JAMIE CHADWICK GETS HER FIRST F1 RUN AT PORTIMÃO
Jamie Chadwick has driven a Formula 1 car for the first time, completing a Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) session with Williams at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão, Portugal.
The three-time W Series champion drove the Williams FW47, the car used by the team during the 2025 Formula 1 season. Chadwick completed 32 laps of the circuit, covering around 149 kilometres during the test. Williams said she impressed the team with her pace and technical feedback while also helping the team collect information ahead of Portimão’s return to the Formula 1 calendar in 2027.
The test took place on Monday, September 21, as part of Williams’ TPC programme. These sessions allow teams to run eligible previous-generation Formula 1 cars outside official Grand Prix weekends. The FW47 scored three podium finishes during the 2025 season and helped Williams achieve its best Constructors’ Championship result since 2017.
For Chadwick, the test was another important step in her long relationship with Williams. She joined the team’s driver academy in 2019 and has remained connected to the organisation since then. She is now a Williams Team Ambassador and F1 Academy Adviser, where she works with young drivers and shares her experience from her own career.
Chadwick arrived at Portimão after a detailed preparation programme that included gym work, simulator sessions and a Formula 1 seat fitting at Williams’ headquarters in Grove. She said that driving an F1 car at speed around Portimão was difficult to prepare for, but that the experience was even greater than she expected.
The 28-year-old has already achieved several milestones in her career. She won all three W Series championships held between 2019 and 2022 and later moved to Indy NXT, where she became the first woman in 13 years to compete full-time in the series, the first woman in 14 years to score a podium and the first woman in 15 years to win a race. She currently competes in the European Le Mans Series and is also a reserve driver for Genesis Magma Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Her Portimão test also places her among a small group of women who have driven modern Formula 1 machinery. She became the second woman to drive a Williams F1 car, following Susie Wolff’s running with the team in 2015, and the first British woman to drive a modern F1 car since Jessica Hawkins tested an Aston Martin in 2023.
She also became the second woman to drive an F1 car in 2026, following Doriane Pin’s Mercedes test at Silverstone in April. Pin completed 76 laps in the 2021 Mercedes W12 during her first F1 test.
Chadwick’s first F1 run also continues a much longer history of women in Formula 1. Maria Teresa de Filippis became the first woman to enter a Formula 1 race, while Lella Lombardi remains the only woman to score points in the championship.
Portimão was also an important location for the test because Formula 1 is scheduled to return to the Algarve circuit in 2027. The track previously hosted Grands Prix in 2020 and 2021, making the data collected during Williams’ test useful as the team prepares for the circuit’s return to the calendar.
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