Singaporean driver Christian Ho announces indefinite break to enlist for national service

SINGAPORE – With national service on the horizon, Christian Ho’s dream of becoming Singapore’s first Formula 1 driver has entered a pit stop as he “will likely not be racing for the coming years”.

In an Instagram post on Sept 10, the 19-year-old Formula 3 driver wrote: “I have decided not to race the last round in Madrid as I am preparing to enlist for my mandatory national service in Singapore. This also means that I will likely not be racing for the coming years.

“This year’s campaign has been underwhelming, in part due to clashes with my A levels from May to end-June, but also with knowing that I probably would not be doing any racing due to my national service.

“Nevertheless, I want to thank everyone that’s been a part of this journey; I’ve learnt many life lessons and certainly have had a lot of fun along the way.”

He also told The Straits Times on Sept 11: “My passion and love for motor racing has grown and deepened through my two years of being in the grid with the top junior drivers in the world. But knowing I can’t fully commit to F3 or F2 over the next two years meant I had to make some difficult choices.”

Thanking his family, sponsors, coaches and his team, New Zealand outfit Rodin Motorsport, Ho added that he has no plans for his racing career and will probably enrol in university after completing NS.

Ho had applied for deferment but was unsuccessful, and he is likely to begin NS later in 2026, although it is understood that he has not received his enlistment letter yet.

The 2024 Eurocup-3 champion became the first Singaporean to race in F3 – two rungs below F1 in the International Automobile Federation motor racing hierarchy – when he signed for French team DAMS Lucas Oil in January 2025.

In his maiden season, he finished 22nd of 37 drivers after 10 rounds and was DAMS’ top driver. His highest placings came at the iconic Silverstone circuit, where he finished sixth in the sprint and fifth in the main race in July 2025.

He completed his debut season with DAMS in 2025, before joining Rodin, whose alumni include McLaren’s F1 champion Lando Norris, Mercedes’ George Russell and Williams’ Carlos Sainz.

However, while Ho finished the feature race in all eight events he competed in this ongoing season, he finished in the points just once with a ninth-placed finish in Budapest on July 26, and the two points place him 25th out of 34 drivers. In his last race in the penultimate round in Monza on Sept 6, he finished 13th.