Jamie Chadwick on her TPC session with Atlassian Williams and the future of women in F1

Jamie Chadwick is one of the most accomplished drivers in all of motorsport. Her racing resume is as long as it is impressive. Back in 2015 she won the British GT Championship, becoming the first female winner of that title. She raced in British F3 during the 2017 motorsport season, placing ninth in the Drivers’ Championship standings. A year later she became the first woman to win a British F3 evet, taking the win at the legendary Brands Hatch circuit. In 2019 she was the champion of the first W Series season, was part of a team that won its class at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, and was a development driver for Williams in F1. We are just getting started. Because in 2021, she successfully defended her W Series title, winning four races and securing podiums in seven of the eight races that season. She also finished second at the Ocean X-Prix, driving for Veloce Racing in Extreme E. A year later Chadwick won her third W Series title, and then in 2023 she moved to IndyCar, scoring 262 points over 14 races in the INDY NXT series. Over two seasons in INDY NXT, she became the first female winner on a road course in the history of the series — taking a win at Road America — while also securing a podium in Indianapolis. She finished seventh in the INDY NXT standings in 2024 with Andretti Global, with 310 points over the course of the season. A move to endurance racing was next, as Chadwick competed in the European Le Mans Series for IDEC Sport in both 2025 and in 2026. She also became the first woman to drive a Hypercar in the top class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans testing day, and was a reserve driver for Genesis Magma Racing’s Hypercar program in the World Endurance Championship. In addition to all of those accomplishments, Chadwick serves as an adviser to the F1 Academy, helping the next generation of female drivers, all while serving as a Team Ambassador for Atlassian Williams F1 Team. And it is in that role where she made a little history recently. Chadwick participated in a Testing of Previous Cars program with Atlassian Williams F1 Team, driving the Fw47 for 32 laps at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in late September. The FW47 was the challenger Atlassian Williams used during the 2025 F1 season, a car that clinched three podiums and secured fifth in the 2025 F1 Constructors’ Championship standings, the team’s best finish since 2017. In the process, Chadwick became just the second woman to test drive a Williams car, after F1 Academy Managing Director Susie Wolff drove in FP1 for Williams at both the Spanish Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix back in 2015. Following her TPC session, Chadwick participated in a media roundtable which included SB Nation, to talk about the experience. Here is just some of what she had to say about that day in Portugal. A “phenomenal” experience Chadwick began her media roundtable with a lengthy discussion about what it was like driving the FW47, Williams’ 2025 challenger. Phenomenal was the word she turned to first. “Yeah, pretty phenomenal,” began Chadwick. “It’s one of those things, I keep saying, it’s like you don’t really fully know what to expect. You kind of hope it is everything and more, and that it was. It can’t really compare to anything I’ve ever driven before. It’s ridiculous in terms of what that car’s capable of.” Given her resume, Chadwick has been behind the wheel of several different cars, in a variety of racing series. But she said nothing truly prepares you for F1 machinery. “I think just the sheer level of performance and precision and everything with it, it’s so refined. It kind of does everything you want,” said Chadwick about the FW47. “I don’t want to say it’s easy, but just in terms of physically driving the car, and I don’t think I’ve ever hit that many apexes before, because it does what you want. It goes where you want. And yeah, of course, to find the limit is another thing, but yeah, just the sheer performance, the braking is the biggest standout. “You just breathe on the brake pedal and then it comes to an instant stop.” Chadwick also talked about the level of downforce she experienced inside the FW47, and how impressive the machinery was in her hands. “It’s impressive, obviously finding the limit, and if I did another half day or another day in the car, then you should probably find things that are quicker. But it’s impressive what it’s capable of,” described Chadwick. “A track like Portimão, [the car] really stands out because in the low speed, you still feel the car is quite heavy and things, but in the high speed and the medium speed, yeah, it’s crazy impressive what it’s capable of.” Opening doors in motorsport As noted above, Chadwick was just the second woman to drive an F1 car for Williams. The first? That would be Susie Wolff, who now serves as the Managing Director of the F1 Academy, a series aimed at helping women advance through the single-seater ranks of motorsport. Chadwick talked about Wolff’s influence, as well as some of the other F1 figures at Atlassian Williams who were in her corner ahead of the test. “Susie, I’ve always asked for advice from, over the years, and there’s always been someone I’ve listened and highly respected, and she’s given me, countless, countless phone calls over the years of different things that I’ve been picking her brains on,” described Chadwick. “But in this one, it obviously felt a bit closer to home. “I did sort of resonate or relate to her in the sense that hers was a lot higher pressure going into an FP1 than what I was doing. But the advice was the same nonetheless: to just enjoy it, you know, not crash, obviously, do the best I can and to make the most of it.” That was the advice echoed by Atlassian Williams’ two current F1 drivers, Alexander Albon and Carlos Sainz, both of whom had some pointers for Chadwick ahead of her TPC session. “I speak to Alex quite a bit anyway, and he’s always been someone that’s always given great advice and is incredibly supportive,“ began Chadwick. “Carlos was fantastic as well. I happened to bump into him the day before I flew to Portimão, and he just said ‘find a place you’re happy with to enjoy it and stick at that and yea, absolutely go for it. Just make the most of it because it’s rare you get a chance,’” described Chadwick. She also outlined her journey with Williams, and how the team has supported female drivers over the years. “I think Williams has a great history of supporting women in the sport. I’m now the second female driver to drive a Williams Formula One car, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s a lot more than any of the other teams. So a huge credit to them for supporting us, and giving me this opportunity,” described Chadwick. “I joined [Williams] back in 2019, when Claire [Williams] was still at the helm and i was in the W Series at the time, stayd on with the team on the academy as a young driver, for most of those years between then and now. And in the last couple of years, transitioned into an advisory role for the F1 Academy, which has been a role that I’ve really enjoyed. “And yea, I think although I transitioned away from the young driver role, still felt his affiliation with the team and never really actually thought that this opportunity would come about,” continued Chadwick. “I kind of lost sight of that dream in a way, but very, very grateful that it’s come back around now and given me that chance.” Returning to Wolff, Chadwick outlined in greater detail the influence that the F1 Academy Managing Director had on her own motorsport journey. “I think it’s something that a lot of people wouldn’t appreciate,” began Chadwick. “It’s a great thing for women to do these tests, but yeah, the pressure that has on a young female driver. You kind of look at the environment and you don’t see anyone that’s like you, and you think, ‘oh, is it impossible?’ “And then you see someone like Susie get in the car and do it, and for sure, that inspired my career early on and of course, I would love to take a bit of responsibility and play a small role in that for the next generation. “Selfishly, I’m also so grateful for the day because it was amazing for myself, but I think beyond that, I think this next generation is really the one we need to be excited about,” continued Chadwick. “I see a lot of young female talent coming through. Far, far more talented than I ever was at that age, and that makes me very excited.” As for that future, will it include a female driver on the F1 grid? While spots are limited, Chadwick’s recent TPC session has her believing that the sport will eventually see a female driver. “Doing the test really affirmed to me that it will be possible. I think we will see eventually a female driver,” began Chadwick when asked about the future of women in F1. “The problem we have now is that there are none that are close enough in terms of, you look at Formula Two and Formula Three, we have current champions that are without seats in Formula One. So you realize how tough Formula One is to break into when you see that,” continued Chadwick. “And I think if we can really focus on the grassroots level, really focus on this transition that we see from karting into cars and Formula Four and onwards, and try and nurture talent into Formula Three and Formula Two in particular, and they have success there, then I think we can definitely see a woman in Formula One.” Want to stay updated on all the latest F1 news? Download the brand new SB Nation app and join our F1 Community! There, you can read all the latest from the paddock and talk about Formula 1 all year long with fans from around the world!

Read it at SB Nation ↗

← Front page