came around for me – it was pretty life-changing. It’s really taught me the fundamentals to racing cars and being up against a really close and competitive field. Not only that, but I’ve been able to race with girls my age where we can really relate to one another and build genuine friendships with. We really celebrate one another and help each other out!”.
It’s no surprise the sport has previously felt isolating for women. While there are no rules against women driving in the F1, only five have competed in the Grand Prix since its debut 74 years ago, and only one of these, the Italian driver Lella Lombardi, scored points. But there is a hope while young women like Chloe are being scouted by the F1 Academy, “F1 Academy was launched last year with the aim of bringing more women into the upper echelons of the sport, using grassroots initiatives such as Discover Your Drive and other events across the world. It gives us more track time, racing and testing that we wouldn’t have the access to otherwise, so it secures all the resources we need to progress down the journey to F1, as well as showing the younger generation of women that there’s a place for us in motorsport.”.
Despite her accolades in the driver’s seat, Chloe is for no better word, very normal. Like any other Gen-Z, she drinks coffee in the morning and matcha at lunch. Her favourite cuisine is Japanese while her favourite restaurant is an independent, family run joint in Nottingham where you perch on high-wooden stalls and look ahead to a concrete tower block in the distance. She enthuses, “They serve the best ramen I’ve ever tried!”. Although she’s experienced cars which go from 0 – 100 mph in 2.6 seconds, her favourite car is actually a Jeep Wrangler; a serious off-roader; fitting for turning the wilderness in your playground. It almost personifies Chloe; high-performing, seriously adventurous, but modest and honest. There’s nothing superficial about her, she has depth and she’s incredibly articulate. From the way she’s speaking on our call, you’d never have guessed she’s just got off a 10 hour flight from Vancouver, straight in a car to drive from London to Scotland! And this endurance is ingrained in every sense of her being. You may think she’d be spending hours on end behind the wheel, but quite the contrary…
“The first part of my day is always some form of cardio – my coach doesn’t programme it as part of my training, but I just love the bike! I’ll then fit in a bit of school work or interviews with sponsors before my afternoon training session, which is usually strength & conditioning working on developing my power. We’re working on that so I can be really strong as I’m driving around the bends and corners of the track. I’ll also train in the simulator for 1.5 – 2 hours a day as well, trailing different tracks which really helps develop my agility. Modern F1 cars can create a lot of G-force, which if you’re not fit can lead to dizziness, nauseousness and the risk of passing out!”.
I’m fascinated, “That’s crazy. And you have to wear a lot of kit; the helmet, racing suit etc… how do you cope in the heat?!”.
“I mean, there’s not a lot I can do once I’m in the car! But sometimes we’ll have a freezer by the pitstop, or the mechanics will bring a blower to cool down the car before I’m back on the track. For myself, it’s just a case of getting used to it while I’m training”.
“You seem to be in the fast lane with your unique approach to training. Can you tell us some of the things you’re doing differently to other drivers?”, I ask.
Representation
“No one wants to be doing the same thing every day, so I try to mix it up for myself. My Dad has always been very into cycling, so I’ve been doing it since the age of three. I’ll go for a long cycle outside and if it’s raining I’ll use Zwift (the virtual indoor cycling app)”, she tells me. As a matter of fact, Chloe has recently entered a partnership with world-class cycling brand, Canyon. As a brand which equips professional riders and teams, including the fastest in the world, Alpecin-Deceuninck, it prompts me to ask Chloe – what do you think prompted this partnership? “Honestly? I think my use of social media is a large part of it. I use social media to show that I’m a normal person that enjoys lots of different things! When I had the opportunity to work with Canyon, it was something I was really open to despite my career in driving. I can see a parallel with cycling and racing; the under-representation of women. For me, I wanted to join a cycling club but I couldn’t see any women of my age giving it a go. My partnership with Canyon tackles that so I can show other girls like me that they can do it too – we need more female role models in both cycling and racing!”.
“You really are quite the content queen! So how did you build your following to a point you were capturing the attention of these brands?”
“It all came quite naturally: my following grew quite fast and unintentionally – which I’ve decided to continue because it’s a big part of me being able to get sponsored and to continue racing. It’s also a way that the hard work and efforts of my team are recognised by others. It’s so important that brands can see value in someone like myself; it’s not because I want to make money, or become famous (unlike shows such as Drive to Survive may suggest). It’s because I genuinely love my sport and the people I’m surrounded by. At the end of the day we go into the sport because of our passion for it. Yes, it is a business and yes we want to win, but it’s often that passion we discovered as a kid that got us here. A lot of it is about your team, how you gel, and how you face challenges both on and off the track”.
“And who is it you have behind the scenes? Can you speak about some of the other women you’ve worked with in your sport?”.
“There are actually lots of different roles within a racing team. When I’m racing I have a dedicated driving coach, two mechanics and an engineer. It’s the engineer that’s speaking to me while I’m on the track, relaying messages on how I can improve my performance or manage the car. Then there’s my strategist, who is responsible for preparing, implementing and analysing race strategies. They’ll devise the best plan for a race, and communicate this down to my engineer. And there’s of course my team manager. Beyond that I’ve met women outside of the competition that are still involved in the sport, for example there are lots more female reporters and journalists now specialising in motorsport, and while brands such as F1 and Formula E grow, women are carving motorsport careers in marketing and social media. There are more opportunities than someone may think at first!”.
Thanks to initiatives such as the Formula 1 Academy, the journeys and accomplishments of female racing drivers like Chloe are being given a spotlight to really increase viewership and even the attention of sponsors such as female-founded brands (hey, Charlotte Tilbury!). Chloe’s story is a real testament to the positive moves within the sport, while personal initiatives such as her use of social media and partnerships outside of her “usual” industry, helps to inspire a younger, more diverse audience, and progress the sport away from its boys club origins.
Follow Chloe here.
Collage by Glorious using imagery supplied by photographer Karen Yeomans and F1 Academy.
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