Having graduated from GB4 to F1 Academy in 2023, Chloe Grant has returned to the series this year, teaming up with reigning teams’ champions KMR Sport for a full-season assault. After she finished on the podium in race three at Oulton Park, Feeder Series spoke to her to learn more about her F1 Academy journey, why she is racing again in GB4 and what’s coming next.

By George Brabner

As Grant jumped back into a GB4 car for the first time in a competitive capacity since the 2022 season finale, she qualified ninth for 2024’s opening two races. The 18-year-old had not done “any testing” over the winter for the season opener, instead “testing the Gen2 [F4] car” until “plans changed last minute,” and went on to finish eighth in race one and 13th in race two after suffering a spin early on.

However, after a difficult start to action at Oulton Park, she rounded out running on Monday with a second-place finish in race three, climbing from sixth on the grid to finish second behind Linus Granfors, with KMR Sport teammate and championship leader Harry Burgoyne joining her on the podium.

“I was quite upset after the race [on Monday] morning. After my spin, I actually hit my head really hard between the car, so I was really, really sore. Race one was okay, but it definitely wasn’t my best. So it’s a really good way to end the weekend… Hopefully Silverstone is a lot, lot better,” Grant told Feeder Series.

“It was definitely challenging,” she said, reviewing round one. “This was my fourth day in the car in two years. Obviously, it’s good that I’ve driven [the GB4 car] before, but it’s still completely different to what I’ve previously been driving and testing this season.”

Grant has a full season of experience in GB4 under her belt, having raced in the series in 2022 – her first year in single-seaters – where she finished ninth in the standings. However, she believes that her 2022 campaign is “not really comparable” to 2024, as she’s switched to the front-running KMR Sport team from Graham Brunton Racing. On the flip side, though, she also accepts that any deficit to her teammates is down to her adjustment period, not the tools beneath her.

“KMR, you’ve seen their success, they’re an incredible team. So at the end of the day if there’s anything wrong, unless it’s a mechanical failure, I can’t blame them for anything because they’re so good. It’s all down to me learning, me learning quickly,” Grant said.

“There’s no favourites here. We’re all treated the same. I say I want the car this way, they make the car that way. I’m struggling, we look at the data and see exactly where I can improve… As frustrating as the start of this weekend was, I definitely think we need to focus on Silverstone now. We’ve ended it on a high and let’s continue on this high.”

Why come back to GB4?

One of GB4’s newest selling points this year is its £30,000 prize contribution towards a 2025 F1 Academy drive for the highest-placed female driver in the standings. Organisers MSV are therefore trying to market the series as the perfect stepping stone for British female drivers onto the Formula One package, but Grant has done the reverse over the last year, moving down from F1 Academy, where she finished 12th, and back to GB4.

Grant’s thinking behind what seems like a step backwards has “been a mix of things,” but primarily because she has “never had a second year in a championship in the same car,” hoping that consistency could better her results.

“I’ve always kind of had things too early. So F1 Academy was incredible, but it was a year too early for me. You could see it with my results. I didn’t do as good as I hoped I would have and I just didn’t have enough experience under my wing. 

“So coming back to GB4 to try and get that second year of experience and progression, and obviously to get the better results.”

Looking back on F1 Academy

Whilst competing in the inaugural season of the all-female F4 series F1 Academy last year didn’t yield the results that Grant was aiming for, she cited her progress between pre-season testing and the end of the season as just one of multiple factors that proved the campaign was a success.

“If you looked at my data and onboards from the Barcelona test 2023 versus Austin Grand Prix, I was a whole new driver and person,” she explained. “It boosted me, like my profile, definitely. It made me more open to the public eye, which was really good.”

F1 Academy has since undergone a myriad of adjustments, such as how each driver must be supported by an F1 team or one of the series’ partners – such as Tommy Hilfiger, who supports Nerea Martí’s entry – rather than the teams that are directly operating the cars. However, Grant was adamant that the championship fit her needs as a less experienced driver one year ago.

“Even though I jumped in a year early, I’m still grateful that I was a part of that first year. I wouldn’t have changed that, because it’s different now compared to how it was last year. 

“I’m so grateful that ART Grand Prix did chose me to be with them because everything I know in a single-seater car, I learned from them. Without them, I wouldn’t have this podium so I do owe a lot to ART,” she explained.

Grant revealed that her violent race one crash at Monza, which left her with a fractured wrist, significantly dented her confidence in the latter half of the F1 Academy season, which led to poorer results not necessarily representative of where she was as a driver.

“Monza did shake me up quite a lot, which I think people usually think you usually have a crash and just back into it, which is what I thought. But it wasn’t as easy as I thought and I hoped. I did really struggle after Monza to get back into the swing of things.”

However, upon her GB4 return, she believes things are looking up, back in a familiar series with a competitive team. 

“But I definitely think I can see now that we’re back into it and if not better than ever – well not better than ever, there’s still a lot more work to do in this car, but we’re better than we were!”

The next steps

In 2024, Sophia Floersch is the only driver competing at the international F3 level. A handful more are at the Formula Regional (formerly F3 Regional) level, including reigning F1 Academy champion Marta García and F4 SEA runner-up Doriane Pin at the newly announced all-female Iron Dames squad in the category’s European iteration.

The befallen all-female W Series facilitated only one direct single-seater graduation, although completely outside of the European bubble, whilst some of Weug’s 2024 F1 Academy competitors, such as Abbi Pulling, remain unable to progress from Formula 4 despite numerous years racing at that step.

The pattern that’s revealed is a worrying trend of stagnation for female talents, but García has proved that things are changing, and Grant is looking to match her career progress. 

Keen to prioritise a jump into F3 cars over a third season racing in F4, Grant sees GB4 as the best place to set up the next step in her career, a move to GB3 – a series that has been going from strength to strength over the last three seasons having watched 11 drivers pass through its gates on their way to FIA F3.

“GB3 is my goal. F1 Academy, if I did it again I’m not going to complain, it’s a fantastic thing to be a part of, but I definitely think I’d like to step up to F3,” she said. “It’s a good championship and also it’s one of the most affordable single-seater championships, you can’t argue that.”

Grant’s aim is, therefore, overall GB4 title glory, which carries a vital £50,000 contribution towards a GB3 seat – not the position of highest-placed female driver, which she pushes aside in her primary goals for 2024: “Experience, a second year and the prize money for GB3.”

After round one, Grant sits seventh in the standings, 40 points away from championship leader Burgoyne, but her goal is no different.

“Honestly, I think everyone’s aiming for the championship, which is kind of difficult now. I mean it’s only round one, but I didn’t have a good two first races. As long as I can keep consistent and keep good results for the rest of the season, obviously, I’m trying to go for the championship.”

Header photo credit: Tom Evans