The past week has been a landmark one for women in motorsport. Jessica Hawkins completed a historic F1 test with her employer, Aston Martin. Being a driver ambassador for them since 2021, Hawkins has been a constant presence in the Aston Martin garage. With a team that is refreshing and up on the rise, Jessica capitalized on this golden opportunity to test their 2021 car at the Hungaroring. In doing so, she has become the first woman to test in F1 in the last five years. One could say the Brit could fulfill her dream of racing in F1 someday. Although, the same cannot be said about Jamie Chadwick.

A three-time champion in the (now defunct) W Series, Jamie Chadwick has always been at the forefront of women racers in the F1 arena. Even though she was just a test and development driver for Williams, Chadwick seemed most likely to get a shot in F1 of all female drivers.

A left-field way for Jamie Chadwick to enter F1 disappears amid Jessica Hawkins’ F1 test

The FIA has been looking for an 11th team to join the F1 grid since 2023 began. There have been multiple candidates in line, including the most talked about: Andretti-Cadillac. Besides these, there have been prospective teams from a variety of regions, including Asia & Oceania. Yes, a New Zealand-based car maker Rodin, who also has ties with the junior formula team Carlin, is one of the candidates. Or should it be said ‘was one of the candidates’? Apparently, Rodin has accepted defeat in this battle to be garage #11 in the F1 paddock. So how does that affect Jamie Chadwick’s chances to be in F1?

Rodin was looking to have a peculiar setup with its F1 team. The key differences they had in plan from Andretti and the others were: building their cars in New Zealand and having a guaranteed female driver on the team. The founder of the company, David Dicker, was quite bullish about having Chadwick as that driver. According to the Race, he stated, “If she was available, we would have no hesitation in putting her in a seat.”

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Chadwick has been racing across the world, be it in the IndyNXT series or even in the FZed single-seater series in the Kiwi land. Thus, for Rodin to take notice of her talent and consider her for a drive is commendable. However, admitting that they won’t get accepted as a team and Andretti may be the only team to get acceptance is a bit pre-emptive. Especially when the formal process is yet to be ratified.

Coming to Jamie Chadwick again, things certainly look bleak, as her F1 dream may just be crashing down as more time passes. Jessica Hawkins, who is three years older than her fellow Brit, seems to be having a better chance now after her Aston Martin test in Budapest.

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Whether it pans out for Hawkins, time will tell. Although, with an 11th team still to be confirmed, teams like Rodin should not be giving up hope yet. Perhaps there may still be a chance.

Will Andretti get lucky or do other teams have a shot at being F1 team #11?

There is a major fundamental difference between Rodin and other candidates’ prospects. The New Zealand-based setup. As per the Race, this will be a massive outlier in modern-day F1. Most teams have a UK-based, albeit a Europe-based, operation in F1. Even Andretti, who plans to be the 11th team, is planning for a split operation between Europe and the USA. So, Rodin needs to either adopt the split strategy or pack its bags for Europe to have a better chance.

The reason Andretti may succeed in getting into F1 is due to its adaptability. Having the expertise of Cadillac and GM (who have a racing pedigree), Andretti is also being flexible with its plans. Based in America, they may not be able to effectively develop. And they understand that. The key reason is that most of F1’s infrastructure has its foundation in Europe. So, overseas teams like Rodin and Andretti either need to build that level of infrastructure in New Zealand and the US. Or they need to come to the UK or Europe to stay aligned with the rest.

As things stand, there is no official update on who may become the 11th team on the F1 grid. There could be a possibility that the FIA sticks to having 10 teams, even discarding Andretti’s papers. Regardless, Jamie Chadwick and Jessica Hawkins may watch with bated breath as it adds two more free seats if an 11th team comes. This would, perhaps, give them an outside chance of getting their dream F1 drive.

What do you think about F1 having a female driver and an 11th team in the near future?

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