Jamie Chadwick became the first woman to drive a modern Williams Formula One car since 2015 during a test in Portugal.
The 28-year-old British driver climbed into the Williams FW47 at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, marking the first time a female racer has tested a contemporary car for the Grove-based team since Susie Wolff took part in 2015.
Chadwick got behind the wheel seven years after first joining the Williams Driver Academy in 2019. Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Sport after stepping out of the cockpit, she admitted the milestone could sit at the very top of her career achievements.
"I haven't done my list of achievements yet, but once I've done it, I would imagine it will be right up there as number one," Chadwick said. "It's not like I'm racing, so obviously, racing and winning is another feeling altogether."
"But so few people get the chance. It's the pinnacle of our sport. It's such an extreme level in terms of the level of the sport at the moment. So yeah, it's going to be pretty surreal and it's certainly top until the next step."
Before arriving at the Portuguese circuit, Chadwick revealed that she had intentionally tried to manage her expectations when the idea of a test was first discussed.
"It was spoken a bit about not that long ago, and then it kind of went down to the chances of 50-50," she said. "I try to manage expectations even now until I've actually driven. I'm not going to believe that it's actually happening."
"So yeah, I try to manage my expectations, but also enjoy it. It's pretty surreal and it's a dream come true for sure."
Preparation and track experience
Her path to the circuit involved extensive simulator running, neck training, and a seat fit at the Williams headquarters in Grove, Oxfordshire. Williams Racing is one of the most successful constructors in Formula One history, having won nine constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles.
The initial experience of sitting inside the cockpit of the FW47 made an immediate impression on the driver.
"The first time I got into the car for the seat fit, it was pretty surreal," she said. "I think when you see the steering wheel, you see the vision that you have when you play a computer game. That first feeling was unbelievable."
However, nothing matched the moment the Grand Prix car actually fired up and headed out onto the circuit.
"The first drive out of the garage and the first lap, that was something else, just the sheer acceleration," she recalled. "Even the feeling in the pit lane felt crazy enough."
Chadwick has driven high-powered machinery across multiple categories during her career, including top-tier American open-wheel cars in IndyCar and endurance machinery in Hypercar.
Despite that experience, she explained that the Williams operating levels put it in a category of its own on the 2.9-mile Algarve track.
"I think the F1 car sits where I expected it to, and that it is fully in a league of its own," she said. "I've been lucky enough to drive a few different amazing cars, IndyCar, Hypercar, but nothing really compares to what this car does and what it's able to do on a lap like Portimao."
"Just in terms of the sheer downforce, the grip, the straight-line speed. It's phenomenal."
The confidence ritual and academy role
Throughout her career, Chadwick has relied on a personal ritual during major competitions. She previously wrote the word 'confidence' inside her racing gloves as a visual reminder whenever self-doubt surfaced behind the wheel.
"I did it for my last W Series race in Austin in I think 2022, maybe 2021," she explained. "I always lacked a bit of confidence in the car, and for me, a lot of performance comes from confidence in a race car."
"So I wrote confidence to remind myself to be confident to do what I needed to do every time I looked down."
She did not write the word on her gloves for the Portimao test, feeling that the mental preparation had become second nature over time.
"Maybe today I should have had it," Chadwick laughed. "But yeah, I think it's seeped into my skin now. It's ingrained in me now. I'm just confident. I know what I am capable of. I don't need that reminder."
That self-belief has developed across years of competitive motorsport. Chadwick is a three-time champion of W Series, an all-female single-seater championship that ran from 2019 to 2022, and has earned race victories in Indy NXT and the European Le Mans Series.
Since joining the Williams Driver Academy in 2019, she has expanded her duties with the organization. She currently serves as both a brand ambassador and an F1 Academy Adviser for Williams.
"I think the level Formula One teams operate at is such a high level. You learn a huge amount," she said. "The infrastructure of a Formula One team, the inner workings. It's not just about one individual. There's multiple departments, multiple people, all kind of follow suit."
"I think how that operates, the level at which it operates, the technicality of a Formula One car in itself, everything, and then you throw that into a sporting setting is incredible. So I've been very lucky to be a part of it, and I've learned a huge amount over the years."
Representation and future female drivers
The run in Portugal carried broader significance for female representation in motorsport. It highlighted both the momentum behind female development programs and the hurdles that remain at the highest tier.
No woman has started a Formula One Grand Prix in over 50 years, since Lella Lombardi last raced in 1976. Chadwick pointed to the size of the grassroots pipeline as the primary structural challenge.
"I think the reason we've not seen a woman in over 50 years is a few reasons," she said. "One is the talent pool is just so small. This is changing, but still, I think when you start in the sport, there's so few women, and so naturally to filter through to the pinnacle, there's only 22 seats in Formula One. It's such a small amount that it takes a lot more, I think, to be getting into the sport."
She noted that targeted programs are beginning to expand opportunity, including F1 Academy, the all-female series managed by former Williams test driver Susie Wolff, alongside grassroots karting schemes and direct Formula One team involvement.
"Hopefully, eventually we're going to see some women racing in Formula One," Chadwick said.
She added that experiencing a contemporary F1 car directly enhances her ability to mentor young talent pursuing similar ambitions.
"I now think my feeling of the sport at the top level is that much greater," she said. "I better understand what it takes to be a Formula 1 driver, and that's what a lot of these young drivers have aspirations of, and now I can feel a little bit closer to that."
From karting origins to road car struggles
Chadwick first began racing in karting after attending a party with her brother Ollie, driven by a simple ambition to beat him on track.
Despite progressing to drive sophisticated grand prix machinery, she confessed to one everyday driving challenge that remains unsolved.
"Still struggle with parking," she admitted with a laugh. "I wouldn't want to show you the state of the rims on my car. It's not even the rims. I've done even worse than that. I think I've done a few corners as well. So yeah, it's just parking, reversing. I mean, it's the stereotype, isn't it? But yeah, it's not good. It's bad."
When asked whether parallel parking or bay parking caused her more trouble, her response was straightforward.
"Honestly, all of it," she said. "Trying just not to hit anything. So then I think I panic so much about hitting other cars as well. And yeah, it's like when I get into those situations, I'm either fine and I nail it, or it's terrible."
Reflecting on what her younger self would think of driving a modern Formula One car, Chadwick described the emotional impact of the test.
"'Big Jamie's pretty overwhelmed,' she said when asked what the younger version of herself would make of it. 'It's insane. It's a dream come true more than anything else, and very surreal. I mean, to anyone that's not driven a Formula One car, it's hard to put into words just what that feeling is like. It's phenomenal. It's something so few people get the chance to do, and yeah, it's unbelievable."
Closing with a message for aspiring female racers, Chadwick encouraged young drivers to persist despite the difficulties of reaching elite motorsport.
"Don't let anything put you off," she stressed. "If there's a tiny bit of today's feeling that you can feel in the future, then it's absolutely worth it. Days like today are unbelievable, and yeah, I think it's possible. I cannot wait for the day that we see a young female driver line up on the Formula One grid."
