Jamie Chadwick, who currently leads the W Series championship, has joined Williams Driver Academy as a development driver.

Chadwick, 21, has enjoyed a successful career in both single-seaters and Sportscars. She claimed the British GT4 title in 2015, became a British Formula 3 race winner in 2018, won the MRF Winter Series in 2018/19, and was the inaugural winner of the first W Series race earlier this month - all historic firsts for a female racing driver.

As a development driver, Chadwick will be fully immersed into the team both trackside and in the factory at Grove. Alongside a busy simulator programme, she will also attend three European races, starting at the British Grand Prix, and support the team in a number of media and marketing activities.

Williams has a history of bringing young drivers into Formula One and developing raw talent. Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, David Coulthard, Nico Hulkenberg and Valtteri Bottas all started their F1 careers at Williams. Its Driver Academy is aimed at giving drivers training and mentorship to enable them to be in the best position to achieve their ambitions. Chadwick joins Nicholas Latifi, the team's reserve driver in the academy.

"It is a great honour to be joining the Williams Racing Driver Academy," said Chadwick. "The time in the simulator is a fantastic opportunity to aid with my development. I look forward to spending time in the factory at Grove, immersing myself within the team and assisting wherever I can. Being a part of the Driver Academy is an amazing platform and I'm excited to get started."

"I have had the pleasure of watching Jamie race first hand in Hockenheim where she claimed victory at the season opening W Series race," said Claire Williams. "Alongside her on-track commitments, Jamie will undertake simulator work for Williams, be immersed both trackside and at the factory with the team and will participate in marketing activities.

"Promoting women in motorsport is extremely important," she added, "and having a female role model as part of our Driver Academy will hopefully inspire young girls to take up racing at a young age. We hope to show that motorsport is inclusive and exciting, be that as a driver or on the engineering side. Jamie is a great talent and I look forward to working with her."