Jamie Chadwick will be moving from the drivers’ seat to the commentary box (Image: Getty)
Jamie Chadwick has spoken out on how she plans to offer a different perspective as a pundit after announced she will fill the void left by Damon Hill for the 2025 Formula One season. Hill’s departure was confirmed last month and the The 26-year-old has competed across a multitude of formats, including Formula E, Formula Three and Indy NXT. While she has never competed in an F1 race, Chadwick was chosen to be Williams’ development driver and participated in several tests.
This year, she will be competing in the European Le Mans Series as part of IDEC Sport, which may limit her screentime throughout the campaign. Chadwick is set to balance her new broadcasting commitments alongside her racing career, following in the footsteps of her Sky colleagues Jenson Button and Anthony Davidson. Addressing her experience of being in the paddock with Williams, the Briton is excited to explore the opportunities from the adjacent side of F1 as a pundit.
“It’s nice to have experience, not in Formula One, but in racing, and it’s more possible to relate to certain situations,” Chadwick told the “I think you see things slightly different to people watching, who have never driven a race car before. I’ve been fortunate enough to be behind the scenes with Williams over the last few years, and it’s great to have that different inside intel – and from a personal point of view, it’s exciting to delve deeper into the F1 world and unpack it as much as possible.
“When you’re involved in a team like Sky, you’re really in the mix of with a lot of experts, and you’re learning so much. From a personal point of view, I’ve always been on the other side (as a driver) so it’s really cool to experience that from the opposing position.”
Jamie Chadwick pictured in Williams team colours at the Dutch Grand Prix (Image: Getty)
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Chadwick will join a team that is growing with female representation as she joins fellow ex-W Series competitor Naomi Schiff, race strategy expert Bernie Collins and presenters Natalie Pinkham and Rachel Brookes. Sky decided not to renew Hill’s contract after spending 13 years with the team since they secured broadcasting rights in 2012. They will, however, retaining their long-serving team comprised of commentator David Croft, expert analyst Martin Brundle and Karun Chandhok.
As a two-time W Series champion, there are few that would argue against Chadwick possessing the talent to race against F1 drivers. And as a passionate advocate for increasing the number of women in visible and important F1 roles, she hopes that seeing pundits and engineers on TV will inspire the next generation of women to enter motor racing.
The Sky Sports F1 team has increased its female representation (Image: Getty)
“I hope that anyone who switches on the TV screen and sees female pundits – they see female mechanics, engineers, and drivers hopefully in the future,” she added. “I think now the key is going to be trying to transition that female fan base into actual female participation – actually being involved in the sport across the board.
“And I really don’t think that’s going to take too long, given how quickly we’ve seen the the fan base change, but it’s fantastic for the sport. You turn up to races now and you see so many different people watching and enjoying our sport.”