The British driver claimed win in Saturday’s race, followed by her American teammate. Chambers secured another podium on Sunday by finishing third. Ferreira fought her way up to the points on both days. Campos Racing now leads the team standings

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Campos Racing began its 2025 F1 Academy season in spectacular fashion, thanks to the outstanding performances of its three drivers. Alisha Palmowski, a member of the Red Bull Racing Academy Programme; Chloe Chambers, representing the Red Bull Ford Academy Programme; and Rafaela Ferreira, driving under the Visa Cash App RB Academy banner, demonstrated exceptional competitiveness on the Shanghai International Circuit, delivering a top-tier team performance that reinforces high expectations for this season.

After Friday morning’s free practice sessions, which were used to fine-tune the cars, the qualifying session took place in the afternoon. With the first set of tires, Chambers, Palmowski, and Ferreira were already among the frontrunners. In the final moments, with the second set of tires and lighter fuel loads, Chambers set a lap time of 2m04.083s, securing fourth place, just ahead of Palmowski, who was fifth with a time of 2m04.143s. Ferreira was unable to improve enough in the closing stages, finishing with a lap of 2m04.917s. Additionally, she received a three-place grid penalty for both races due to an incident in free practice, which forced her to start from the back of the pack.

Saturday’s race, scheduled for 13 laps, featured a reversed grid for the top eight positions based on the qualifying results. This placed Palmowski and Chambers in fourth and fifth positions, respectively. As soon as the lights went out, the two Campos Racing drivers had a lightning-fast start. The British driver moved up to second place behind Nina Gademan, while Chambers climbed to fourth, putting pressure on Emma Felbermayr. The safety car, which was heavily involved on Saturday, made its first appearance at the end of lap one. Racing resumed on lap five, at which point Chambers overtook Felbermayr to claim third place behind Palmowski. Meanwhile, Ferreira was making progress through the field. However, the safety car was deployed twice more, disrupting the race until lap 11. Just one lap later, both Palmowski and Chambers—who also set the fastest lap and earned an additional point—capitalized on Gademan’s issues to move into first and second place. They crossed the finish line in this order, securing a spectacular one-two finish for the Alzira-based team. To top it off, Ferreira’s brilliant recovery drive saw her finish in fifth place.

Sunday’s race underwent some last-minute changes. In another category racing in Shanghai, a GT car suffered an engine failure, spilling oil over the right side of the starting grid. Due to the unsafe track conditions, race control opted for a rolling start after three formation laps behind the safety car, reducing the total race distance to 11 laps. A three-car collision on the opening lap triggered another safety car period, which lasted until the fourth lap. With the field settling into position, Ferreira had already moved up to ninth after passing Courtney Crone. Chambers, running in fourth, began to pressure Alba Larsen on lap 8. After two laps of intense battle, the American managed to overtake her Danish rival, securing third place and another valuable podium finish. Palmowski finished sixth, while Ferreira completed her comeback in eighth place.

After the first two races, Chambers and Palmowski leave China sitting third and fourth in the drivers’ standings with 24 and 18 points, respectively. Ferreira holds eighth place with eight points to her name. In the team standings, Campos Racing leads with 50 points, 10 ahead of its closest rival.

The next round of the championship will take place at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit on April 19-20.