Chadwick says lack of women in esports “a shame”
Inaugural W Series champion Jamie Chadwick says it’s a ‘shame’ that there is a lack of women competing in racing esports.
Jamie Chadwick
Alexander Trienitz
Chadwick was speaking at the final of the 2019 F1 Esports season, where Alfa Romeo’s lead driver Daniel Bereznay won the last of the three races. Veloce Esports runs Alfa Romeo’s sim racing operation, as well as a management firm of which Chadwick is one of its clients.
Although some have attempted to qualify, no female driver has competed in the finals of F1 Esports.
“It’s a shame we haven’t got enough women racing in esports,” Chadwick told Motorsport.com. “Really there should be no reason. It’s definitely something I want to pursue more to find out why that’s not the case. But it’s great to see the range of people coming into this world.
“Anybody can enter esports. That’s really cool, and it means you can get a lot of talent feeding through the top. Like with Danny [Bereznay], his story is incredible, where he’s managed to come from. How he’s been able to forge this career out of esports.
“It’s definitely not like the real world in that sense.”
Chadwick has been part of the rapid development of the Veloce brand, which is also partnered with the likes of two-time Formula E champion Jean-Eric Vergne and Fernando Alonso’s FA Racing Esports team.
“I started working with Veloce in the very early days of their esports journey,” Chadwick added. “To see where they’ve come to now, and to see what they’re engaging in, and everything that is going on is unbelievable.
“It’s exciting for them, but also from my point of view, it’s nice to have an inside route into this world because from a real-life racing driver’s perspective, it’s very easy to continue doing what you’re doing and not really look into the esports world. But actually, it’s incredible what they’re doing, and the level that the drivers are operating at.
“It’s quite cool to go into the office and see the likes of Danny on the sim. The laps he is doing, I’m mind-boggled by, so it’s very cool.”
Chadwick is currently competing in the Asian Formula 3 series over the winter to prepare for her W Series title defence in 2020.
Formula 1 Esports Pro Draft
Photo by: Formula 1
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