Chloe Grant: an interesting interview about her racing career and her experience as an F1 academy driver!

Do you guys know any powerful females in motorsport? I surely do. The first one that comes to my mind is Chloe Grant. I got the amazing opportunity to have her as my first ever female guest in this series of interviews. She answered ten questions about her personal and professional life, opening up about her goals and memories. Are you ready to dive into Chloe's life? But first, let's get to know her better.

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A (me): would you mind giving us a quick presentation about yourself, Chloe?

C (Chloe): I'm Chloe Grant, I'm from Scotland. I'm eighteen years old. This year I competed in the GB4 championship with KMR Sport but my season is now over sadly.

For those who don't know, Chloe also competed for F1 academy with ART Grand Prix in the 2023 season!

A: when and how did you start racing? C: I started racing in 2013, when I was seven years old. And that was because in 2012 my elder sister Lucy started racing and I basically just watched her career. I was the annoying sibling following her around! And then a year later, in 2013, I asked my dad if I could start racing. He said yes and I never stopped since!

So now we know Chloe's story about how she started racing. Interesting, right? But I wanted to ask her something I was very curious about.

A: what's your goal in life? C: my goal in life, or even better, my goal in motorsport, is to be a professional racing driver.

A: how is it like to be a woman in the motorsport world? C: social media makes it look bad but it's not! When you're actually a woman in the sport and you're working with people who are in the sport, they do not care what gender you are. I've not had a single problem with anyone who works in the sport. I've had two issues with two drivers when I was 13 years old and they were also the same age as me so that was just immaturity. But apart from that, literally no one cares. Social media just makes it look bad. But yeah, it's great! It's nowhere near what social media makes it out to be.

As you can see, being a woman in the motorsport world isn't as difficult as social medias make it look! Chloe was very clear about it. But let's talk about something completely different. I've asked Chloe a few questions about her career and her free time. Her answers might surprise you!

A: what do you like to do when you're not racing? Any hobby that you'd like to share with us?

C: I used to do a lot of sports but I had to narrow it down because more sport took so much of my time up! I loved playing field hockey, I used to do competitions and everything. I played for my city, it was really fun but I did have to eventually quit that as well sadly. I'm now working, which is really cool, and my work completely understand my racing so they're really helpful with me around that. And I go to the gym for my own training, I go in the simulator for my training. But I still enjoy those things and that's kind of what I really do in my free time. And of course spending time with my other half and my family, my friends, any time I get the opportunity.

A: what's a moment of your career that you'll forever remember?

C: there's so many moments that I'll forever remember. Even simple things like finally getting that email or having that conversation where you've got the drive of your dreams and you're doing something you could've never possibly imagined. When I got told I was gonna do F1 Academy last year I couldn't believe it. Winning your first championship, your first win, your first car, your first podium... things like that mean a lot to me.

On 16 March 2023, ART Grand Prix announced that Chloe would compete in F1 Academy for their team. At only 18 years old, Chloe is a Girls on Track Ambassador with Motorsport UK, part of Scotland’s national racing team, Écurie Écosse, and has 4 championship titles to her name.

A: do you have a special pre-race ritual?

C: I do have a special pre-race ritual. It's kind of a warmup which you'll see in my most recent youtube video ( https://youtu.be/Tk1YY7xJd4M?feature=shared ) which was from my round 7 of GB4 championship. I showed my warmup, just a physical warmup with some music. I didn't show what I do mentally, but I do some mental stuff like visualisation as well.

A: what about the fans? what relationship do you have with them? C: I like to say I have a good relationship with my fans, I think. I mean, obviously I have a large following but compared to a lot of other drivers I really don't. But still for what I am I think I put a lot of effort to respond and take time with fans when I can. Because I know what it's like to be the fan and look up to someone, and I know what it's like to get or not get that reply. And it's really special or really disappointing. I want to help people in any way that I can, I want to bring positive energy to the world and I just want people to be happy because I think the world has got really hateful recently and it's quite sad to see. So I just want to be someone that people can look up to and rely on. I want to be a bit of positive in the negative parts of the world.

I loved this question because Chloe answered in a way that let us see how amazing she is. Bringing positivity to this world is always a good choice, especially when you're someone who people look up to, as Chloe said. But her next answer will make you laugh. Because she's not only a great person, but also a funny one!

A: if you weren't a racing driver, what would you want to be? C: If I wasn't a racing driver I would have gone to Greece and worked on a boat, and stayed in the sun! That's what I would do probably.

As always, my last question was to give an advice to young girls who inspire to be like her someday. She gave advice in general, for anyone that might be interested in starting a career in the motorsport world. This is what she said:

" If you're coming into the sport, no matter what part of driving (mechanic, engineer, social media, trainer, anything). Just always give it your all. We only have one life, we need to live it to our fullest. If you're doing something more physical, like driving, always train harder than you think you have to. Always be ready for the level above. If you're racing in F4, train as if you're an F3 driver. If you're racing for GT4, train as if you were a GT3 driver. Always just be prepared for everything, enjoy it and always be kind. That's one thing my mum taught me. Enjoy your life, be happy, focus on yourself and always work as hard as you can!" - Chloe Grant

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This interview has come to an end. I want to thank Chloe for being so nice to me, and for being such a great person. I hope you enjoyed this interview as much as I did and thank you for reading it! Make sure to follow me on instagram! (@aleinsidef1)

Check out Chloe's website here: https://chloegrantracing.com