Female racer Chadwick gets first taste of driving F1 car

Briton Jamie Chadwick got her first taste of driving a Formula One car when she tested last year’s Williams at Portugal’s Portimao circuit earlier this week, the team said on Thursday.

The 28-year-old, a three-times winner of the now-defunct all-female W-Series and an ambassador for the Grove-based squad, completed 32 laps of the southern Algarve circuit behind the wheel of the FW47 on Monday, Williams said in a statement.

The run made her only the second woman to test drive a Williams Formula One car after Susie Wolff, managing director of the all-female F1 Academy series, former racer and wife of Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, in 2015.

“It’s an experience I’ll remember for a very long time,” said Chadwick in the statement. “I’d go as far as saying it’s been the best day of my life so far.

“I remember being young and watching Susie Wolff step into a Williams F1 car and how much that inspired my own journey.

“I’d love to be able to do the same for the next generation,” she added.

Chadwick’s test at Portimao comes only months after French racer Doriane Pin, who won the F1 Academy series last year, became the first woman to drive a Mercedes Formula One car.

Formula One has not had a female racer start a grand prix in 50 years.

Chadwick, who serves as an adviser to F1 Academy, currently competes in the LMP2 category of the European Le Mans Series and has also raced single-seaters in North America.

This year, she became the first woman to lap the 24 Hours of Le Mans’ Circuit de la Sarthe in a Hypercar in her role as reserve for Hyundai’s Genesis Magma team and said she saw her future in sportscar racing.

“Jamie Chadwick is an inspiration for millions of women and girls who has broken records at every level,” said Williams team principal James Vowles.

“This clearly shows there is a path for women to compete at the top level and I look forward to seeing how Jamie uses this experience to advance her own driving and advise our young drivers on what it takes to drive an F1 car.”