Wolff takes over as Venturi team boss

FORMULA E

The Venturi Formula E squad will arrive at the season-four New York finale with a new team principal – EX-DTM racer and Williams Formula 1 test and development driver Susie Wolff.

The Monaco-based electric vehicle manufacturer has been executing a recent expansion plan, which included launching its Next Gen young electric driver academy, agreeing to supply the incoming HWA squad with a Gen2 powertrain and signing ex-f1 racer Felipe Massa for the 2018-19 season. Venturi CEO and founder Gildo Pastor explained that hiring Wolff marked the start of the next phase of the team’s development and said it was a “key moment in the history of the group”.

Wolff has been “working behind the scenes for quite some time” to assess Venturi’s strengths and weakness and will head to New York with the goal of “being fully operational” and forming a plan to improve the performance of the team – which is seventh in the 2017-18 championship on 56 points and is still yet to score an FE win – ahead of season five.

“It’s a team with so much potential,” said Wolff, who is FE’S first female team principal. “Everyone is very committed to increase on-track performance. I’ve got a lot of respect for

Gildo – the reason it came together was we had quite some discussions about me driving for his team.

That’s how the initial contact happened.”

“I don’t define myself because of my gender. It is a great challenge for me, and I’ve got my work cut out, but I’m fully committed for the team and its success. I founded my own initiative – Dare to be Different – to increase the talent pool of women entering the sport. If my new role can continue to inspire, then that is a win-win.”

NEW RACE IN CHINA

One of the two 2018-19 races listed as TBA on the recently released calendar will take place in the Chinese city of Sanya on March 23 2019.

Sanya sits on the southern tip of Hainan Island and is in the Chinese mainland controlled Hainan province. The calendar update is still subject to the approval of the FIA. The track layout will be revealed at a later date, but it is expected to be placed against the backdrop of Haitang Bay.

In other FE news, Super Formula driver James Rossiter has joined the Techeetah squad as a development driver.