Chloe Grant Column: Navigating the 2023 F1 Academy Season and Gearing Up for a Debut at CoTA in Texas

My 2023 F1 Academy season comes to an end at Austin in Texas which supports the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix next month (20-22 Oct) and I’m flat out preparing for the final three races.

I’m very excited to be racing in America for the first time and obviously being on the same billing as the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of The Americas. It’s an incredible opportunity.

Since my last column, I raced at Paul Ricard – another totally new track for me like the entire F1 Academy season has been. It was my first event after my big accident and I was pleased with how I came through it.

Times in quali were really tight at Ricard and I was only 0.365secs away from pole. I diced for eighth place for much of Race 1 but had to be content with 10th at the chequered flag which was still a decent result.

Credit: Chloe Grant Racing

I missed out on another top-10 by less than a second in the second race but was especially happy with how I had driven in Race 2. My lap times were better and were consistently faster than the four cars that finished in front of me. I got up to ninth but was pushed wide causing me to lose momentum and places.

I stalled at the start of the final race which is the first time that has ever happened, but got my head down, and caught up with the field which was satisfying, recovering to 13th.

Since the Ricard event back in July, I’ve been training really hard in preparation for Austin. Gym work, running, cycling. The gym I use is pretty local to where I live in Perth and I have a regular schedule for the week.

I’ll spend around two hours there, if I’m just concentrating on gym work. Much of the workout is concentrating on my upper body. If it’s my day to go running, I’ll drop the time in the gym to around an hour.

When I cycle, I’ll go out for a distance of around 30km, a two hour ride basically, quite often the same route which can be a bit boring so I will alter the route sometimes.

Credit: Chloe Grant Racing

I’m on the Sim, at home, every day for at least two hours – obviously concentrating on CoTA which looks to be a very interesting circuit. 

But I’m now back at Loughborough for my second and final year of an Enhanced Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE) course provided by Motorsport UK Academy. That said, training continues there just the same, with gym work and running, while also using a sim at the college. 

Another topic that maybe of interest is my diet. Well, I’m on a calorie deficit regime. I’m quite tall, especially compared to some of the other girls on the F1 Academy grid this year, and the diet helps me lose any additional fats. Basically I can eat lots of proteins, eggs, chicken, prawns, rice and avocado.

The season has flown by, plenty of ups and downs like with most drivers in a season, but I learned so, so much. We’ll speak again after CoTA.