Jamie Chadwick is the present W Sequence champion and improvement driver for the Williams Method 1 group – the 23-year-old talks to BBC Sport in regards to the highs and lows of attempting to get on the F1 grid in an thrilling yr again in Excessive E and again within the W Sequence, which is supporting the F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend
What every week for sport. I imply, it didn’t go nicely… I watched the ultimate of the Euros with a few buddies. I suppose there was a false sense of safety with the early purpose, I acquired method too excited. After which heartbroken.
General we did nicely – beating Italy was all the time going to be a giant ask. I’m simply involved that’s it for one other 55 years.
I truly went to Wembley for the semi-final in opposition to Denmark – that was unbelievable. Actually, it was probably among the finest sporting occasions I’ve ever been to. Other than the Indy 500. The environment was unbelievable. My ears after that weren’t of their most interesting drive.
Indy, although… I’m biased, being a motorsport fan; but there are 300,000 followers there. Watching that race, and the speeds they go, is insane anyway. But Individuals do placed on an excellent present.
It’s simply the roar of the gang – each lap. The actually cool factor is the distinction between the silence after the nationwide anthem – 300,000 folks and you’ll hear a pin drop. Then the beginning of the race and each lap they cheer relentlessly.
Persevering with the excitement
To be racing with W Sequence on a British GP weekend at Silverstone is absolutely thrilling. By way of preparation it’s the identical, with out quite a lot of the journey, which is definitely fairly good. Thursday might be my first day on the monitor, and Friday within the automotive for qualifying and the race on Saturday – so it’s over earlier than you already know it.
My finest British Grand Prix reminiscence is 2016. Lewis Hamilton gained it. I went, and ended up in Williams’ storage as a result of I knew somebody there. It was earlier than I was affiliated with them, and I noticed what I suppose was the quickest pit cease that had ever been executed on the time. It’s a huge spotlight – it was the primary time I’d been within the F1 paddock.
I can’t wait to see what it will likely be like this time. With British motorsport followers, we’re fortunate – we’ve acquired such a robust fanbase for our sport.
At Manufacturers Hatch in 2019 [where she won the W Series title] out of all races we did it was the most important, and it did really feel prefer it had extra of a way of event – little doubt Silverstone might be huge step up, although.
And it’s actually thrilling to know it will likely be full capability and everybody can attend with none restriction – it’s a large added bonus, and makes me extra hungry to get a end result.
Each time you get within the automotive the set goals and what you do is similar. However the sense of event and the sensation of individuals turning up and realizing extra folks in crowd than regular help you makes a distinction.
The starvation is all the time there and motivation is all the time there to carry out at my finest. But there’s extra morale.
But if you find yourself truly within the automotive you don’t essentially hear it. I discover it when my Instagram posts get extra likes than regular!
Manufacturers was the primary time I had been hounded continuously strolling from the paddock to storage. I by no means had something like that in my complete profession.
Not feeling the stress
I don’t really feel the stress going again into W Sequence – I’ve executed it earlier than and I can do it once more. I have quite a lot of expertise from final yr [in Formula 3] and felt fairly content material with what I must do – so long as I comply with the method it’s all going to be OK.
By way of aggressive edge, the parameters within the W Sequence are fairly small. There are set-up modifications out there, but everybody can see the information of how you’re driving. You can’t get too wrapped up in automotive set-up or you end up in rabbit holes.
It’s typically about adapting to what you’ve got on the time. I’ve not all the time been good at that previously – I all the time favored having the automotive dialled in, but the W Sequence and Excessive E has helped me with that.
Hamilton, for instance, is outstanding at taking care of his tyres, but that’s not fairly as vital in a single 30-minute race. It’s extra vital to have the ability to be the primary one to begin altering your driving model and adapting as a result of the weekend’s over fairly rapidly.
If I win the W Sequence title this yr, that may be technically sufficient super-licence factors for me to do a free follow session in F1.
But that’s not a precedence for me in the mean time. If I don’t win or do nicely, I gained’t be stepping up into F1 anyway.
Jamie Chadwick was speaking to BBC Sport’s Matt Warwick.
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