Jamie Chadwick: ‘America offers better opportunities for female drivers’

Five years ago, the W Series was presented with great fanfare, the championship for women and girls in motorsport.

The aim of the series is to highlight female talent and build bridges to Formula 3 so that more women are sent to Formula 1. However, after two and a half seasons, it never progressed beyond an F3 test.

An epic day trial at Magny-Cours

last week, #WSeries Drivers @nereamarti32, @ChloeCracing And @Abby Bulling came behind the wheel @FIAFormula3 Car.

An amazing day with some mega experience. pic.twitter.com/CYzHMMyKWI

— W Series (@WSeriesRacing) September 20, 2022

Chadwick to America

The only thing the championship proved was that Jamie Chadwick was the best female single-seater driver of the moment. The 24-year-old has written all seasons of the British series to his name and could even win his third title this weekend.

Despite that strength and the support of Williams, she was unable to earn a place in Formula 3 again. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get through a mediocre season in the Formula Regional equivalent of the W Series.

Trying to climb the single-seat ladder, Jamie turned his attention to the other side of the Atlantic. At the Sebring circuit, he finally got on the Indy Lights machine from Andretti Autosport.

Built in and ready to go.@Jamie ChadwickIndie Lights test Follow @Andretti is underway at @sebringraceway.#RoadToIndy // @TeamCooperTire pic.twitter.com/oZ5YRn20MN

— IndyLights (@IndyLights) September 21, 2022

Opportunities in America

The fact that she was able to break into IndyCar, the equivalent of Formula 2, so quickly that she couldn’t even set foot in F3 in Europe has given Chadwick something to think about.

Women talents are given opportunities much faster in the states than in the old continent. Even outright rejects like Tatiana Calderon can make it to IndyCar:

“I think business support definitely makes a lot more sense. There’s a lot of female drivers out there getting opportunities and paying opportunities, which is fantastic. Ironically, IndyCar seems to be one of the most physical series out there. Going from Indy to IndyCar the lights are very hard to steer so it’s interesting but [in Amerika] It’s actually a place where some women have more opportunities.”

The F1 dream

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Americans’ willingness to give women a chance has led to names like Ana Beatrice, Catherine Legg, Simona Di Silvestro, Pippa Mann and of course race winner Danica Patrick.

However, Jamie still isn’t sure if he wants to follow in those girls’ footsteps. Like any single-seat driver, she still keeps the dream of reaching Formula 1 alive against her better judgement:

“From my side, I definitely see it as a positive. I see that there are opportunities. I see big brands, big teams taking these female drivers and giving them these opportunities, which is fantastic. But at the same time. Time, of course, I’d like to see Formula 1 still become a possibility. .”