Jamie Chadwick not sure women can cope with ‘extremely physical’ Formula One

W Series champion Jamie Chadwick has questioned whether female drivers are physically able to compete in Formula One.

Chadwick is the dominant force of the all-female racing series, established in 2019 to serve as a springboard to F1.

The 24-year-old is bidding to take her sixth successive victory on F1’s undercard at the British Grand Prix this weekend as she chases a hat-trick of titles.

But it has been 46 years since a female competitor – the Italian Lella Lombardi – took part in an F1 race and eight years since Susie Wolff, who is married to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, competed in a Grand Prix practice session.

“I have set myself a goal of competing in Formula One but I don’t know what is actually possible,” British driver Chadwick told the PA news agency.

“To get into Formula One you have to go through the feeder series – Formula Three and Formula Two – and it is extremely physical.

“Formula One is extremely physical, and we don’t know exactly what women are capable of in the sport.

“If you are aged 15 or 16, and go into car racing, without power steering and driving big heavy cars, a lot of women do struggle, even though they have been successful in go-karting.

“We like to think that women can make it – and I am happy to be the guinea pig and will do my best to push and explore the options to Formula One – but we don’t know.

“There hasn’t been a woman in the recent era that has done it. I am trying to understand whether that is to do with the physical side of it.

“If it is physically possible, and women can compete against men, how do we make that happen? However, if it is physically too hard, but the sport wants women to compete, than we have got to bring it back and understand why.”

Chadwick, a