On the Right Track: Dreams of being an F1 superstar may be on hold, but British speedster Jamie Chadwick's drive to inspire next generation of female racers is stronger than ever

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

There was a time, not so long ago, when Jamie Chadwick was being hailed as Britain's brightest hope for a female driver in Formula 1.
Not since Scotland's Susie Wolff entered the fray in 2014 has a British woman attempted to make it onto the infamous grid. Wolff took part in practice sessions that year but, before her, only Maria Teresa de Filippis in the 1950s, and Lella Lombardi in the 70s, actually contested any races.
Whoever succeeds them will, without a doubt, become a sporting mega-star.
At one point, Chadwick seemed to be on course to do the business. The first woman to clinch an Indy NXT victory on a road course, the first female and youngest ever winner of the British GT, holder of three consecutive titles in the W Series and the founder of her own karting series for young girls, Chadwick is motorsport's marketing dream.
Yet for all her remarkable achievements, F1 now seems a distant memory for the 27-year-old, who is carving her own history in the world of endurance.
After Wolff worked for a while as a development and test driver for Williams, Chadwick followed suit, joining Williams as a development driver in 2019.
She appears, however, to have ruled out a life in the fast lane of Formula 1; the hypercar of endurance racing her new target, and one which is infinitely achievable, should she continue to impress in the cut-throat world of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS).
'I think now, having transitioned into endurance racing, it's the place where I see a great opportunity,' said the Monaco-based driver.
'Yes, it is the goal now. I think Formula 1, when you're in single-seaters, is every driver's ultimate goal. But now, the way my career has taken me, endurance racing-wise, I want to find a career and a home here and I'm really enjoying it so far this year.'
Her recent performance at the 24hr Le Mans race in France should certainly give her confidence. Despite her team failing to finish, thanks to problems with their car, Chadwick was quick to impress on her debut at La Sarthe.
'I think you take a lot away from it in terms of the roller coaster of emotions,' she told Mail Sport. 'You have to remember that Le Mans doesn't owe you anything.
'I think if anything, our expectations became a bit too high as the race went on, because of how smoothly it was going initially. However, I think that makes you more motivated. You know that it can be taken away from you in a heartbeat.'
One of the hurdles for female drivers trying to get into F1 is that there is lack of power steering in F2 cars: the traditional pathway to F1.
The strength therefore required to drive those cars puts women at a physical disadvantage, although — ironically — there is power steering in F1.
'It's a barrier that might not need to be there,' admitted Chadwick.
'The power steering or lack of power steering is a hurdle that could be a factor and it might be something that will prohibit women from having success.
'I know previously in junior categories the steering loads of a Formula 4 car or a Formula Regional car are as heavy as a lot of other cars and when you're a 16-year-old trying to drive these cars it's incredibly tough physically.
'I think it's something we can definitely think about. The reality is we do need more women coming through the system to verify this, and actually, they have changed a lot the steering ratios and everything to make it not so heavy to allow for drivers to have less issues with steering in the high loads.
'They have it (power steering) in Formula 1, they have it in Japan in different championships so I'm sure it's something they could put in there.
'Importantly, we need a woman to be knocking on the door of Formula 2 first before I think we're going to see this change.'
This, however, may be some way off, should F2 cars remain such an obvious challenge. Tatiana Calderon became the first woman to drive the series in 2019, but failed to score a single point.
Tom Stanton, CEO of More Than Equal — which was founded by David Coulthard and which enrols talent into a fully-funded Driver Development Programme designed with female drivers in mind — says there's no reason why women cannot compete alongside their male counterparts in Formula 2 — and he has called for changes to be made to cars in order for more women to be able to compete effectively.
'You could say its a red herring, but in fact it's the real truth,' he said.
'When you get to F2, those cars are super fast, super simple, super powerful, super difficult to drive. That's the same for both men and women. Is the female physiology slighter than their male equivalents? Yes, it is. There IS a real thing there about power steering. Why not put it in those cars?
'The oft-given response is cost, but I know plenty of team managers who would say that the cost is actually negligible. If you were learning to fly a fighter jet, you wouldn't be training in a helicopter. So why does the series preceding F1 have a different methodology, a different set up?
'I do think they should bring in power steering to F2 cars, because I don't think the reasons not to are valid. It helps everyone — not just female drivers.'
Stanton, who played a vital role with British Cycling as Head of Academy and worked across Olympic and Paralympic cycles, has a long history of science and performance in sport. He told Mail Sport part of the challenge here remains around 'opportunity' — but he's adamant that women will compete one day in Formula 1.
'Everybody wants the first female F1 driver on the grid. Nobody necessarily wants to be responsible for developing them. I don't think it's fair to say, however, that that's their fault.
'Rather, I would acknowledge that a rising tide raises all boats, so everyone has to have some positive action in order to get there.
'I believe, having been a physiologist in performance sport, and in performance science for 20 years, that there's no physical reason why you can't get a female to be physically capable of turning that wheel at speed.
'There are fewer females there, but routinely, the biggest difference between male and female drivers is how much time they have for testing and racing, and how much physical prep they've completed. There's a significant gulf there between the most successful male drivers and the females in that space.'
Chadwick, meanwhile, says she's confident motorsport is going in the right direction — as long as participation continues to grow.
'It's just a case of numbers for me,' said Chadwick, who is working with Mobil 1, a company investing heavily in women's sport.
'Ultimately, we will see a woman get to Formula 1 at some point, but I think the focus in the first instance, just needs to be on an increase in participation in the sport.'