Jamie Chadwick completes F1 test with Williams

Jamie Chadwick made some Formula 1 history earlier this week. Thursday, Williams announced that on Monday, Chadwick completed a Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) session in the FW47 at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal. Chadwick, who is a both a Williams F1 Team Ambassador and an F1 Academy Adviser, completed 32 laps at the circuit in Portimão in the FW47, a car which delivered three podiums for Williams F1 during the 2025 campaign. With the completed session, Chadwick became only the second woman to test drive a Williams F1 car after F1 Academy CEO Susie Wolff in 2015, and the first British woman since 2023 to drive a modern F1 car. As noted by the team in the announcement, she joins an “exclusive list of women who have driven a Formula 1 car, alongside standout names such as Maria Theresa di Filippis — the first woman to enter an F1 race — and Lella Lombardi, who remains the only woman to finish in the points in Formula 1.” Williams also reported that Chadwick “impressed the team with her technical feedback and pace, while collecting invaluable insights for the team ahead of Portimão’s return to the Formula 1 Calendar in 2027.” The driver called it a “phenomenal day and an incredible experience” in the announcement. “It was a phenomenal day and an incredible experience. Few things can prepare you for driving a Formula 1 car at speed around a track like Portimão, but it was everything I imagined and 10 times more. I’m incredibly grateful to Atlassian Williams F1 Team for this opportunity,” described Chadwick. “I remember being young and watching Susie Wolff step into a Williams F1 car and how much that inspired my own journey. I’d love to be able to do the same for the next generation, and the experience I gained today will make a real difference both to my own racing and to what I can pass on to the drivers coming through. I’m so grateful and incredibly happy with how the day went. It’s an experience I’ll remember for a very long time – I’d go as far as saying it’s been the best day of my life so far.” Williams F1 team principal James Vowles called Chadwick an “inspiration,” and hailed her “impressive” performance during the session. “Jamie Chadwick is an inspiration for millions of women and girls who has broken records at every level, and she has thoroughly earned this F1 test opportunity with Atlassian Williams F1 Team,” said Vowles. “Jamie gathered important data for the team as F1 prepares to return to Portimão next year, and her feedback and performance were impressive as we knew they would be. This clearly shows there is a path for women to compete at the top level, and I look forward to seeing how Jamie uses this experience to advance her own driving and advise our young drivers on what it takes to drive an F1 car.” The session is the latest addition to Chadwick’s glittering racing resume, which includes becoming the first female British GT Champion in 2015, three consecutive W Series titles between 2019 and 2022, driving for Andretti Autosport in the 2023 INDY NXT series and scoring 262 points, and becoming the first female winner on a road course in the INDY NXT series in 2024. Chadwick also became the first female driver to win an LMP2 class race in the European Le Mans Series during 2025, and she is driving for IDEC Sport’s LMP2 team again this year. She also serves as a Team Ambassador for Williams F1, as well as an adviser to the F1 Academy.

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