3 weeks ago
Jamie Chadwick backs grassroots karting to boost women in F1
Jamie Chadwick is a race car driver who has won a championship called the W Series three times.
She wants more girls to grow up racing cars.
She says it all starts with go-karts, which are small race cars for kids.
When she was a little girl, she was often the only girl at the go-kart track.
She started a program to help young girls make friends, have fun, and enjoy racing in a natural way.
It has been 50 years since a woman last raced in Formula One, the very top level of car racing.
That woman was Lella Lombardi, who raced in 1976.
Chadwick thinks it will take a long time before the numbers of men and women racers are anywhere close to equal.
But she believes the next generation of female racers will be the best ever seen.
Triple W Series champion Jamie Chadwick is promoting grassroots karting initiatives to encourage more young girls into motorsport.
Her initiative aims to create a welcoming community for girls at karting tracks, which remain male-dominated.
This month marks 50 years since Lella Lombardi last raced in Formula One, at the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix.
Chadwick says it will take time for grassroots pathways to produce results, noting Formula One remains an 'impossible dream' for almost all drivers.
She is confident the next five years will produce the highest quality of female racing drivers ever seen.
- Who
- Jamie Chadwick, 28-year-old triple W Series champion and leading British woman racer.
- What
- Chadwick is advocating grassroots karting participation as the key to getting more women into top-level motorsport, 50 years after a woman last raced in Formula One.
- Where
- Location not specified; Chadwick was pictured during media availabilities at the Grand Prix of Monterey.
- When
- Her comments came in a recent Reuters interview; August 2026 marks 50 years since Lella Lombardi raced at the Austrian Grand Prix on August 15, 1976.
- Why
- To close the long-standing gender gap in motorsport, where no woman has raced in Formula One for 50 years.
Key facts
- Championships
- Triple W Series champion
- Age
- 28
- Last woman to race in F1
- Lella Lombardi, Austrian Grand Prix, August 15, 1976
- Lombardi's best F1 result
- 6th place at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix (half points awarded)
- Current F1 grid
- 22 drivers, one rookie this year
- Chadwick's elite-level gender ratio estimate
- 'Probably about 80-20 at best'
- Current series
- IndyNXT Series driver, eyeing the world endurance championship
Quotes
Jamie Chadwick
Triple W Series champion and 28‑year‑old British racer
“"I'm confident that it will be much better for this next generation coming through, I think we are definitely going to see the highest quality of female racing drivers we've ever seen, in the next five years in my opinion."”
rediff.com
“"I had an older brother which helped, but I was the only girl there (at the go‑kart track) and, yeah, you're eight to 12 years old and it's not necessarily an environment that, you know, is the most inviting."”
rediff.com
Sources
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