Chadwick completes 32-lap Portimao test for Williams
NXTbets Pro | Published On: September 24, 2026
Chadwick makes history
Jamie Chadwick completed her first Formula 1 test in Williams’ 2025 car at Portimao in Portugal, and she did it with 32 laps under her belt. The run came under Formula 1’s Testing of Previous Cars rules and marked her first proper Formula 1 test since she joined Williams in 2019. It also put her in rare company. Chadwick became the first woman in more than a decade to drive a contemporary Williams Formula 1 car, with Susie Wolff the last woman to do it before her. Before this session, Chadwick’s only other driving time in a Williams machine had come in demonstration runs in historic cars at Goodwood. That made the Portimao outing a major step in her Williams journey, one that put her behind the wheel of a current-spec car for the first time.
Williams gathers data
Williams used the session for more than just giving Chadwick a run. The team also collected data as it looks ahead to Formula 1’s return to Portimao next June. Chadwick said the day meant a great deal to her, calling it “the best day of my life so far.” She also described the experience as “phenomenal” and said it was “more than I had imagined.” Those words fit a test that combined emotion with preparation. Chadwick said she had spent time getting ready through simulator work and extra neck training, the kind of work needed to handle a modern Formula 1 car. The test gave her a chance to turn that preparation into laps on track, and it gave Williams a useful session on a circuit that will matter again when the series comes back to Portugal. For a driver who has spent years building her path in other categories, the chance to complete a proper Formula 1 test for Williams added a new layer to her racing resume.
Chadwick builds her path
Chadwick’s Williams test also fit into a broader career that has already produced major milestones. She won all three seasons of W Series and went on to become the first woman to win a road course race in Indy NXT in 2024. Those results have marked major milestones in her career. Chadwick said the Williams test would help both her future racing and her work mentoring younger drivers, which gives the session value beyond the immediate laps and data. Williams team principal James Vowles said Chadwick had “thoroughly earned” the opportunity and said the test supplied useful data for the team. He also said Chadwick’s run showed there is a path for women to compete at Formula 1’s top level. That message matched the significance of the day. The test gave Chadwick a chance to prove herself in a current Williams Formula 1 car, and it gave Williams a clear example of a driver who has built her credentials step by step and kept moving toward the highest level of the sport.
