F1 / NEWS & CONTEXT

Chadwick completes 32 laps in Williams test at Portimão

Jamie Chadwick completed 32 testing laps at Portimão in the 2025 Williams. According to the team, the session yielded data for the planned F1 return to the circuit in 2027.

GPBeat · Newsroom06 Oct 2026, 01:20 · 1 min

Jamie Chadwick completed 32 laps at the Portimão circuit on Monday 21 September, Williams announced on 24 September. She drove the FW47, the team's 2025 Formula 1 car. According to Williams, the test also served as preparation for the planned return to the Portuguese circuit in 2027.

The three-time W Series champion is an ambassador and F1 Academy adviser at Williams. Ahead of the test, she undertook a preparation programme involving physical training, simulator work and a custom-fitted seat.

Team principal James Vowles says Chadwick collected important data and gives a positive assessment of her feedback and performance.

Not her first drive in an F1 car

RacingNews365 and The Race both report the 32 laps in a 2025 Williams, but differ in what they describe as a first. RacingNews365 calls it Chadwick's first drive in an F1 car. That description is too broad: Williams had previously described how she drove the historic FW08C at Goodwood in 2023. The Race does make that distinction, describing Portimão as her first experience of modern F1 machinery.

Portugal's return is on the 2027 calendar published by the FIA on 16 September. The race is scheduled for June, after Monaco.

Sources 08

SOURCEJamie Chadwick makes F1 debut in important Williams testRacingNews365 English; Jake Nichol · Source date as found: 2026-09-24
SOURCEJamie Chadwick completes Portimão TPC test in FW47Atlassian Williams F1 Team — betrokken primaire bron · Source date as found: 2026-09-24
SOURCEWilliams Racing Announces Button, Villeneuve and Chadwick in 2025 Ambassador Line-UpWilliams Racing — betrokken primaire bron · Source date as found: 2025-02-10
SOURCEThree-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick to race at 81MMGoodwood Road & Racing — evenementorganisator; Simon Ostler · Source date as found: 2023-12-20
SOURCEChadwick Drives into History with Road America WinINDYCAR — officiële serieverslaggeving; Paul Kelly · Source date as found: 2024-06-09
SOURCE2027 FIA Formula One World Championship Calendar AnnouncedFédération Internationale de l’Automobile — primaire kalenderbekendmaking · Source date as found: 2026-09-16
SOURCEChadwick becomes first woman in 11 years to drive Williams F1 carThe Race; Josh Suttill · Source date as found: 2026-09-24
SOURCEWilliams Ambassador Chadwick completes maiden F1 test at PortimaoFormula1.com — publicatie van de kampioenschapsorganisatie · Source date as found: 2026-09-24

Source context

Test data and performance assessments come from Williams; the other publications provide no independent lap record or comparison of speed. RacingNews365 was only partially available.

Claims and supporting evidence 6

Williams announced on 24 September 2026 that Jamie Chadwick had completed 32 laps at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão on Monday 21 September. She used the 2025 FW47. Williams describes the session as a TPC test; the event was not a Grand Prix debut.

This source-based finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Williams test completed at Portimão. Test: 21 September 2026; announcement: 24 September 2026. The fact that the test took place and the number of laps completed are reported by the organising team. The other publications do not provide an independent lap record. The TPC designation here is not an independently verified assessment of compliance with all FIA testing rules.

[2][1]

RacingNews365's unqualified statement that Chadwick drove an F1 car for the first time contradicts the supplied historical record. In February 2025, Williams described a drive in a historic Williams at Goodwood in 2023. Goodwood had already documented Chadwick's earlier F1 experience in December 2023. The Race explicitly distinguishes the new session from historic demonstration runs and calls her outing at Portimão her first experience of modern F1 machinery.

This source-based finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Defining the scope of the supposed F1 debut. Historic outings documented by 2023 at the latest; modern-car test on 21 September 2026. Williams identifies 2023 as her first opportunity to drive an F1 car, whereas, according to Goodwood, Chadwick was already speaking in December 2023 about her first drive a few years earlier. The exact year of her first drive is therefore unclear. This uncertainty does not alter the evidence contradicting the claim that she drove an F1 car for the very first time in 2026. The description of the test as her first with modern machinery remains an attributed description, not an exhaustively verified career history.

[1][3][4][7]

Williams team principal James Vowles stated in the team's publication of 24 September that Chadwick had collected important data for the return to Portimão in 2027. He assessed her feedback and performance positively. The claimed importance and the assessment are thus statements by the team involved, not independently demonstrated development gains or a comparison of speed.

This source-based finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Attributed technical importance and performance assessment. Statement of 24 September 2026 about the test on 21 September. The available team text gives no lap times, comparable reference runs or quantified technical benefits. This does not allow a comparison with the Williams race drivers.

[2]

The planned return to Portugal in 2027 is also confirmed beyond the Williams announcement. On 16 September 2026, the FIA published a calendar approved by the World Motor Sport Council, scheduling Portugal's return for June, after Monaco.

This source-based finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Calendar context for the circuit preparations. Calendar announcement: 16 September 2026; planned return: June 2027. This confirms the calendar context, not the technical value of Chadwick's test. The available FIA narrative text mentions Portugal; Williams specifically mentions Portimão. A confirmed future calendar is not the same as a race that has already taken place.

[6][2]

RacingNews365 calls Chadwick the first woman to win an Indy NXT race. According to the official series reporting, however, her victory at Road America on 9 June 2024 made her the third female winner in the history of the INDYCAR feeder series, after Ana Beatriz and Pippa Mann. She was, however, the first female winner on a road or street circuit; her predecessors won on ovals.

This source-based finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Correction of the Indy NXT first. Victory: 9 June 2024; earlier female winners: 2008–2010. This correction follows INDYCAR's treatment of the series' history as continuous, including the period before it was named Indy NXT. It provides career context for the Williams test, rather than being a separate current event.

[1][5]

RacingNews365, The Race and Formula1.com agree on 32 laps in a 2025 Williams. Writing for RacingNews365, Jake Nichol presents the event as an F1 debut and an important Williams test. At The Race, Josh Suttill makes the relevant distinction between the test and Chadwick's previous demonstration runs in historic cars. Formula1.com also describes her physical and simulator preparation and her existing ambassadorial and advisory roles. This preparation and these roles are also set out in the Williams announcement. The statements by Chadwick and Vowles in The Race and Formula1.com match the team publication in substance; these are not separate interviews or independent measurements of performance.

This source-based finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Comparison of the available coverage and reliance on sources. Publications dated 24 September 2026. The comparison concerns only the available text of these named publications, not national media landscapes. RacingNews365 is only partially available. The Race does not give the model designation FW47. The matching team information and statements support the existence of a shared original source, but not a fully verified publication chain for every sentence. Formula1.com is also a publication of the championship organiser.

[1][7][8][2]

Corrections and updates to this story

06 Oct 2026, 01:20

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This article was produced with AI assistance. Source references make its supporting evidence traceable.