Chadwick’s teammates in his 2025 season for IDEC were Frenchman Mathys Jaubert and Spaniard Daniel Juncadella, and both have been selected to compete in next year’s hypercar alongside two more experienced drivers, Andre Lotterer and Pipo Derani.
Next year, Genesis will compete with several automakers drawn back to sports cars for their flexible design rules and as a cheaper alternative to Formula 1.
Ferrari won this year’s championship at the Bahrain 8 Hours this month, in car number 51 that includes British 2023 Le Mans winner James Calado.
Former Polish Formula 1 ace Robert Kubica won this year’s edition of Le Mans in June in the number 83 Ferrari 499P.
Although there are still two more seats to fill for the two-car WEC entry for 2026, it appears that Chadwick was deemed too inexperienced, despite being an FIA silver-rated driver, like Jaubert.
However, Genesis is said to rate Chadwick highly and is pleased with his progress as part of the Genesis driver group.
Chadwick, who tested a Jaguar Formula E car last month, has taken on various development driver roles at teams such as Williams in Formula 1 in recent years, positions often limited to driving older cars for marketing purposes and driving simulation work.
But a reserve spot is one of the biggest signs yet that a major manufacturer is backing female talent in merit racing.
Very few female drivers have competed at the highest level of motorsport’s most popular disciplines in recent years; More recently, Switzerland’s Simona de Silvestro competed in 10 Formula E races in 2016.
Several drivers have participated in races in the United States IndyCar series on an ad hoc basis, with little success.
Britain’s Amanda Stretton was the last top-level competitor to compete at Le Mans, in a one-off, non-competitive participation in LMP1 in 2008.
The best finish for a female driver at Le Mans is fourth place, that of the Frenchwoman Odette Siko in 1932.
The last woman to compete in a Formula 1 race was Lella Lombardi at the 1976 Austrian Grand Prix.
