(Motorsport) With a third W Series title a realistic possibility this weekend, 24 year old racing driver Jamie Chadwick is targeting a place in Formula 1 “within five years”. Chadwick, who has enjoyed tremendous success in the all female W Series and could potentially become the first female Formula 1 driver since Lella Lombardi in 1976 even though F1 boss Stefano Domenicalli doesn’t see it as a realistic possibility. She is not expected to compete in the W Series next year and recently tested in IndyLights, the feeder series for IndyCar in the United States.

Having already won the first two seasons in the W Series, Chadwick went on to join Williams Racing’s F1 team's development driver programme. Despite her success that has seen the 24 year old win five out of six races and a potential third title in Singapore, Chadwick has yet to make a step up in Formula 3 or Formula 2, with lack of funding amongst others being major obstacles. In September, Chadwick joined an IndyLights test for Andretti Racing in Florida. According to her, driving a heavier and more physically demanding car next year could be the perfect solution for adapting to the demands of Formula 3 in the future. 

Speaking about her F1 aspirations, Chadwick said “From my side, if I am in F1 I want to be within the next five years, so it does go against what he (Domenicalli) says. I don't want it to feel like we are still on the outside looking in. It now needs to become very much a sport where everyone is able to compete on a level playing field. If it's not me, I am confident another young girl has the opportunity to. You want them to start and be inspired and know that they have the opportunity. I will try to go through the correct feeder series and have success in F1 within five years.”

When asked about her IndyCar plans, she said “I want the best opportunity to develop as much as possible. I want good seat time, a chance to get in the car and have as much experience as possible. As great as the W Series has been, the one thing that has been lacking is the seat time and development required. For that reason, that's where maybe the perception of me is I should jump straight into maybe F2 or I read things about F1 and I always believe I am quite far away from that and seat time is going to be crucial. I felt comfortable with the car. The main thing is that with the long races and the amount of testing you get in Indy Lights, it could put me in a really good position for the year after to make another step up, having had that extra time to develop both physically and as a driver." 

Last month, Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicalli had refuted suggestions of a female driver at the highest level for the foreseeable future. He said “Realistically speaking, unless there is something like a meteorite, I don't see a girl coming into F1 in the next five years. That is very unlikely. We are very happy with the collaboration with Formula W. But we believe that to be able to give the chance to girls to be at the same level of competition with the guys, they need to be at the same age when they start to fight on the track at the level of Formula 3 and Formula 2. We are working on that to see what we can do to improve the system. And you will see some action soon. We want to build up the right parameters with the right approach for them to start racing against the guys, at the right age, with the right car."

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