Jamie Chadwick calls Formula 1 test at Portimao the highlight of her career
Three-time W Series champion says F1 run was surreal and incredible
One of the world’s most decorated female racing drivers Jamie Chadwick has described testing a Formula 1 car as the highlight of her motorsport career.
Britain’s Chadwick, 28, joins an exclusive list of women to have driven an F1 car after completing 32 laps at the Portimao circuit in Portugal, which will be on the F1 calendar in 2027.
Chadwick first joined Formula 1 team Williams in 2019 as a development driver and has since won all three seasons of the all-female W Series, as well as becoming the first female driver to win a road race in IndyCar’s feeder series.
"In terms of a dream or a bucket list item, it's definitely the top," she told BBC Sport. "It was pretty surreal. It's kind of everything I imagined, but more. The feeling you get from a car like that is pretty incredible. And then at a track like Portimao, it's a proper rollercoaster."
Physical demands of an F1 car
Chadwick practised in a simulator beforehand and undertook a detailed gym programme including neck strengthening sessions with some of the drivers on the F1 grid.
"I train my neck anyway for what I do, but it's that times 10. Just the sheer level of strength that's required in the neck is huge," she said. "I can't really put it into words the G-force and the feeling on your neck. As soon as you accelerate out of the pit-lane, your head hits the back of the headrest because it's so aggressive. You wake up the next morning like you've been in a fight with Mike Tyson. It feels like you've been beaten about a bit, but it's an incredible feeling."
History of women in Formula 1
There are now 13 women who have driven an F1 car. Five of those have officially entered an F1 Grand Prix weekend, and only two have actually taken part in a race.
Fifty years and counting since Maria Teresa de Filippis made history as the first female in 1958 when she took part in the Belgian Grand Prix, finishing 10th.
The legendary Lella Lombardi took part in a record 17 grands prix, including the Spanish GP in 1975, where she finished sixth, becoming the first and so far only woman to score points.
In 2014, Susie Wolff made the first female appearance in an official F1 session for more than two decades when she drove a Williams car at the British Grand Prix. Wolff, now managing director of the all-female series F1 Academy, has been instrumental in helping more females get into the sport and was one of the "inspirations" behind Chadwick wanting to drive an F1 car.
Chadwick is not the only woman to have driven an F1 car this year. Doriane Pin, who won the F1 Academy title in 2025, became the first female to drive a Mercedes in April.
Despite the progress, no woman has started an F1 race since Lombardi, 50 years ago. Chadwick believes women are "capable of competing in Formula 1", but that there "shouldn't be a timeline on it".
"I definitely believe the talent is out there," she said. "And I'm excited. Me doing this test and Williams giving opportunities to female drivers for example, will hopefully lead to a race seat one day."
With only 22 seats in F1, Chadwick acknowledged the challenge: "You're looking at F2, F3 champions not getting seats and you realise that there's more talent than there are seats often available. Then you narrow it down to a female driver and it's even tougher and an even smaller talent pool. But I genuinely believe with everything that we're doing now to support female talent it's only going to lead in a positive direction."