Chadwick deletes all social media after reaction to W Series return
Two-time champion Jamie Chadwick has revealed that negative reaction to her return to the allfemale W Series this season has driven her off social media.
When Chadwick announced in February that she would go for a hat-trick of titles in the single-seater championship, she did not get a hero’s welcome.
W Series is intended to work as a feeder series to other championships, namely Formula Three or Two and eventually F1, and Chadwick, one of the world’s leading female drivers, had stated her intention to move on in November.
“I think I need to showcase it as a leg-up for further opportunities,” she said then. “I don’t think it would make sense for me to return to W Series.”
But Chadwick told Telegraph Sport that lack of funding and available “competitive seats” in F3 meant she ultimately decided her best option this season remained the W Series, which offers a free seat, acts as a support series at F1 grand prix weekends and offers £400,000 in prize money for the winner.
She knew her about-turn would not be well-received. “I expected a bit of backlash,” she said. “I saw all my social media, before it was announced, there were a lot of people supporting me to step up into something like F3 or F2, so I anticipated that if I were to announce that
I wasn’t going to be making that step, then there were going to be a few people disappointed.
“I deleted the apps to be honest, just because it’s easier. It wasn’t necessarily criticism at me, but I see a lot of messages from people willing me on [to bigger things] and that’s not going to be the immediate future. It’s a process, it’s not going to happen overnight.”
While Chadwick, 23, explored progressing to F3, by the time W Series wrapped in October the official testing for the championship had already passed and she felt she had missed the boat to stake a claim for a competitive team or raise the necessary funds.
Her W Series title defence with
Jenner Racing begins at the Miami Grand Prix tomorrow. If she wins W Series this season, she cannot claim the 15 FIA super-licence points awarded to the champion again. The loss of those points, which are needed in order to be eligible to drive in F1, has opened W Series up to criticism that Chadwick is taking away the opportunity from other drivers.
Chadwick is one of eight drivers returning to the series for a third consecutive season.
Sophia Floersch, a leading female driver but long-time critic of W Series who has driven in F3, reacted to news of Chadwick’s return by retweeting a fan, who said: “Jamie and everyone else is stuck in W Series unable to get a drive.”
In response to Floersch’s criticism, Chadwick said: “I’m not in a position where I can self-sufficiently fund my racing outside W Series just yet. My belief is I need more experience, I’m realistic about it. I could be bitter, but I can’t. I’ve not got that financial support that other drivers have – Sophia included to a degree.
“It should not be any discredit to the W Series that I’m returning – that’s something we should be celebrating rather than criticising. The fact we’re here saying, ‘It’s a shame I’m not in F3 or F2’ that’s crazy, because two or three years ago I wouldn’t even be racing.”