Jamie Chadwick has claimed her second victory of the W Series season, winning from pole in the second Miami round.
Chadwick started from pole in the second race, with race one pole sitter Nerea Marti alongside her with Emma Kimilainen and Alice Powell behind.Track temperatures were significantly lower than the previous day as the field lined up on the grid. Unlike yesterday’s race, every car made it off the grid without stalling and Chadwick got away cleanly in the lead with Marti and Kimilainen following behind.
Kimilainen made an attempt on Marti’s second place using the same move through the inside of turn 11 that had cost her the lead from Chadwick in race one. However, this time Kimilainen was unable to make the corner cleanly and Marti held on to second.
Rookie driver Juju Noda had a spin at turn 17 on the first lap. She was able to continue but substantially off the back of the pack. A few laps later she was joined by Bruna Tomaselli, who suffered a right front puncture after contact with W Series Academy team mate Bianca Bustamante.
Kimilainen was able to take second place at last on lap five, however Marti fought back into the twisting mid-section of the circuit, passing Kimilainen back through turns 11 and 12.
Rookie and home racer Chloe Chambers was able to take advantage of Jessica Hawkins’ tyres beginning to fade to pass her through turn 11 and take 11th.
The uninterrupted race meant drivers were clinging on for grip entering the final ten minutes. Abbi Pulling had been the fastest driver on track from the midway point of the race and in the final five minutes made a concerted attempt to pass Sarah Moore for sixth. Pulling forced Moore into a lockup into turn 11 and was able to claim the position.
Tereza Babickova was shown the black-and-orange flag for damage to her front wing which was listing badly to the left, forcing her to pit for repairs.
Powell made another attempt on Kimilainen for third on the penultimate lap and went for a move around the outside of turn 17. In a repeat of race one, however, Kimilainen lost the rear of her car on the way into the hairpin, with Powell clipping the back of Kimilainen’s car, breaking the right front wing endplate of Powell’s car. Kimilainen continued and had to hold off Pulling for fifth over the final lap.
Leader Chadwick, however, crossed the chequered flag without interruption, with Garcia again taking second place (and hoping to keep it, this time) and Powell able to celebrate third.
Chadwick leads the championship by a large margin after the first two rounds with 50 points, Beitske Visser in second on 21 points and Abbi Pulling just behind on 20.
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W Series Qualifying race results
| Driver | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamie Chadwick | Jenner |
| 2 | Nerea Marti | Quantfury |
| 3 | Alice Powell | Click2Drive |
| 4 | Belen Garcia | Quantfury |
| 5 | Emma Kimilainen | Puma |
| 6 | Abbi Pulling | Racing X |
| 7 | Beitske Visser | Sirin |
| 8 | Sarah Moore | Scuderia W |
| 9 | Marta Garcia | Quantfury |
| 10 | Chloe Chambers | Jenner |
| 11 | Fabienne Wohlwend | CortDAO |
| 12 | Emely de Heus | Sirin |
| 13 | Abbie Eaton | Scuderia W |
| 14 | Bianca Bustamante | W Series Academy |
| 15 | Juju Noda | W Series Academy |
| 16 | Tereza Babickova | Puma |
| 17 | Bruna Tomaselli | Racing X |
| DNF | Jessica Hawkins | Click2Drive |
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W Series
- All-female championship W Series goes into administration
- From F1 to Formula Ford, 2022 was the year of the championship anti-climax
- As W Series stumbles, will F1 Academy pick up the baton for women racers?
- F1 and FIA should step in to help W Series – Hamilton
- W Series cancels final races of 2022 and declares Chadwick champion
Sham (@sham)
8th May 2022, 17:20
I still find it hard to understand why Chadwick doesn’t have an F2 seat… She really is pretty decent, racecraft above that of some that have got to F1.
Barry Bens (@barryfromdownunder)
8th May 2022, 17:50
I recall her saying she wanted to sign with an ‘above average’ team in either that or F3. Which I guess kinda makes sense, as she doesn’t want to fall through because the team has an off-season (so I’m guessing Prema or ART are the only real options?)
For a team-perspectieve in those series, I can’t quite understand why they won’t sign her; a woman driver is good PR and as you said: she could probably match some F1-drivers (maybe not the current grid). Means either A: those teams want some form of proper proof of what she can do against proper talents (Arthur Leclerc, Piastri, Vips, Lawson etc.) before signing or B: she can’t get the funds together.
B seems quite unlikely given her background AND prizemoney (not to mention PR-gold because she’s a woman), which to me kinda says it all. Which makes it even more interesting to see she’s returning to the W-series yet again, to drive against, well, let’s be honest, not exactly F1-WC-material.
RocketTankski
8th May 2022, 18:03
Why don’t W Series field their own F2
car for the winner to graduate to?
bernasaurus (@bernasaurus)
8th May 2022, 19:13
That is not the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard. I guess it’s the economics of it (like life in general), and the infancy of W Series and presumably its budget. I’ve never run an F2 team, but I guess their budgets are in the millions if not tens of millions dollars, and thus I’m sure all F2 drivers bring some bags of cash.
To start a team from scratch and your modus operandi being you’re the only team who has a driver that brings nothing, not even any experience at this level, it looks pretty bleak. If not the W Series themselves I can see potential for someone to say they’ll stump up the cash and guarantee the winner of the series a seat next season. Someone who has plenty of cash and looking for some positive press which they can then trade off for years.
If Nikita and his dad are willing to start a ‘We Compete As One’ foundation with tens of millions, I wouldn’t surprised if there’s someone out there who wants to be the one who got women into F1 and the kudos associated with it.
Which makes the Jamie Chadwick / budget argument look a little weak. It must be ‘waiting for a good team’ argument. I don’t know who finished 11th in the last F2 race, but I’m sure their media exposure is way less than what Jamie has had over the last two years, so I wouldn’t think there aren’t people wanting to put their company logo on her.
Or maybe its just better to be a big fish in a little pond than a little one in a big pond at the moment? She might flounder in F2, and then what? Would that be a step back for the push for more women in motorsport? I dunno. I’d love to see her try though.
senproman
8th May 2022, 22:48
I enjoyed that race, to be fair.
Some good racing amongst drivers, and some entertaining moments.
Keeping an eye on the Academy drivers, Bianca and Juju. Bianca holding her own pretty well, sneaking into the points on the first race after penalties. But Juju seemed really off the pace in both races.
I assume it’ll take them both a little while to properly get up to speed. Wonder where they’ll place by the end of the season.
clay (@clay)
9th May 2022, 2:44
Agree with all the comments about Chadwick needing an F2 seat. I find the whole argument about why there are no female F1 drivers tiresome – if there is a driver or drivers capable of being in F1, then they need to show this by being competitive in F2. Latifi won an F2 title, Zhou won races in F2 in consecutive years, even Mazepin won F2 races, and these drivers have had their places in F1 questioned. Would Mick Schumacher – another F2 champion – still be in F1 given his results if his name was John Smith? Unlikely. Oscar Piastri, after doing a Leclerc and winning F3 then F2 in consecutive seasons, can’t find an F1 seat due to his ‘poisoned chalice’ relationship with Renault/Alpine and them only supplying their factory team with engines. Hell, even Maldonado and Jolyon Palmer won GP2 championships! The point of these comparisons is that drivers with a track record of wins and/or titles in the top junior category can struggle to break into F1 and then find it hard to stay in F1.
Chadwick (or any other female driver) needs to have runs on the board in F2, Indycar or Super Formula – and by runs I mean race wins and a crack at the title – before being taken seriously enough to be in F1. Liberty really should be funding this – a guaranteed seat with ART or Prema or whoever for the W series champion. Maybe 2 seasons to be properly evaluated. But by coming up against all potential F1 drivers in open competition, only then will a future female F1 driver be taken seriously. By shortcutting the system, not being properly prepared, and not having beaten up-and-coming male drivers in F2, any female driver coming through the W series straight to F1 will always be questioned, heavily scrutinised and considered a tokenistic placement. Chadwick needs a solid shot at F2. She has nothing more to gain by winning another W series title.
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
9th May 2022, 8:17
@clay
No he didn’t.
clay (@clay)
10th May 2022, 16:20
I stand corrected – he was runner up in 2019. But you get my point…
Peter707
9th May 2022, 15:15
” if there is a driver or drivers capable of being in F1, then they need to show this by being competitive in F2.”
The problem is that she has already shown how far she is from being competitive even at F3 level.