Susie Wolff’s quiet confidence is apparent from the moment you meet her.
She’s ambitious and fearless, unafraid to fight for what she believes in. When her character was questioned by the FIA last year, she didn’t hesitate to push back, filing a criminal complaint in response to the governing body’s statements.
To truly grasp why she took legal action, one must first understand Wolff herself, a figure synonymous with the advancement of women in motorsport. As Susie Stoddart, the Scottish native has worn various hats over the years, transitioning from a driver in the motorsport ranks to an administrative role. Currently, she serves as the managing director of the all-female series F1 Academy.
Wolff’s narrative is one defined by perseverance, originating from a small Scottish town and evolving into a journey that showcases the place of women in what is still predominantly considered a male-dominated field.
“Someone once told me, dream big, but always have a plan because a dream without a plan is merely a wish,” she remarked in Las Vegas last year. “You need to know how to achieve your dreams and have the determination to make them a reality.”
The Emergence of a ‘calculated’ Risk-Taker
Wolff discovered her passion for racing at a young age.
Her parents’ meeting, where her adventurous mother bought a motorbike from Wolff’s father, kindled her interest in four-wheel racing. Although her parents were bikers, Wolff, a self-proclaimed “calculated” risk-taker, gravitated towards karting at the age of eight. By 13, she aspired to become a racing driver.
However, the pathway to her dream was obscured.
“I remember finishing 15th in the world karting championships, and transitioning into single-seaters seemed like climbing Mount Everest to me,” Wolff recalled. “Where do I begin? How do I secure a good team? How do I raise the necessary funds?”
At 18, she made the pivotal decision to pursue a career in racing instead of continuing her studies at the University of Edinburgh. To fund her transition from karting to single-seaters, she utilized her student loan for a Formula Renault test day. “It was a familiar struggle faced by many drivers, not just female ones. While I had a strong family background, we lacked the financial resources to support my racing pursuits.”
Racing in the DTM series was Wolff’s big break, but she would soon return to open-wheel racing. (Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images)
Securing a sponsorship, Wolff competed in Formula Renault UK from 2001 to 2004, achieving three podium finishes and two nominations for British Young Driver of the Year during this period. She progressed to British F3 in 2005, participating alongside drivers such as Bruno Senna. Despite scoring points in her debut, her season was disrupted by an ankle injury.
Following this setback, she lost her position in F3 and her sponsor. “That could have been a turning point where I thought, ‘This isn’t going to work out,’ especially when it became financially challenging to meet my month-end rent obligations,” she recounted. This period was, as she described, “the darkest time not only in my career but in my life because I lost all momentum.”
Then, a phone call changed everything.
During an Autosport Awards ceremony when she was nominated for British Young Driver of the Year, Wolff caught the attention of Mercedes-Benz. This led to a testing opportunity in DTM, the German Touring Car series. Initially offered a one-year contract, she stayed for seven seasons, securing multiple top-10 finishes and claiming seventh place in 2010 as her best race result.
Susie and her now-husband, Toto Wolff, crossed paths in 2007 during her DTM competitive period. Toto was an investor in the company manufacturing DTM cars for Mercedes. The couple tied the knot in 2011 when Susie was still competing in DTM, and Toto had yet to enter F1. “I had always asserted that I wouldn’t marry until I turned 30; however, I broke that rule for Toto when I was only 29,” she jokingly remarked.
Prior to meeting him, she underwent what she deemed as an unhealthy phase where racing consumed her identity and self-worth. As she matured, she gained more confidence.
Reaching the Pinnacle
While DTM provided Wolff with a significant opportunity, she did not completely relinquish open-wheel racing. In 2012, she joined Williams as a development driver, committing full-time to the F1 team the following year. However, the backdrop she entered was still predominantly male-oriented, with only a few women attaining success in F1, amid lingering sexist remarks.
It had been over two decades since a woman had participated in an F1 Grand Prix weekend. The last attempt was made by Giovanna Amati in the 1992 season, failing to qualify after significantly slower times. Following this, no woman ventured close for years. An alteration occurred during the 2014 British Grand Prix weekend, where Wolff partook in a practice session. Another opportunity followed during the German GP weekend that same season, where she trailed Felipe Massa’s lap time by just two-tenths of a second.
As a driver for Williams, Wolff became the first woman in years to participate in an F1 weekend, in 2014. (David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images)
Retrospectively reflecting on her F1 tenure, she remarked, “I may not have been the most talented, but I possessed an extraordinary amount of tenacity, leading me quite far.” Her role at Williams expanded in 2015, encompassing testing responsibilities and two additional practice sessions, but she retired in the fall of that same season, stepping away from driving completely.
“I opted not to continue as a test driver for another year. I was acutely aware that I didn’t want to be exclusively remembered as a former racing driver,” Wolff explained. “As an athlete, you understand that there must be a new chapter, and I wanted to control when that chapter began.”
Advocating for Women in Motorsport
Dare To Be Different was Wolff’s avenue of giving back to motorsport in her subsequent phase. Launched in collaboration with The Motor Sports Association in 2016, the initiative aimed to augment female presence across all aspects of the sport, not solely on the track.
“I’ve only given one interview throughout my career where my gender wasn’t brought up, prompting me to take action because I was often the sole female figure,” she noted. “I saw it as passing the torch to the upcoming generation, imparting my experiences for others to learn from, evade my follies and foster long-term diversity in the sport, as I saw no reason why a woman couldn’t flourish in this domain.”
Wolff was an ambassador for the “She’s Mercedes” campaign and was bestowed with the honor of being named a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2017 for her contributions to women in sports. Amid her behind-the-scenes efforts in surmounting barriers, a new racing opportunity emerged.
Her official venture into team ownership and management materialized in the guise of Formula E, the electric single-seater car series. Assuming the roles of team principal and shareholder at ROKiT Venturi Racing in 2018, this wasn’t her initial interaction with the team. Venturi had previously communicated when she was still driving about a conceivable Formula E seat. In 2021, she ascended to the role of CEO, with Venturi clinching second place in the 2021/2022 season, trailing Mercedes by a mere 24 points.
Wolff had a brief but successful run in Formula E racing, as the ROKiT Venturi Racing team principal. (Steven Paston/PA Images via Getty Images)
However, the narrative of her being the singular woman in the room continued to trail Wolff, a detail she admits vexed her during her Formula E chapter. “I felt as though I was simply one of the 12 team principals, yet there, as always, I focused on performance and nearly secured the world championship,” she reminisced.
In August 2022, Wolff proclaimed her resignation ahead of the team’s collaboration with Maserati. Nonetheless, she did not sever ties with Formula E.
“Upon departing Formula E, I chose to cease discussions concerning women in motorsport. In my final two years, when requested, I attempted to delegate tasks to other women in my team, enabling them to shine rather than monopolizing the spotlight,” Wolff revealed.
“I felt that I had expressed everything that needed to be said… All these panel discussions, the same dialogues, the same subjects, and I believed I had executed everything in my power. Hence, I was resolute in transitioning to a different industry and embracing a new challenge.
“Yet, F1 Academy emerged.”
F1 Academy, an all-female junior racing series within F1’s pyramid, operates with F4 machinery. Wolff assumed the role of managing director in March 2023, over a month before commencing the inaugural season in Austria. “In this capacity, I sense that we’ve transitioned from talking to reacting,” Wolff emphasized. She relayed that discussing women in motorsports didn’t “bother” her because doing so benefits not only F1 Academy drivers but also onlookers.
“Having fulfilled 25 years as a racing driver, managed my team, I have an established understanding of this paddock. I have no reservations about advocating for what I believe is necessary and am willing to fight for what I perceive as essential,” Wolff explained, elucidating her rationale for accepting the role. “From that standpoint, it genuinely was an opportunity coupled with a passion to foster greater diversity within the sport and expand opportunities for talented women.”
She later remarked that progress isn’t always tangible, with some days feeling stagnant while others exhibit change. More than Equal, a non-profit endeavor concentrating on boosting female involvement in motorsport, conducted studies recently regarding the gender disparity in motorsport. The research revealed that only 51 percent of respondents were aware that women could compete in F1.
For Wolff, F1 Academy also presents a business challenge. “Despite some individuals implying, ‘Oh, you’re on a crusade,’ I’m not just advocating for women in motorsport. I’m also striving to evolve this into a sustainable business model that thrives.”
Guiding the Next Generation
Wolff is steadfast and resolute, exemplified by her decision to take legal action against the governing body. As her husband, Toto, conveyed to Sky Sports last month, “Susie is a strong woman; she doesn’t take anything from anyone and has always followed through on her convictions and values, and that’s the case here. She’s very unemotional about it and pragmatic. She feels wrong was done, and the court needs to hear that. Nothing’s going to bring her off that paths, that’s how her character is.”
When the FIA announced its investigation into the alleged conflict of interest, the Wolffs were not directly named. The governing body stated that its compliance department was examining “media speculation centered on the allegation of information of a confidential nature being passed to an F1 team principal from a member of FOM personnel.” However, F1, Susie Wolff, and Mercedes refuted the allegations in their respective statements.
Wolff’s initial response did not solely address the accusations but underscored the broader context. “It is disheartening that my integrity is being called into question in such a manner, especially when it appears to stem from intimidatory and misogynistic behavior, concentrating on my marital status instead of my capabilities.”
A few days later, the FIA dropped the matter, but as Wolff noted in a subsequent statement, she felt the harm had already been inflicted. “Upon seeing the FIA’s statement issued yesterday evening, my initial reaction was: ‘Is that it?’ For two days, public comments and implied insinuations cast doubt on my character, yet nobody from the FIA communicated with me directly,” she expressed in a Dec. 8 statement, revealing that she received online abuse concerning her work and family.
“I may have been collateral damage in an unsuccessful attack on someone else or the intended victim of an unsuccessful attempt to tarnish my reputation, but I worked too diligently for my character to be impugned by an unfounded press release.”
