The world of motorsport has historically been male dominated, but the situation is slowly changing. The presence of the W Series has conveyed the message that men and women can compete equally in motorsport, and there are several examples throughout motorsport that prove this idea to be true.
Michèle Mouton finished second in the World Rally Championship in 1982, Danica Patrick became the first winner of an IndyCar race in 2008 and Sophia Flörsch took the podium in the 2021 and 2022 editions of the European Le Mans Series. And more recently, the Iron Dames went down in history as the first all-female line-up to win their class at the 24 Hours of Spa.
With these achievements in other top-tier motorsport series, it’s only a matter of time before a talented female driver makes it to Formula 1. Here are the top three F1 Feeder Series picks for a future F1 spot.
Jamie Chadwick (age 24, W Series)
Jenner Racing’s Jamie Chadwick is an obvious choice for this list, by every right as a two-time W Series champion, with another championship win looking more and more certain this season.
After competing in the Ginetta Juniors and the British GT, Jamie Chadwick began her single-seater career in 2017 in the BRDC British F3 Championship. She ended her stay in the UK with an eighth place in two years of the championship.
Following her stint in the UK, Jamie Chadwick spent the winter of 2018-19 competing in the MRF Challenge Formula 2000 championship, which she won with 37 points and six wins from 15 races. The following winter, Chadwick finished fourth overall in the Asian F3 championship, ahead of current Haas F1 reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi.
In May 2019, Williams Racing announced that Jamie Chadwick would be joining the Williams Driver Academy. This gave a huge boost not only to Chadwick’s hopes of making it to Formula 1, but also to those of seeing a female driver on the starting grid for the first time since 1976.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the W Series was not held in 2020. Jamie Chadwick chose to participate in the European Formula Regional Championship, but had a difficult season and finished ninth, behind all three of her team mates from the Prema Powerteam.
The W Series returned in 2021 and Jamie Chadwick took the crown with four wins out of eight races. In 2022 she has won five of your six races and the championship victory seems almost certain.
When Chadwick announced that she would be racing in the W Series in 2022, she disappointed many and received criticism for not making it to the FIA F3, the next step on the FIA single-seater ladder. Despite her 2021 W Series title cash prize and backing from Williams, Chadwick told F1 Feeder Series that she “didn’t secure the budget” for a spot in Formula 3.
If Jamie Chadwick manages to secure the budget for the FIA F3 Championship next season and perform well over the course of the year, she will be the female driver with the greatest chance of reaching the top flight.
Maya Weug (18 years old, Italian F4)
Being the first female driver in an academy as prestigious as Ferrari’s is no small feat. But that’s exactly what Maya Weug has achieved, so Formula 1 hopes for the 18-year-old are higher than anywhere else.
Maya Weug was a great prospect in karting, with a second place in the Alevín (beginner) class of the Spanish championship in 2015. The following year she won the Mini class of the WSK Final Cup, beating the future FDA driver and leader of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) Dino Beganovic.
The FIA Girls on Track – Rising Stars program has given a big boost to Maya Weug’s possibilities in Formula 1. In early 2021, Maya Weug competed against 40 other female drivers to win a one-year contract with the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA), with the option of being extended for another year. Weug finished the program in first place, thus gaining not only a spot in the FDA, but also development and driving support for the next three years.
The Dutch-Belgian-Spanish female racing driver’s first round was the 2021 Italian F4 Championship with Iron Lynx. Although she only recorded one DNF during the entire season, she struggled to familiarize herself with the new car. She finished in 35th place in the standings, with a best finish in P11 at Vallelunga and not even a point.
However, the young driver showed ample improvements in 2022, taking sixth place in the first race of the season. She currently sits in 12th place overall, but if she can achieve consistent results over the rest of the year, a top 10 finish in the championship would be within reach.
As Weug is part of the Ferrari Driver Academy, her chances of making it to Formula One are much higher than most drivers. The FDA has a good track record of advancing pilots on the category ladder.
If Weug can take advantage of the three years of driver development and the support the Girls on Track program has offered her, her adaptability to the next series could give her a fundamental advantage.
Have Pulling (19, W Series)
Over the course of her young career, Have Pulling has shown that she has the speed to fight with more experienced drivers.
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Have Pulling was one of the stars of British karting, winning the 2017 and 2018 Super 1 Junior TKM national championships in the UK. She also participated in the 2018 Ginetta Junior Championship, in which she scored 62 points in seven races, and then a full season in the Ginetta GT5 Challenge in 2019.
In 2020, Have Pulling embarked on a full season in the British Formula 4 Championship with JHR Developments. In an impressive season, Have Pulling finished sixth in the overall standings with four podiums, beating notable names such as FRECA podium winner Roman Bilinski, Euroformula Open race winner Christian Mansell and GB3 leader Roberto Faria. In October of the same year she was a guest at Imola in the Formula Renault Eurocup.
Despite having achieved three podiums and four more top-five finishes in the 2021 British F4 season, Have Pulling had to retire from the championship with four races to go due to funding problems. Unfortunately, a case like that of Pulling – a promising driver with insufficient funding – is too common in the world of motorsport.
Luckily for Pulling, she was selected as a reserve driver for the W Series that year and was drafted for the Silverstone and Zandvoort races in early 2021. After scoring points in both races, she was recalled for the double appointment at the Circuit of The Americas in October and impressed with pole position in the first race and a second place in the second. These results have earned her a place as a starting grid for 2022. about her Her career as a pilot, which just a few months before her seemed on the ropes, was saved.
Thanks to her placement in the top eight in 2021, Pulling has earned a full-time spot in the W Series for 2022. She is currently fourth in the standings, just three points behind second place. Two podiums in six races and the consistency of finishing in the points were essential to keep up with the leaders.
Earlier this year, Have Pulling was announced as part of the Alpine Affiliate program, which offers her a platform to join the Alpine Academy. If Pulling manages to put together the budget for a place in FIA F3 or FRECA and meet Alpine’s expectations, then we could see her move up a level.
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