Briton Jamie Chadwick does not see her return to the W Series for a third season as a backward step after failing to raise the funding to move up into Formula Three or Formula Two.
The all-female motor racing championship announced this week that the 23-year-old, champion in both the series' two seasons, had signed with the Caitlyn Jenner-owned Jenner Racing team for 2022.
The announcement drew criticism of the series, whose objectives include helping women climb the motorsport ladder to Formula One, which has not had a female race driver since Italian Lella Lombardi in 1976.
"I’ve read a lot of the comments and there is a lot of frustration that I haven’t been able to progress up into the next step in Formula Three or Formula Two," Chadwick said on social media on Thursday.
"I also wanted to make that step and I made no secret of that when I won the championship last year."
Drivers have to bring significant amounts of funding to secure seats in Formula Three and Formula Two, which act as feeder series to Formula One.
Chadwick sees her return to the W Series as a chance to raise the budget to fund the next step in her career.
"I don’t see that as a backward step," she said. "Obviously, this year it’s not going to be F3 or F2 but maybe next year it will."
Chadwick remains a part of the Williams Formula One team's driver academy, which she was signed to in 2019.