Who is Jamie Chadwick? How Good is She & Can She Break Into Formula 1?

While the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen intensified in Circuit of The Americas, the battle between Jamie Chadwick and Alice Powell came to an end.

In Texas, Chadwick won her second W Series title after a thrilling battle with Powell. The 22-year-old driver won the race while her rival finished in eighth, effectively securing her title.

Chadwick races for the Veloce Racing team in W Series, but more importantly, she’s a test driver for Williams in Formula One.

She was born on May 20, 1998 in Bath, England to a property developer father and a businesswoman of Indian origin. Jamie Chadwick grew up in Isle of Man but sought her education from Cheltenham College in Gloucestershire, England.

She currently resides in London and is in a relationship with a partner of the same profession as hers, Struan Moore.

How good is Jamie Chadwick?

Chadwick began her racing career at 11 years of age. Her first breakthrough came when she raced in GT4 class for Beechdean Motorsports in the 2015 British GT championship. On the back of two wins and five podiums, Chadwick became the first female and the youngest ever driver to win the competition.

After another stint in GT4 class, she made the transition to single-seaters, racing in BRDC British Formula 3 Championship. In 2018, her first British F3 at Brands Hatch made sure she became the first female driver to do so.

In 2019, she was announced as one of the drivers to take part in the first W Series tournament. In the same year, she joined as a development driver for Williams Racing.

In her first title-winning season of 2019, Chadwick won two races and scored three podiums in six rounds. In the 2021 W Series season, Chadwick scored 159 points courtesy of four wins and three podiums in eight races.

This meant Chadwick earned 15 points for her FIA Super License.

What does this mean, you ask?

This means Formula One is in sight.

Can Jamie Chadwick break into Formula One?

Jamie Chadwick is only 40 points away from being able to compete in a Formula One championship. And also, it’d take 25 more points on her Super License for her to take part in a Formula One testing session.

However, she won’t be the first female driver to take part in an F1 weekend.

Susie Wolff drove the Williams in free practice in 2014, becoming the first female driver in 22 years to take part in a Formula One weekend. However, Chadwick, who has claimed many firsts in her career, could still become the first female driver to compete in a Formula One race.

Earlier this season, Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc also showed their faith in female drivers in Formula One.

Jamie Chadwick is arguably one of the best female drivers in Europe today. So, there’s no reason why she wouldn’t be racing in F1 if she continued her winning ways.

Also Read: Charles Leclerc Shares His Hopes to See ‘Very Talented Women’ in F1 Soon