‘It means a huge amount’ – Jamie on her journey to driving the FW47
From joining the Williams F1 Team Driver Academy in 2019, to driving the FW47 at Portimão, Jamie looks back on a landmark moment with the team
Published
27 SEP 2026
Est. reading time
4 min
Seven years after first joining the Williams F1 Team Driver Academy, Jamie Chadwick wrote the latest chapter in her story with the team, climbing into modern Formula 1 machinery for the first time.
Earlier this week she completed 32 laps of the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in the FW47 – the car that took Atlassian Williams F1 Team to two Grand Prix podiums, one Sprint podium and P5 in the Constructors’ Championship.
It was a significant moment for both Jamie and Williams, with the 28-year-old becoming first woman to drive a modern Williams F1 car since Susie Wolff, who tested for the team in 2015.
But for Jamie, the meaning of the day stretched far beyond the 32 laps completed around Portimão.
“It goes back to 2019,” she said. “I've been with the team a long time, in different roles in their Driver Academy, now going into an ambassador role. But it means a huge amount.”
Jamie’s relationship with Williams began in 2019, when she joined the Driver Academy and began a personalised simulator programme alongside her racing commitments.
Since then, she has gone on to win three consecutive W Series titles, plus race and win in Indy NXT and the European Le Mans Series, all while continuing to work closely with the team.
That long-standing connection made Monday’s test all the more special.
“I think they've always supported female talent, which is fantastic,” Jamie continued. “I remember watching Susie drive the car not that long ago. I think to be the next one to step in really shows the commitment that Williams has to supporting female talent, and something I'm really proud to be a part of.”
For all the familiarity that came from spending years with the team, nothing could quite prepare Jamie for the experience of finally driving an F1 car at speed.
After simulator running, neck training and a seat fit at Grove, she headed to Portimão ready to experience the FW47 for herself.
“The first time I got into the car for the seat fit, was pretty surreal,” she said. “I think when you see the steering wheel, you see the vision that you have when you play a computer game. That first feeling was unbelievable.”
Then came the moment the car left the garage.
“The first drive out of the garage and the first lap, that was something else, just the sheer acceleration,” she recalled. “Even the feeling in the pit lane felt crazy enough.”
Having driven machinery such as IndyCar and Hypercar, Jamie knew what it meant to get behind the wheel of a high-performance race car. Even so, the FW47 was something entirely different.
“I think the F1 car sits where I expected it to, and that it is fully in a league of its own,” she said. “I've been lucky enough to drive a few different amazing cars, IndyCar, Hypercar, but nothing really compares to what this car does and what it's able to do on a lap like Portimão.
“Just in terms of the sheer downforce, the grip, the straight-line speed. It's phenomenal.”
As the laps passed, the experience began to feel increasingly familiar.
“I don't know if there's a moment, but you get more and more comfortable every lap,” Jamie explained. “And then it's trying not to get too comfortable where you find yourself going over the limit.”
By the end of the test, the FW47 had started to feel natural.
“You always get more comfortable and it starts to feel really nice and familiar by the end,” she shared. “It's going to be a problem when I get back in my other race car because it's going to feel very different!”
And while the experience adds another chapter to Jamie’s own career, there is a wider significance to it too.
As our F1 Academy Adviser, she can now take that experience directly to the young drivers she works with, giving them a closer understanding of what awaits at the very top of the sport.
“I now think my feeling of the sport at the top level is that much greater,” Jamie said. “I better understand what it takes to be a Formula 1 driver, and that's what a lot of these young drivers have aspirations of, and now I can feel a little bit closer to that.”
For Jamie, that makes the test about more than finally driving an F1 car.
“I would say don't let anything put you off,” she said when asked what she would tell young girls watching on. “If there's a tiny bit of today's feeling that you can feel in the future, then it's absolutely worth it.”
“Days like today are unbelievable, and yeah, I think it's possible. I cannot wait for the day that we see a young female driver line up on the Formula 1 grid.”
Earn Exclusive Rewards
Get access to exclusive events, digital experiences, unlock collectables and get closer to the team and drivers!
Learn More
Latest
Related Tags
Trending
© 2026 The Williams Group, under licence to Williams IP Holdings LLC
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Services LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with company registration number OC456938 and whose registered address is at Station Road, Grove, Wantage, Oxfordshire, OX12 0DQ.
Powered By