The 24-year-old could win her third W Series title in Singapore this weekend. She has been touted as someone who could break into F1. Watch round seven of the 2022 W Series live from Singapore on Sky Sports F1, with the race live on Sunday from 9.35am.
Sunday 2 October 2022 09:50, UK
Jamie Chadwick is targeting a third W Series title this weekend - and has set her sights on making the step up to Formula 1 "within five years".
The 24-year-old has had remarkable success in the all-female W Series, winning the championship in both seasons so far and all but one race this year, but has so far been unable to advance through other feeder series.
She has been touted to be the first woman to race in F1 since Lella Lombardi in 1976 - although F1 boss Stefano Domenicalli recently said that he doesn't "realistically" see a female on the grid in the next five years.
Chadwick, however, has rebuffed those comments.
"From my side, if I am in F1 I want to be within the next five years, so it does go against what he says," she told Sky Sports News' Craig Slater. "I don't want it to feel like we are still on the outside looking in.
"It now needs to become very much a sport where everyone is able to compete on a level playing field.
"If it's not me, I am confident another young girl has the opportunity to. You want them to start and be inspired and know that they have the opportunity."
She added to reporters that she will "try and go through the correct feeder series and have success to be in F1 within five years."
Chadwick isn't expected to remain in W Series next season, and recently tested in IndyLights - the feeder series to IndyCar in the United States. She didn't join other W Series women in a Formula 3 test.
"I want the best opportunity to develop as much as possible," she added. I want good seat time, a chance to get in the car and have as much experience as possible.
"As great as the W Series has been, the one thing that has been lacking is the seat time and development required.
"For that reason, that's where maybe the perception of me is I should jump straight into maybe F2 or I read things about F1 and I always believe I am quite far away from that and seat time is going to be crucial."
Chadwick won the first two seasons in W Series and joined the Williams F1 team's development driver programme. and this year, she has won five out of six races and could win her third title in Singapore this weekend.
Despite her success, she has yet to step up to Formula 3 or Formula 2, with a lack of funding and a more physical car the major hurdles.
She said that female drivers haven't followed the same pathway as men and while the W Series has given her a leg up, her progress compared to others in her age group, including George Russell, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, is "very different".
Earlier in September, Chadwick joined an Indy Lights test for Andretti racing in Florida. Indy Lights is a feeder series for IndyCar and the British driver thinks a drive there next season in the heavier, more physically demanding cars, would be the perfect preparation for a return to Europe to race in F3.
"I felt comfortable with the car," she said. "The main thing is that with the long races and the amount of testing you get in Indy Lights, it could put me in a really good position for the year after to make another step up, having had that extra time to develop both physically and as a driver."
The W Series has three races left, with the drivers set to move to Austin for the penultimate race before the final event in Mexico City on October 28.
Chadwick is currently on 143 points, 75 points ahead of Alice Powell and Beitske Visser in second and third place.
Watch round seven of the 2022 W Series live from Singapore on Sky Sports F1. Qualifying starts at 9.35am on Saturday, with the race on Sunday from 9.35am.
