Jamie Chadwick, Double W Series champion, has insisted she can make it to F1 within five years despite doubts of Domenicali, Formula One CEO. Chadwick took the CEO’s comments as motivation as she said the remarks only offered greater motivation to prove him wrong.
F1 has not competed a female driver at a Grand Prix since Lella Lombardi raced in Austria in 1976, but Chadwick is convinced she can compete with F1. She conceded that despite her remarkable success in the all-female W Series, there is still a long way to go.
Chadwick said about Domenicali’s comments that he did not believe a woman would make it to F1 within the next five years, and honestly, it doesn’t bother me, but it motivates me.
Moreover, Chadwick said, My goal is definitely to try and make it in five years, and there is a lot I need to achieve in that time, but my goal is to go and try through the correct feeder series. I want to have success to be in F1 within five years, she said.
The purpose of the W series creation was to give female drivers a platform to show off their skills, it has proved successful, and now it is operating as a part of F1 races.
Chadwick has been taken on as a development driver by the Williams F1 team after she won two seasons. This year, she won 5 races off 6, and she can win her third title at the next round in Singapore on 2 October.
Chadwick believes a drive in heavier, more physically demanding cars in Indy Lights would be the perfect precursor to returning to Europe to race in F3, as the Indy Lights is the feeder series for Indy Car.
Catherine Bond Muir, CEO of the W series, said Jamie has not had the amount of time in a car because, historically, the money has never gone towards the girls.
That is changing slowly because the people’s views and opinions need to change, and the whole structure of motorsport needs to change, she said.
