Jamie Chadwick Q&A: Why she’s racing in W Series

“It is controversial. It sounded like an awful idea and I was the first person to have that response. It wasn’t very well explained to me at all. But I had a lot of people very close to me say you’ve got to take a look at it. This isn’t something to turn your nose up at. So I did some more research and listened to what they had to say. It’s not easy when you are talking about women in sport in general. It’s a fairly sensitive subject. This is not what you think. It’s not about segregation, it’s about supporting female talent to the top. Okay, there could have been other ways of doing it, but in terms of getting 18 girls racing in F3 cars this was the only way they could have done it.”

How about a programme that supports women in already existing series, like the old Racing Steps Foundation or the Red Bull young driver scheme?

“I would be biased and think ‘great, let’s have a Racing Steps Foundation idea to get us to F1’. But that’s not a fair way to look at it at all because, while I’ve had a great opportunity to race as high as F3, there are at least another 60 girls out there who haven’t. And given that opportunity, they could be half a second up the road from me, or even as good as Lewis Hamilton. You couldn’t discover someone like that without something like this. So in terms of discovering new talent at F3 level this is the better alternative to something like Red Bull or Racing Steps.”

So it’s the opportunity that appeals?

“It’s only six races over a short period of time. It is not necessarily the only racing I’m going to do [Chadwick will also race in the Nürburgring 24 Hours with Aston Martin]. My plan is to fill my year as much as possible, but W Series gives me some great security.”

How do you feel about women racing against women?

“All of us want to race against the best and naturally if I want to make it in the sport I have to race against men, as I have throughout my whole career. This year I’m looking at it that I just want to be out racing, and once they’ve got their helmets on it doesn’t matter who they are.” 

So say it goes well and you win. What do you do next?

“Retire with the prize money! No, the nice thing is it ends in August, so that gives you an opportunity. Everything is getting earlier in motorsport in terms of doing deals. In an ideal world I’ll have US$500,000 in August and I’ll know how much I need to find to make the next step up.”

You have probably spent your racing career dealing with the ‘women in motorsport’ question. Do you accept that is not going to go away?

“A little bit. I race because I love it. I do it naturally, and the female thing is just a topical conversation. When I started at 11 or 12 years old in karts I was completely oblivious to the fact I was the only female and I never got asked about it because it wasn’t something that anyone really cared about at that stage. I’ve gone through my whole career like that. But now I’m at the point where people are noticing and saying I’m breaking through a few boundaries. But it’s not something I’m consciously aware of. It’s just what I do.”

Women’s sport is contentious at the moment. Does motor racing have a problem?

“Yes, but no - a terrible answer to your question! Yes, in the sense that obviously there aren’t enough women in the sport. There is no reason why it should be so male dominated. But from my experience, I’ve never really felt like it’s been an issue, and I try and relate that to younger girls coming through. It is a great sport to be involved with. You hear some horror stories, but you do in all sports. The sport is open and desperate for a female to succeed and make it to the top. We just need more getting involved. I’ve had a really positive experience.”

Tell us about the car.

“It’s the new F3-spec Tatuus and it’s a new car for me. Everyone loves the old F3 Dallara, but in terms of the way the ladder is at the moment, for learning this is the perfect car. It’s cool for me because although it’s the same chassis it’s a very different car and probably the most powerful I’ve driven. I’m really looking forward to racing it.”