Jamie Chadwick Racing

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13 July 2021

Paulina Vairo

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Jaime Chadwick has established herself as one of the best young drivers in motorsport at the moment. At 23 years old from Bath UK, Chadwick has reached milestones that not many women have achieved in motorsport yet and will continue to work hard in the hope that she can one day race in a Formula One. 

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Chadwick won the inaugural W Series Championship in 2019 after winning two races and three podium finishes. She finished with a total of 110 points, 10 points in front of second place winner Beitske Visser from the Netherlands. This season Chadwick holds on to first place for winning two races this season, seven points in front of British driver Alice Powell, who also has won two races this season.

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Though many drivers begin their karting career at a very young age, Chadwick began later than most drivers. She began karting at the age of 11 after attending her brother's go karting party. She began driving in the junior series and worked her way up to participate in the British GT Championship and became the youngest and first female to win it. She also worked her way up to participate in the BRDC British F3 race and the MR Challenge Championship and became the first female to win a race in both series.

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She is titled as the best female driver at the moment and one of the closest candidates to make it to Formula One. Though Susie Wolff had the closest opportunity to enter a Formula One race back in 2014, the last female driver to create success in the sport and almost had a shot of Formula One was Danica Patrick. 

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Danica Patrick raced for IndyCar and Nascar and became the first woman to win an IndyCar race and grab pole in the Nascar Cup Series. She also holds the highest finish by a female driver for an Indy 500 and Daytona 500, finishing on the podium in third at the Indy 500 in 2009 and 8th at the Daytona 500 in 2013. She was Indy 500 and Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year in 2005 as she finished her career with 3 Poles in IndyCar and 2 in Nascar, and became the only woman in history to win an IndyCar race when she took first place at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan back in 2008. 

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Danica Patrick created a lot of popularity for women to become drivers, however since Patrick there has not been a woman that has achieved success in motorsport until Chadwick. Chadwick has the opportunity and the platform to make young female drivers believe that they can make a successful career in a male-dominating sport. 

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After winning the W Series in 2019 former Williams team principal Clair Williams named Jaime Chadwick as their development driver. Clair had eyes on Chadwick for several years, giving her the decision to make her development driver for the team. Chadwick is still the team’s development driver even after her departure from Williams late in 2019.

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“I have absolutely loved my time with Williams so far and could not be more delighted to continue working with the team in my role as Development Driver,” said Chadwick. “I feel I am improving as a driver all the time, and my time spent in the simulator this coming season will prove to be invaluable. I look forward to fully immersing myself at Williams once again this year.”

 

Chadwick had the opportunity to be inside the Williams garage for a few races during the year in 2019 and recently had the opportunity to test drive the Williams 1982 FW08. 

 

Though 2020 did not see a lot of opportunity for Chadwick since the pandemic led to cancelation of the W Series for the season, she participated in the Formula Regional European Championship where she grabbed pole position at the Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi. She also participated in the Extreme E series in Senegal. This series promoted equality in motorsport as each team must have a male and female driver present on the team with equal responsibilities. Chadwick used the Extreme E series as an opportunity to help bring equality for men and women in motorsport.

 

She mentioned last month that a part of the reason why there aren’t many females in the sport is because it is a very expensive sport and not many feel confident enough to invest that much money for a woman in motorsport. She is inspired by Formula One legend and current driver Lewis Hamilton, who is fighting for both gender and racial equality in motorsport. 

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“What Lewis is doing is fantastic,” Chadwick said to the Morning Star. “He is pioneering to create a more diverse sport and that is across the board. It is giving the likes of myself and others opportunities that we definitely wouldn’t have otherwise had. What the W Series has done is very impressive because they have professionalised women’s motorsport overnight, which if you compare to any other sport is unheard of. Motor racing is such a male-dominated world and we need more and more girls getting involved, coming through the ranks and making it more diverse at the top level. W Series is aspiring to do that.”

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Chadwick has a long way to go before she can get a chance to be chosen to participate in a Formula One race. In order to participate in an F1 practice, you must have 25 points on your FIA super license and 40 to participate in a race. After winning a W Series Championship, you gain 15 points toward your license. Chadwick will then have to go through the process of making it to F3 then F2, until having a shot to get chosen for F1. 

 

Chadwick can be the role model that motorsport needs to encourage more women to get involved in the sport. She is trying to become an icon to aspiring female drivers that Danica Patrick attempted to do. With Formula One beginning to promote gender and racial equality in the sport, it is a step in the right direction for young female drivers who want to make a successful career in motorsport and create diversity in the sport.