British racing driver Jamie Chadwick has described testing a Formula 1 car as the highlight of her motorsport career, after completing 32 laps at the Portimao circuit in Portugal. The 28-year-old said the experience was the top item on her bucket list. Portimao is set to join the Formula 1 calendar in 2027.

Chadwick has been among the world’s most decorated female racing drivers. She joined the Williams Formula 1 team as a development driver in 2019, then won all three seasons of the all-female W Series. She was also the first female driver to win a road race in IndyCar’s feeder series.

“In terms of a dream or a bucket list item, it's definitely the top. It was pretty surreal. It's kind of everything I imagined, but more. The feeling you get from a car like that is pretty incredible. And then at a track like Portimao, it's a proper rollercoaster,” Chadwick told BBC Sport.

Before the test, she practised in a simulator and completed a detailed gym programme that included neck strengthening sessions alongside some drivers on the Formula 1 grid. Chadwick said she already trains her neck for racing, but preparation for the F1 car demanded far more strength.

“I train my neck anyway for what I do, but it's that times 10. Just the sheer level of strength that's required in the neck is huge,” she said. “I can't really put it into words the G-force and the feeling on your neck. As soon as you accelerate out of the pit-lane, your head hits the back of the headrest because it's so aggressive.”

She described the physical effect the following day as feeling like “you've been in a fight with Mike Tyson,” adding that “It feels like you've been beaten about a bit, but it's an incredible feeling.”

Chadwick joined an exclusive group: 13 women have driven a Formula 1 car, five have officially taken part in a Grand Prix weekend, and only two have raced. Maria Teresa de Filippis became the first woman to take part in a Grand Prix when she entered the 1958 Belgium Grand Prix and finished 10th. It was 15 years before another woman drove an F1 car.

Lella Lombardi later entered a record 17 grands prix. At the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, she finished sixth, making her the first and, so far, only woman to score points. No woman has started an F1 race since Lombardi, 50 years ago.

In 2014, Susie Wolff became the first woman in more than two decades to appear in an official F1 session, driving a Williams car at the British Grand Prix. Wolff is now managing director of F1 Academy, the all-female series, and has helped more women enter the sport. Chadwick has named her among the “inspirations” behind her own wish to drive an F1 car.

Chadwick was not the only woman to drive an F1 car this year. Doriane Pin, who won the F1 Academy title in 2025, became the first female driver to drive a Mercedes in April. Chadwick said she believes women are “capable of competing in Formula 1”, while adding there “shouldn't be a timeline on it”.

“I definitely believe the talent is out there,” she said. She added that her test and Williams providing opportunities to female drivers could “hopefully lead to a race seat one day.”

The sport has 22 race seats, and Chadwick said it is difficult for drivers to secure them even after success in lower series. “You're looking at F2, F3 champions not getting seats and you realise that there's more talent than there are seats often available. Then you narrow it down to a female driver and it's even tougher and an even smaller talent pool.”

She said she believes current support for women in racing will help move the sport in a positive direction: “But I genuinely believe with everything that we're doing now to support female talent it's only going to lead in a positive direction.”

Based on reporting by BBC Sport.