Formula 1 is 'desperate' for a successful female driver - Chadwick

Jamie Chadwick

F1 is 'desperate' for a successful female driver - Chadwick

Could it be her?

Martin Macdonald

Tuesday 27 August 2019 10:00 Updated: 10:54

Jamie Chadwick believes that Formula 1 is “desperate” to see a female driver succeed, and wants the male domination of the sport to end.

Earlier this month, the Brit became the first-ever W Series champion in the female-only motorsport, which was established to provide more of a stage for women who have been overlooked for more prominent driving roles.

Chadwick already acts in a reserve driver role capacity with Williams, and is eager to join F1 at some point, which she has previously described as her “ultimate goal”.

Article continues under video

She is not of the opinion that there are any underlying reasons why there are no females in F1 at the moment, and believes they should only be given a seat on merit.

“The sport’s obviously heavily male-dominated but in my view, I don’t think there’s a reason for that,” she told talkSPORT.

“I think the sport is desperate to see a female succeed. The sport does want a female racing driver but they’ve got to be there on merit.

“Some of the most influential people in motorsport are women. For example, my team boss at Williams is Claire Williams.

Chadwick wants to break into F1 on meritRead more

“We’re starting to see more and more. It’s a numbers game and we just need more women to rise to the top in all degrees of the sport and hopefully, that will end this male dominance that we’ve got.”

The 21-year-old has revealed that her love for racing and the desire to make a career out of the sport came a little later in life than most drivers.

“I had my first go and fell in love with it quite quickly,” she added.

“One thing led to another and I progressed into car racing at 14. It’s been a whirlwind ever since. As soon as I took my hand in motorsport, I realised that was the one I wanted to pursue more than other sports.