F1 telly pundit Susie t
Which, given that she’s just become one of motorsport’s most powerful women, is wholly appropriate.
After retiring as a racing driver in late 2015 following four years with the Williams Formula One team, Argyll lass Susie became an F1 TV pundit and set up Dare To Be Different, an initiative to inspire female talent in male-dominated industries.
She is now putting the movement’s ethos into practice by taking charge of the Venturi Formula E team.
Formula E is a single- seater electric car racing championship based in cities around the world.
The move means that at 35 – and just 15 months after having her first child – Susie is the only female principal in motorsport.
She said: “When I took time out after my racing career had ended, I didn’t stop racing with a view to becoming a mother.
“I stopped because my gut feeling was I’d come to the end of that chapter. I was always very conscious as a sportsperson of knowing that the sporting career was going to come to an end at some point and I wanted to make sure I went on to something else.
“Sports people dedicate so much time to their sport that it’s sometimes hard to find the right direction afterwards.
“I didn’t put myself under pressure. I took my time to become a mother and enjoy the first year of my son’s life.
“I was very ready for a challenge then. Some projects came my way and it quickly became apparent that the entrepreneurial and business side of motorsport was what interested me most.”
Venturi are based in Monaco, more than seven hours by car from her luxury home in the Swiss village of Ermatingen, where Susie lives with Toto Wolff, 46, the Mercedes F1 team boss, and their son Jack, who was born in April last year. Asked about child care arrangements, Susie said: “Don’t worry about my son. I’ll make sure he’s brought up in a very nice way and he spends enough time with both his parents.
“I don’t think it’s necessary to share my family set-up because I wouldn’t be taking on the job if it wasn’t possible to combine having a family and working.
“I have to manage it that I’m in the Monaco office enough but also out doing meetings for the team where necessary. It’s not a job where you need to be in the office nine to five.”
Since 2016, Susie has been an analyst on Channel 4’s coverage of F1, working alongside fellow Scot David Coulthard.
She said: “I enjoyed that massively. It was a win- win situation, being at F1 races with my husband but having work to do. The Channel 4 team are like a group of friends talking about the sport we all love.
“It was sometimes a little awkward when we had to interview Toto but, apart from that, it was great fun.”
Sky will take on exclusive rights to F1 from 2019 but Susie won’t be joining them.
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