Jamie Chadwick: “I Have Set Myself a Goal”

Possibly one of the most dominant forces in women’s motorsport right now, Jamie Chadwick, has hinted her ambitions to one day compete in Formula One. She races in the W Series, an all-female racing competition designed in 2019 to springboard talent into F1.

All roads lead to Silverstone this weekend as Chadwick guns for her sixth successive victory on F1’s undercard at the British Grand Prix.

Just looking back at the history of women being a part of the heavily male-dominated Grand Prix; 46 years ago, Italian Lella Lombardi took part in an F1 race and just 8 years ago a surname that is synonymous with F1: Wolff, Sussie Wolff – the wife of Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, was behind the wheel in a Grand Prix practice session. The 32-year-old Scot took part in the first practice sessions for the Spanish and British Grands Prix in May and July of 2015, respectively.

Fast forward to 2022 – W Series champion Chadwick says: “I have set myself a goal of competing in Formula 1 but I don’t know what is actually possible.

“To get into Formula One you have to go through the feeder series – Formula Three and Formula Two – and it is extremely physical.”

Although she has voiced that she is happy to be the guinea pig, Chadwick is wary of the physical demands of the sport: “We like to think that women can make it – and I am happy to be the guinea pig and will do my best to push and explore the options to Formula One – but we don’t know. There hasn’t been a woman in the recent era that has done it. I am trying to understand whether that is to do with the physical side of it.”

The holder of the records for the most wins, podiums, pole positions and points in the W Series, who is also a development driver for Williams, believes the sport needs to make a number of technical changes in order to aid female racers.

She concluded: “I don’t think it is just as straightforward as getting stronger in the gym and jumping in the car.”

Photo 1 Caption: W Series racer Jamie Chadwick hints her ambitions to compete in Formula One, saying: “I have set myself a goal of competing in Formula 1 but I don’t know what is actually possible.” Photo: Jamie Chadwick (Instagram)