Jamie Chadwick racks up first superlicense points to race in F1

LONDON — W Series champion Jamie Chadwick is setting her sights on a dream scenario of driving a Formula One car before the end of the year now she has secured precious superlicense points in Asia.

The 21-year-old Briton, winner of the inaugural all-female series last year, finished fourth in the Asian F3 championship at the weekend to bank 10 points towards the 40 needed to race in F1.

With 15 more up for grabs in W Series this year, Chadwick could reach the 25 needed to take part in Friday practice before Formula One’s Abu Dhabi season-ender.

Already a development driver for the Williams team, with simulator duties, Chadwick feels she is getting closer to track action.

“Hopefully if I can get the superlicense (points) then FP1 (first practice) or a test drive isn’t something too much to ask for,” she told Reuters. “If it all goes perfectly. I don’t want to jinx it yet.

“I think that would be the ultimate goal. It would be an amazing thing to be able to tick that off this year rather than having to wait another year.”

Chadwick will be driving a Jaguar all-electric Formula E car at a test in Marrakesh on Sunday, the day after that series races in Morocco, and that could also lead to future opportunities.

She also tested with the NIO team last year.

“I’m really excited about Formula E,” she said.

“There’s world class drivers in it, world class teams and I think it’s an opportunity to get myself exposed on that level and hopefully showcase what I’m capable of doing in something like that.”

Chadwick said the Asian F3 success had been “a massive bonus”, with a race win and podiums good for confidence and also proving, to anyone who doubted, that she could mix it with the men.

“I did feel like I represented the W Series and gave them justice,” she said. “By the end I felt like I was racing as well as in the W Series and if any of the other girls were in that championship they would have been up there as well.”

Last year, commenting on the Williams role, she had said Formula One felt further away the more she realised how much she had to learn but Asian F3 had redrawn the boundaries.

“Sometimes you need those little golden carrots to make it seem achievable and give you the incentive to know you’re not as far away as maybe I might think. That’s the first one,” she said.

“The next one will be the (2020) W Series championship and the superlicense points that come with that.”

If expectations are rising that Chadwick could ultimately be the first woman since 1976 to race in Formula One, she said that was also a good thing.

“The sport is keen for a women to succeed and, when one does, it is quite nice that I feel I get that support from the wider network,” she said.

“There’s definitely a bit of pressure that comes with that but it’s positive pressure. It’s people wanting me to do well.”

Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris.

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