The third round of the W Series saw two British drivers earn a historic podium finish on home soil as they got the weekend at Silverstone underway.

Alice Powell secured her second win of the season after snatching the lead from Fabienne Wohlwend in the final five minutes. Jamie Chadwick claimed third place on the podium, two places down from her win in Austria two weeks prior.

Her P3 finish still sees her second in the overall driver standings but the reigning champion is keen to close the gap on leader Powell and push for back-to-back titles.

"There are two sides to it," Chadwick told GiveMeSport Women. "Obviously you always want to win and the home Grand Prix was the one I wanted to win the most but I can't be too disappointed with a podium finish. We didn't really have the pace so I can't ask for much more than that."

Jamie Chadwick Silverstone

The Veloce Racing star is still very much in contention for this year's title. There are currently just six points separating her and Powell at the top of the table, and fellow Brit Sarah Moore also continues to add important points to her tally.

There has been six different drivers on the podium during these first three W Series rounds and tensions will gradually build as more races are ticked off the calendar. Chadwick has embraced the level of competition though and admitted it's "great" but also "super tough" this year.

"It's great to have that kind of competitive nature – obviously Alice [Powell] is a standout, Fabienne [Wohlwend] has come on really strong recently and Sarah Moore as well. 

"I was surprised by Beitske [Visser] and Marta [García] not challenging quite as much as I thought they would, but I think they'll have their time this year."

Jamie Chadwick

The W Series 2021 calendar is in conjunction with the Formula 1 season – acting as the undercard to the world's biggest single-seater racing series. The championship is pushing for women to eventually return to F1 and race alongside household names like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

For Chadwick, this is something she has got her sights set on.

"The opportunity [to reach F1] has never been better," she said. "And that's credit to likes of DC [David Coulthard], Sean [Wadsworth], and Catherine [Bond Muir] – they've done a tremendous job with the series and the respect it's gaining is fantastic. It's a great time to be in W Series."

The 23-year-old then admitted it's her "ultimate dream" to make the step up to Formula 1 and believes her role as a development driver with Williams has her on the right path. But ultimately, the humble Chadwick said she still has "a lot more to achieve between now and then."

One thing she is eager to achieve is a second W Series title. You can watch Jamie Chadwick and the rest of the W Series drivers in action again on July 31st when the competition arrives in Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix.