From high school graduation to Silverstone: W Series star Chloe Chambers relishing whirlwind week

Matthew Chambers may well be the proudest man in the Silverstone grandstands this weekend.

Last Friday, the Essex-born father’s 18-year-old daughter Chloe graduated from high school. On Saturday, she’ll race the legendary circuit for the first time.

The W Series, officially, has six British drivers. Chloe likes to think she makes at least a fractional difference to that tally.

“Silverstone is like a half home race for me,” said the American, who was adopted from China at 11 months old and became a Guinness World Record-holder by 16.

“I think a lot of people don’t realise how much British heritage I have. My dad’s mom lives in Kettering, we go to England on family vacations.

“I’m excited to race there and actually experience what England is mainly known for. Just the whole way they embrace motorsport, literally everyone who lives there has an interest in it, or at least knows something about it.

“In the States, if you mention something about Formula One to someone, there’s a chance that person might not even understand what that means.”

Chambers’ Jenner Racing teammate, two-time and reigning W Series champion Jamie Chadwick, will look to extend her record-breaking run of W Series victories to six on Saturday.

Chadwick leads a trio of Brits at the top of the table with 75 points, while Abbi Pulling sits in second with 38, five ahead of Alice Powell. Chambers picked up her sole point on opening weekend in Miami, and has set a personal goal for a top-five finish, “maybe a podium as well” with five rounds remaining after Silverstone.

She’s aware of the resources she has in her W Series-dominating teammate and celebrity owner Caitlyn Jenner, herself a former driver, but Chambers remains determined to carve out her own identity.

“[Jamie] has given me some little nuggets here and there,” she said. “But I think it’s just really cool to be able to work with her and Caitlyn and have two people I’ve looked up to for a while.

“I think that, just generally, I don’t think she actually needs to tell me anything. I think I can learn things from just simply watching.”

Chambers grew up watching F1 with her dad and started karting aged eight.

It wasn’t long before she picked out a favourite driver. “Lewis Hamilton!” she said, so surprised by her own enthusiasm she began to laugh.

“Oh my god, yeah, Lewis Hamilton. I think when I grew up it was mainly because I liked his helmet. It stood out a lot, and the car looked very cool. So I picked him and stuck with it.”

That admiration has only deepened. Hamilton has spent his week embroiled in a media maelstrom after it was discovered Nelson Piquet used a racially offensive word to describe him on a podcast.

“I’ve been surrounded by these attitudes and targeted my whole life. There has been plenty of time to learn. Time has come for action,” Hamilton tweeted.

It’s the seven-time world champion’s advocacy, not his helmet, that ultimately earned Chambers’ respect.

“He obviously brings tremendous, tremendous amount of talent,” she said. “And I think the way he is able to use his voice and cause discussion in the community is something that [the sport] hasn’t really seen as much as it has now.

“And I don’t think that’s with just Hamilton, it’s with other drivers. They’re using their platforms to combat climate change and that kind of thing.”

So far, Chambers and Hamilton have been like single-seaters passing in the night. Three years ago, they both featured on the same David Letterman-hosted show, but on different segments. She once sat right in front of his dad in the audience for an interview—and this weekend, the drivers will share a third circuit.

Whether or not their paths do eventually cross, Chambers, whose LinkedIn page lists her job as “race car driver” would love to use her platform just like her hero.

“Obviously women in sports, that’s the biggest one” said Chambers, listing the causes most important to her.

“I also represent the Gift of Adoption Fund. I use that to showcase adoption in an environment that doesn’t actually see a lot of it.

“I think to be able to showcase not just women in sports, but also people who are adopted in sports, those two combined make the perfect recipe.”

Cap and gown cast aside, race suit on. ‘Half home race’ though it may be, Chambers is full steam ahead.