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Jamie Chadwick Completes F1 Test with Williams
Confirmed
In Short: Williams F1 team announced that Jamie Chadwick completed a Testing of Previous Cars session in the FW47 at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal.
Williams F1 team principal James Vowles called Chadwick an “inspiration” and praised her “impressive” performance during the session.
Chadwick, who is a Williams F1 Team Ambassador and an F1 Academy Adviser, completed 32 laps at the circuit in Portimão in the FW47, a car that delivered three podiums for Williams F1 during the 2025 campaign.
Chadwick became the first female driver to win an LMP2 class race in the European Le Mans Series during 2025 and is driving for IDEC Sport’s LMP2 team again this year.
She is only the second woman to test drive a Williams F1 car after F1 Academy CEO Susie Wolff in 2015, and the first British woman since 2023 to drive a modern F1 car.
Chadwick's CV includes three W Series titles and race wins in IndyCar's support series Indy NXT and the LMP2 class in the European Le Mans Series.
The F1 test took place as part of Williams's Testing of Previous Cars (TPC) programme, which allows teams to use pre-2026 machinery in up to 20 test days across the year.
Chadwick said, “It was a phenomenal day and an incredible experience. Few things can prepare you for driving a Formula 1 car at speed around a track like Portimao, but it was everything I imagined and 10 times more.”
Vowles added that Chadwick helped the team gather important data ahead of F1's return to Portimao in June next year, the circuit having last held a race in 2021.
Chadwick's test marks her first proper F1 test since joining Williams in 2019.
She previously demonstrated historic Williams cars at Goodwood, such as Nigel Mansell's championship-winning FW14B car (1992) and Keke Rosberg's title-winning FW08 (1982).
What's confirmed
- “Jamie Chadwick is an inspiration for millions of women and girls who has broken records at every level, and she has thoroughly earned this F1 test opportunity with Atlassian Williams F1 Team,” said Vowles.
- Jamie Chadwick has become the first woman in more than a decade to drive a contemporary Williams Formula 1 car, having recently completed a test at Portimao.
What's still developing
- Williams confirmed that Jamie Chadwick completed an F1 test session in Portugal Jamie Chadwick made some Formula 1 history earlier this week.
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- Chadwick is one of only three women to drive an F1 car in the 2020s, after F1 Academy champion Doriane Pin (Mercedes, 2026) and Jessica Hawkins (Aston Martin, 2023).
- After undertaking a detailed programme of gym work, sim running and a seat fitting, she gathered valuable data and feedback for Williams during the test, helping the Grove-based outfit to prepare for Portugal's return to the calendar in 2027.
- The opportunity formed part of her long-standing relationship with Williams and role as Team Ambassador and F1 ACADEMY Adviser, enabling her to join an exclusive list of women to have driven an F1 car including Wolff, Maria Theresa di Filippis and Lella Lombardi.
- 24th September 2026, 14:46 | Written by Keith Collantine Williams’ ambassador Jamie Chadwick had her first test for the team at the Autodromo do Algarve in Portugal this week.