Williams F1 announced on 24 September that team ambassador and F1 Academy adviser Jamie Chadwick had completed her first F1 car test at Portugal’s Algarve International Circuit on 21 September. She drove 32 laps in the 2025 Williams FW47 as part of the team’s Testing of Previous Cars programme. The test and the announcement were three days apart.
From preparation at Grove to running at Portimao
Before the test, Chadwick completed physical training, simulator work and an F1 seat fitting at Williams’s Grove headquarters. She said that even with that preparation, driving an F1 car at speed around Portimao felt far beyond what she had imagined. The team said she provided technical feedback over the 32 laps and impressed those working with her.
The FW47 was Williams’s car for the 2025 season. According to the team, it took three podium finishes the previous year and helped secure its best constructors’ championship position since 2017. The test gave Chadwick hands-on experience of the car beyond the simulator. The announcement did not provide lap times or comparative test results.
A long-standing relationship and mentoring young drivers
Williams has worked with Chadwick since 2019. She won three W Series championships and has taken podiums and a race victory in Indy NXT. The team said she currently races in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series for IDEC Sport and serves as reserve driver for Genesis Magma Racing’s World Endurance Championship programme. Alongside her ambassador role at Williams, she mentors young drivers as an F1 Academy adviser.
The outing made Chadwick the second woman to drive a Williams F1 car, following Susie Wolff in 2015. Williams also described her as the first British woman to drive a modern F1 car since 2023. Chadwick said watching Wolff drive a Williams when she was younger had inspired her own racing path. She now hopes to encourage the next generation through her experience and pass on what she learned in the car.
INKA SPORTS analysis: the value of 32 laps lies in experience and feedback
For a driver with experience across multiple categories who also mentors others, the new reference point is first-hand experience at the wheel of an F1 car. Physical preparation, simulator work and seat fitting finally connected with real running. Her description of the experience exceeding expectations also shows that preparation and driving the car remain different things. When explaining the demands of F1 to young drivers, she now has her own experience to draw on, rather than relying solely on comparisons with other categories.
Those 32 laps also served the team. F1 has announced Portugal’s return to the calendar in 2027, and team principal James Vowles said the important data Chadwick gathered would help Williams prepare for next year’s Portimao race. However, the test used a 2025 FW47. The 32 laps measure running, and cannot alone rank her speed or predict the performance of the 2027 car. The available material supports a narrower conclusion: the team gained circuit information and technical feedback, and Chadwick completed a specific exercise in learning through real driving.
Summary
Chadwick’s first F1 test connected a long-standing partnership, preparation and mentoring work with 32 laps in the car. Her and Vowles’s positive assessments of the feedback and performance indicate value both for personal learning and for team preparation. How she applies the experience to her own racing and mentoring remains to be seen. Williams and Sky F1 plan to share a behind-the-scenes account during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend.
