Jamie Chadwick experienced what she described as "the best day of my life so far" when she got behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car for the first time, piloting a Williams chassis at the Algarve International Circuit in Portimão, Portugal. The 28‑year‑old Briton, who serves as a Williams brand ambassador and provides expert commentary for Sky Sports F1, completed a 32‑lap run in the team’s 2025‑spec car under the FIA’s Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) programme on a Monday morning. Chadwick’s outing marks her as the second woman to test an F1 machine during the 2024 calendar year, following Doriane Pin, the reigning F1 Academy champion, who took a 2021‑spec Mercedes for a test run at Silverstone in April.
It also makes her the first British female driver to test an F1 car since Jessica Hawkins tackled an Aston Martin at Silverstone in 2023. Chadwick first joined the Williams stable in 2019 as a development driver, and her résumé has grown impressively since then. She dominated the all‑female W Series, winning every championship from its inaugural season through its third, and in 2024 she broke new ground by becoming the first woman to win a road‑course race in the US‑based Indy NXT series.
"It was a phenomenal day and an incredible experience," Chadwick said after the session. "Few things can prepare you for driving a Formula 1 car at speed around a track like Portimão, but it was everything I imagined and ten times more. I'm incredibly grateful to Atlassian Williams F1 Team for this opportunity.
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, and the experience I gained today will make a real difference both to my own racing and to what I can pass on to the drivers coming through. I'm so grateful and incredibly happy with how the day went. It's an experience I'll remember for a very long time – I'd go as far as saying it's been the best day of my life so far." Susie Wolff remains the most recent woman to take part in a Friday practice session in Formula 1, having completed four such outings for Williams across the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
The last woman to actually start a Grand Prix was Italy's Lella Lombardi, who entered the 1976 German Grand Prix. Chadwick’s test therefore continues a very small lineage of female participation at the sport's highest level.
Williams team principal James Vowles praised the achievement, stating, "Jamie Chadwick is an inspiration for millions of women and girls who has broken records at every level, and she has thoroughly earned this F1 test opportunity with Atlassian Williams F1 Team. Jamie gathered important data for the team as F1 prepares to return to Portimão next year, and her feedback and performance were impressive as we knew they would be.
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." In the lead‑up to the test, Chadwick explained to Sky Sports how she prepared both mentally and physically. "I did half a day in the simulator, the seat fit and all the kind of procedural stuff that you do beforehand," she said.
"And then I have actually been upping the neck training a lot. Obviously racing LMP2, I train my neck anyway, but that is naturally stepped up for an F1 test.
George Russell's been helping me a little bit with the preparation. I woke up the next morning after the first proper day of neck training I did with him, and I could barely move my head!
So it's incredible, actually, when you realise what they are going through in terms of not just the car, but also the training that they have to do for the necks at the moment. It's crazy." Chadwick had already tackled the Portimão layout in her European Le Mans Series duties, and she noted how drivers view the circuit. "Ollie Bearman said mentally it's one of the toughest tracks, actually. Just the flow of it is very undulating.
There's a lot going on. In the mind it's very busy. But most have just said to enjoy it.
I feel like I learn a huge amount from Formula 1 just generally in the role that I have with Sky Sports, which has helped me a lot in all the other stuff that I'm doing. But I think this is going to take a new, extreme one from that." The test also provided valuable telemetry for Williams as the team prepares for its return to the Algarve circuit in the 2025 season. The data collected on brake temperatures, tyre degradation, aerodynamic balance and driver feedback will feed directly into the car's development roadmap, helping the team refine its 2025 package ahead of the next year’s race weekend. Beyond the technical aspects, Chadwick’s presence in the car sends a powerful message about diversity and inclusion in motorsport.
Her journey—from karting in the UK, through the W Series, to competing in Indy NXT and now an F1 test—demonstrates that the traditional barriers can be broken with talent, determination, and the right support. By publicly sharing her excitement and gratitude, she hopes to inspire young girls worldwide to pursue their own racing dreams, just as she once looked up to Susie Wolff. The broader context of women in Formula 1 continues to evolve.
While Wolff’s 2014‑15 practice runs remain the most recent female appearances in a race weekend session, the sport has introduced initiatives such as the Women in Motorsport Commission and the F1 Academy, a feeder series designed to develop female talent. Chadwick’s test is a tangible outcome of those programs, showing that the pathway from junior categories to the pinnacle is becoming more accessible. Fans can follow Chadwick’s future endeavors across multiple platforms.
In addition to her Sky Sports analyst role, she competes in the European Le Mans Series for an LMP2 outfit, where she continues to hone her endurance‑racing skills. Her performance in Indy NXT, highlighted by a historic road‑course win, further cements her reputation as a versatile driver capable of adapting to different machinery.
Looking ahead, Chadwick hinted that she may aim for a full‑time F1 seat someday, though she acknowledges the challenges involved. "I know the competition is fierce and the seats are limited, but every step I take, like this test, brings me closer to that dream. I’ll keep working hard, learning from the best, and hopefully, one day I’ll be lining up on the grid with the rest of the world’s top drivers," she said. For now, the immediate focus remains on extracting the maximum learning from the Portimão test and translating it into performance gains for both her own career and the Williams programme.
As the 2025 season approaches, all eyes will be on how the data she helped generate influences the car’s evolution, and whether her feedback will spark further technical innovations. The 2026 Formula 1 calendar continues to unfold on Sky Sports F1, with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix kicking off a triple‑header weekend that includes a Saturday race in Baku.
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