INTERNATIONAL: Caitlyn Jenner says she can open doors for two-times W Series champion Jamie Chadwick and will know she has been successful if the Briton walks away at the end of the season.
Chadwick, 23, is returning to the all-female series as part of a new Jenner Racing team after being unable to secure a seat further up the motorsport ladder.
Drivers need significant funding to secure seats in Formula One's F2 and F3 feeder series, unlike the W Series which is free to enter and aims to help end the 46-year wait for a female F1 driver.
Former Olympic gold medalist and transgender activist, Jenner told Reuters on Thursday (March 24) she hoped to make things happen for Chadwick.
"We haven’t had a woman in Formula One in many, many, many years...I think women deserve to be there. They certainly have the talent. And I would like to be part of the process," the American said in a video interview.
Jenner said she had spelled out her vision to Chadwick.
"I said ‘My dream is for you to have a great season this year, but in this season, I want to market you, build you up, talk with sponsors to be able to make that next step'," she explained.
"I don’t want to see you next year, OK? I hope you’re gone. And to a good spot."
CAITLYN JENNER SAYING,
“The plan is, number one, when you go to these Formula One races there’s a lot of sponsors there. There’s a lot of people. I can open up doors. Jamie, I really want her to drive. I want to do my best to open up doors because the way you make the next move, unfortunately. It’s the nature of racing. It costs money. You have to get people behind you. And my job is to expose Jamie, what she’s doing on the race track, maximize that the best we possibly can, talk with the right people to be able to financially back her as we make the next move. You can make the next move if you come with a large wallet, then they listen. That’s how a lot of these guys make it into Formula One, because they’ve got 20, 30, 40 million-dollar sponsors sitting in their back pocket and they go ‘oh we love you’ and they go into Formula One. Unfortunately, racing’s like that. I’ve been involved since 1978 and I kind of know how the process goes and I’m looking forward to do it.”
"I think women deserve to be there (in Formula One). They certainly have the talent. And I would like to be part of the process. I mean, with Jamie, we talked before she signed on. We talked and I said, ‘My dream is for you to have a great season this year, but in this season, I want to market you, build you up, talk with sponsors to be able to make that next step. I don’t want to see you next year, okay! I hope you’re gone! And to a good spot. And Chloe, the second car, I wanted somebody that really shines and is kind of that next Jamie Chadwick or that next really great driver."
JAMIE CHADWICK, SAYING:
“I think there are a few sides to it. I think firstly, my feelings on it aren’t necessarily too despondent because I’ve got this opportunity to still be racing the W-Series which without it, I wouldn’t have had. I’ve got this chance to still be getting track time, going to amazing circuits, getting this development experience of being a part of a racing series like W Series and of course joining a new team in Jenner. So in that sense, I don’t carry too much sadness about not being able to progress. But at the same time, of course, when I finished W-Series, when we won at the end of last year, the natural feeling was to find an opportunity to progress into something like Formula Three or Formula Two, and unfortunately, we just couldn’t secure the financial support. And where W-Series is so unique is they fully fund the drivers, effectively it’s professionalized women’s motorsport by giving prize money as well so to go from a situation like that to then have to secure north of 1 million euros to secure a seat in the next step isn’t so easy. It didn’t happen this year. But still, the goal is to achieve that next year and take that step forwards.”
The W Series, using identical Formula Three cars maintained by the organizers with "teams" introduced primarily for sponsorship purposes, features eight races held on the same weekends as Formula One.
The series begins in Miami from May 6-8 as a support event for the city's inaugural grand Prix around the Hard Rock Stadium.
"When you go to these Formula One races there’s a lot of sponsors there. There are a lot of people. I can open up doors," said Jenner.
"My job is to expose Jamie, what she’s doing on the race track, maximize that the best we possibly can, talk with the right people to be able to financially back her as we make the next move," said Jenner.
"You can make the next move if you come with a large wallet, then they listen."
Chadwick is part of the Williams F1 driver academy and could get track time this season although she said nothing was planned.
"To get into a practice session, to get into the car, is the aim," she said.
