Chloe Chong
Podium threat in F1 Academy
Chloe Chong entered the sport early, stepped away, came back, and carved her own path—often with less, but always extracting more. Now a podium threat in F1 Academy, she’s part of a new generation. Chloe joined Kokoro as a raw talent—curious, capable, and unstructured. What followed was a journey of intentional growth across every domain: physical, mental, tactical, and personal.
“This wasn’t someone telling me how to go faster. It was about every detail—how I live, think, train, recover. That’s what made the difference.”
01: Prologue
Chloe’s passion for motorsport began at age 4, watching F1 on TV. By 6, she was karting. By 13, she was racing in the British Karting Championship. But this wasn’t a smooth journey.
With consistently strong results in Bambinos to podiums straight out of the gate in Cadets— The signs were always there and Chloe’s natural race craft showed early but as with many, there are always challenges and instinct alone is not enough.
“Not many people know this but I actually had to stop racing between the age of 8 to 10. Ultimately my parents didn’t have time to raise 3 kids and facilitate me to go karting around the country”
However, Chloe did return the track and started to try and navigate her way but with budget-driven decisions leading to limited testing, non-optimal equipment it was very hard to compete at the sharp end of the grid
“I was on the verge of calling it a day when I got the opportunity to drive an F4 car for the first time and did a good enough job to be invited to Maranello for a place on the Ferrari Driver Academy”
This gave Chloe the confidence she needed to continue and the belief that she could progress up the ladder but as Chloe admits, the step up to the F1 Academy was huge and considers it the most difficult time of her career so far;
“Everyone around me was quite a bit older, they had years more of car racing experience and the racing itself was a whole new ballgame, I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform. In the end though, I am very proud of I came through it.”
02: The Work
By her own admission when Chloe joined Kokoro, she was inconsistent across all areas—mentally, physically, and competitively. “I didn’t really know how to approach training or performance as a whole,” she says. That changed fast.
The coaching structure suited her learning style: questioning, discovery-led, and personal. “I like being asked questions and figuring it out. Kokoro created the space for that.” What surprised her most wasn’t the feedback—it was the expectation.
“This wasn’t someone telling me how to go faster. It was about every detail—how I live, think, train, recover. That’s what made the difference.”
Physically, the work was hard. Fitting training into a packed schedule—school, travel, media—was a challenge. So was facing the physical demands of single-seaters as a female driver. “It takes more focus to hit the same strength levels as the boys. You can’t hide from that.”
But the shift wasn’t just physical. Mentally, Chloe matured fast—especially after a tough first half of the British F4 season. “We didn’t make the most optimal decisions, and it showed. But once the Kokoro work kicked in, everything became clearer—what to aim for, how to improve, how to execute.”
03: The Evolution
Chloe’s biggest transformation has been internal.
“The mindset shift was learning to drive through instinct, not inputs. Blocking out the noise.”
She’s now disciplined off-track, obsessed with marginal gains, and no longer distracted by external pressures. “I used to push too hard. Now I know my best comes when I’m relaxed—but prepared.”
There’s a clarity in her language that didn’t exist a year ago. Her maturity, especially as one of the youngest on the F1 Academy grid, is visible in how she reflects on her growth:
“I’ve haven’t changed. I’ve matured. But I’m still me—just sharper.”
When asked about her three most meaningful races, she doesn’t list wins —Austin 2023, Zandvoort 2024, Montreal 2025—her reason is simple: “My performance.”
04: Identity & Edge
In a world where every driver is talented, Chloe’s advantage is grit and obsession.
“Once I’m set with a challenge, I won’t stop until I’ve mastered it.”
Professionalism, to her, is about effort, gratitude, and resilience—especially when things don’t go to plan. Kokoro’s Head of Driver Development, Kieran Clarke, has been a big influence on this says, Chloe. “He’s taught me a lot—not just about driving, but about saying it straight and getting on with it.”
05: The Road Ahead
What Chloe is most proud of has nothing to do with trophies.
“Never giving up and being where I am now. It wasn’t expected—but it wasn’t by chance either.”
She knows there’s more to come. “Everything still needs work—driving, fitness, mindset, the lot. There’s still so much to learn.”
And her biggest fear?
“Bananas.” (No further comment.)
When asked what’s next, her answer is clean and precise:
“Pole positions and race wins.”
Evolution...
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