THE Woman smashed WHO the glass ceiling AT 200mph
AS a Formula 1 test driver, she became the fastest and most high-profile woman in British motorsport. And although she no longer drives competitively, Susie Wolff is still blazing a trail in the traditionally male-dominated world of the racetrack.
For the 35-year-old Scot has just become the only current female motorsport team boss as principal and a shareholder of the Venturi Formula E Team.
Wolff, originally from Argyll, retired from F1 in November 2015, having taken part in two practice sessions at Grands Prix for Williams that year in cars capable of well over 200mph. In 2016 she launched Dare To Be Different, an initiative to encourage young women’s involvement in motorsport.
Electric motorsport is certainly different. Since its inauguration at Beijing in 2014, Formula E has grown in popularity, with cars of at least 250 horsepower (or 190 kW) capable of accelerating from 0–62 mph in three seconds and with a maximum speed of 140 mph.
In an exclusive interview, married mother-of-one Wolff says: ‘I never set out to prove what a woman could achieve within motorsport. I set out on my path because I was passionate about racing and wanted to achieve.
‘This is the logical next stage of my journey. If that’s inspiring because I’m a woman and the only female team principal in Formula E, then fantastic. Gender has always been such a big topic throughout my career, but never for me personally.
‘I am passionate about what women are able to achieve in motorsport – that’s why I set up Dare To Be Different, so we have more women entering the sport and the most talented rising to the top.
‘If you don’t increase the talent pool, you won’t get more women at the top of the sport.
‘When you have women in successful positions, they can inspire others – not just at the top, but throughout the whole sport, because it makes the sport more diverse in the long term.’
Wolff’s first race in charge will be the finale of the current, fourth season of the all-electric Formula E series in New York on July 15-16.
She says: ‘As team principal I am responsible for the overall running of the team and its different departments. My ultimate job is to bring the team forward and make sure we are successful on the track. That won’t happen overnight, but it’s a challenge I’m ready for.’
The team is based in Monaco, 400 miles from the mansion in Ermatingen, Switzerland, which she shares with her husband of seven years, Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 executive director Toto Wolff, and their one-year old son Jack. Mr Wolff, a 46-year-old Austrian, is reportedly worth around £300 million. His wife says: ‘I could live a life of leisure, and I have a very generous husband who would make that possible, but that’s not me. I’m someone who is a better version of themselves when I have a challenge.
‘I have always had clear goals in my life. I love achieving. I’ve been brought up in a family where hard work was really drilled into us, and I need to be working. For my character, that’s essential.
‘Through my work, and I’m sure my husband would agree, I’d say I’m a better mother.’
Wolff was born in 1982 in Oban, where her parents John and Sally
Passionate about what women are able to achieve in motorsport
owned a motorcycle dealership and her father raced bikes competitively. Starting off in karting, their daughter moved up to Formula Renault and Formula 3. In 2012, she was signed by the Williams Formula 1 team to work as a development driver. Model looks and glamorous photoshoots helped her attain celebrity status. Since 2016 she has been an analyst for Channel 4’s Formula 1 coverage. But Wolff does not accept that her appearance has enhanced her career. She said: ‘I don’t think it’s played a massive role, but it’s difficult to judge because there are no other examples you can go on.’
Earlier this year, motorsport journalist Beverley Turner claimed there are female drivers just as good as Lewis Hamilton, but who are held back ‘because they are not pretty enough’.
But Wolff says: ‘I disagree. Whether you’re pretty or not, when you’ve got a helmet on out on the track, the stopwatch counts – it’s not down to anything but performance. My experience within the sport is different. I don’t think I’ve seen a female as talented as Lewis Hamilton within my career, and I certainly wasn’t as talented as Lewis. To compare yourself to Lewis is tough because in my opinion he’s the absolute best of his generation.
‘The whole idea of the marketing value of a female driver is slightly overrated. I was at Williams on the cusp of entering Formula 1, and there wasn’t a queue of sponsors and partners waiting to jump on board had I been in the car.
‘It’s not easy to get sponsorship if you’re female, regardless of what the marketing strategy is. The concept
Whether you are pretty or not, when you’ve got a helmet on out on the track, the stopwatch counts, it’s down to performance
of a good-looking female being able to unlock millions in sponsorship… I’m not sure that’s the case.’
The only driver currently signed to Venturi Formula E Team is former F1 star Felipe Massa from Brazil.
‘For the second driver, those on our wish list are not female because right now there is no female who’s at the level of competing at the front of Formula E,’ admits Wolff, who insists that even if Massa fell ill she would not be tempted to take his place.
‘Absolutely not,’ she says. ‘I have made it very clear that my racing days are over. But I think it’s a great asset for me to have the experience of being a racing driver, because I can comprehend situations from their perspective.
‘That’s definitely a positive going into this new role… that I know what it’s like from the perspective of the racing driver.’