Jamie Chadwick has her sights set on a move to IndyCar in 2025 after a successful season in North America.
The 26-year-old Brit scored three top five finishes in Indy NXT in 2024, after failing to score any in her debut season in the category the year prior.
Chadwick grabbed her first podium with third at Indianapolis and her first win at Road America which helped her finish the season in seventh in the standings with 310 points.
Her performances landed her a test in IndyCar with Andretti at Barber Motorsports Park, and Chadwick is focusing her attention on getting a spot on the grid in the series for the 2025 campaign.
Jamie Chadwick faces the issue of finding a ‘significant budget’ to land a seat in IndyCar
But according to Marshall Pruett, Chadwick is facing ‘significant’ issues in her bid to reach IndyCar, which one of them being that there are no seats available at the team she tested with at Barber.
Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson will remain with the team for next season, which means Chadwick will have to look elsewhere for a seat, with limited options available.
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Her Andretti teammate in Indy NXT Louis Foster has secured his spot in IndyCar in 2025 by signing with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The Brit dominated the 2024 season, winning eight races and claiming 12 podiums.
But Chadwick faces uncertainty as to whether she will join Foster in IndyCar, as according to Pruett via RACER, she must find a sizeable amount of money to grab teams’ attention.
He said: “Jamie is her own woman, and the lack of opportunities to go IndyCar racing with Andretti have been known for a while; she’s been focused on charting her own path, with her own sponsors, so no, Michael’s ouster hasn’t been related to where Jamie’s career is headed.
“Her goal is IndyCar, as our F1 reporter Chris Medland wrote yesterday, and the issues she faces include acquiring a significant budget to interest one of the few teams with seats left to sell, and the few seats that are available.
“She was exceptional in Indy NXT, but far from dominant as Louis Foster and Jacob Abel, and Caio Collet, routinely outran her. That’s why I was hoping she’d want to do one more year of NXT, become a true title contender, and use that output to draw greater interest from IndyCar teams that might be willing to run her at a reduced price.”
What options are there for Jamie Chadwick in 2025?
Foster’s move to RLL sees him join Graham Rahal for 2025, with the team still having another seat available for next year.
Juncos Hollinger Racing and Dale Coyne Racing are still yet to confirm their two drivers for 2025, with PREMA are searching for Callum Illot’s teammate, although it is anticipated that Robert Shwartzman will get the seat.
While Chadwick has no doubt proven her talent in Indy NXT, she is facing competition from more experienced drivers for a 2025 seat. IndyCar race winner Rinus VeeKay and former F1 driver Romain Grosjean are on the market and will be solid options for the teams.
It will be incredibly difficult to beat out these sort of drivers for a spot on the grid next year and a third year in Indy NXT may be wise for Chadwick, as she can build upon her skills she showed in 2024. But with her heart set on IndyCar, it will be interesting to see where the 26-year-old does end up.