Jamie Chadwick has been a reasonably familiar face in Formula E ever since she tested for the NIO team in 2018 in Riyadh. Since that time, she has tested on several occasions for Jaguar and also been a part of the official broadcast team at races.
Aside from her recent Indy NXT and European Le Mans Series programmes, the latter of which has seen her win several races and also become a part of the Genesis Magma WEC squad, Chadwick has set up an all-female karting initiative, called the Jamie Chadwick Series, designed to boost female participation in grassroots motorsport across the UK.
Run in partnership with Daytona Motorsport venues, it offers structured racing for girls and women in multiple categories, with events held on a variety of outdoor circuits throughout the season. More than just a race series, it provides a welcoming environment with mentorship and support from Jamie Chadwick and her team, helping newcomers gain confidence while giving promising young drivers a platform to develop their racecraft and progress in the sport.
This week marked the winner’s day for the Jamie Chadwick Series. The day consisted of the five winners, each from an age bracket division ranging from 8 – 17 year old girls who have their sights set on a career in motorsport. The aim of JCS is to provide mentorship, support and experience to young girls and to give them a platform to launch their own careers in racing.
Chadwick spent some time with Formula E Notebook at the day to also talk about how Formula E’s promotion of female talent and how it can flourish in the future with the incoming Gen4 era.
“The technology is really interesting and for Formula E as it’s quite specific, in terms of the way that the cars are, battery management and the systems it is a bit stand alone in a way.,” said Chadwick.
“A lot of the drivers that are in it are experts at that and I think that they’re experts for a reason, so it would be nice to see there be some form of feeder series potentially to Formula E to help younger drivers prepare for it.”
Chadwick also believes that the influx of younger single-seater drivers to the world’s only all-electric world championship will benefit the chances of female talent getting a chance in a race seat.
That though would be accelerated further with a more rounded structure of a ladder up to Formula E, something that Chadwick thinks is needed.
“You see the Formula 2 drivers get in and they adapt quickly but technically it’s still very different to everything else, particularly combustion engines,” she said.
“It would be great to see some form of feeder series to be the step below that. I think it would be great to see something like that in karting anyway, just to form a more accessible route in, in a way.
“I think there are some leagues, like the FAT Karting League runs electric karts and that’s great because they can manage a weight ballast system with the power. I think this is a really cool way to do it, also a sustainable way to do it which I think is always a great angle to have in our sport to have road relevance to what we do on track
“I think there’s definitely a place for it and it’ll be exciting to see how that comes into fruition, but maybe there needs to be a middle step between karting and Formula E to be the feeder series, rather than straight from karting to FE.”
How Gen4 can nurture female talent
One of the key technical changes for Formula E in Gen4 will be the addition of power steering on the much quicker cars.
The physical nature of the Gen3 cars was something that was part and parcel of that era and it was often commented on by race drivers that it was a particularly challenging aspect of getting the best out of the quirky designs.
Chadwick opined that having a power steering mechanism advancement is “important because I know for the tests that we’ve done in Formula E, the steering has been incredibly heavy. It’s just the way that the design is with the powertrain, it made it tough.
“But that’s not to say that I don’t think women could’ve been successful in Formula E before but it’s already tough and it was a challenge during the tests to get the most out of ourselves with the strength required. So, I think that’s a step in the right direction.”
“That said, I think that where Formula E is now going is great for the sport because I think it’s getting more advanced, faster, we’re getting more performance out of the car, more downforce, everything you want from a race car.
“Naturally, that takes it to a higher level and I think now we’re going to see it benefit the drivers that have come from Formula 2, Hypercar, even F1.”
Will we see the first female racer since Simona de Silvestro competed in the 2016 London EPrix in the cockpit sooner rather than later?
Abbi Pulling is expected to continue here deal with Nissan in to Gen4, Doriane Pin is a development driver for Citroen, and the likes of Chloe Chambers, Nerea Marti, Bianca Bustamante and Alice Powell have existing relationships with teams up and down the pitlane.
“Realistically, in terms of getting more women into it, I think it’s great we’ve got a lot of women in the young driver programmes and that’s what’s fundamental, Concluded Chadwick.
“We’re going to see them once they filter up through the higher ranks of motorsport, whether that be IndyNXT, IndyCar, Formula 2, Hypercar – once they get through those ranks, hopefully they can filter through and there will be a successful female driver in Formula E soon.”
Interview conducted by Jodie Saxon
