Susie Wolff’s Career

Susie Wolff is an inspiration to many young girls and women, having started in karting, driven a Formula 1 car, and now holding the title of managing director for F1 Academy, an all-female driver category.

(Image credit to The Guardian)

Susie Wolff was born in the Scottish resort town of Oban in 1982. She began her motorsports career over twenty years ago, starting at the karting track at the age of eight. During her karting career, she won the 24-Hour Middle East Kart Championship and a few years later, after being named Best Female Kart Driver, she soon found herself in British Formula 3 in 2005. In this competition, she scored points in the early stages, only for her season to be ended early by an ankle injury.

Almost 10 years later, Susie went on to make history when she took part in the 2014 British Grand Prix weekend, becoming the first woman to take part in a Formula 1 weekend in 22 years. She drove the Williams FW36 in the first practice session but was only able to get four laps in before an engine failure brought her car to a halt. Later, in a press interview, she called the failure “a massive disappointment.” She quickly added, “Such a good buildup, so much hard work, so much preparation to get ready for today. That's racing, I've known for over a year that it can be massive ups and massive downs. 

A little over a year later, on the 4th of November 2015, Wolff announced her retirement from racing motorsports to fully commit to creating positive change and equality within the sport. When announcing, she stated that she felt that she had gone as far as she could go, but expressed her intention to help other women in motorsports. In 2016, Susie launched ‘Dare To Be Different.’ The initiative was a call to action, aimed strictly at driving women's talent by inspiring the next generation of women and also increasing women's participation in all levels and aspects of the sport. Susie Wolff said: “I am so proud of what we have achieved over the last four years.”

In 2017, she was honoured by the Royal Family with an MBE award (Member of the British Empire) for her contribution to women in the sport. Wolff said, “I am humbled to receive an MBE in my service to women in sport”. She was also awarded an honorary degree at the University of Edinburgh in 2013 in recognition of her role as an ambassador in women's sport. She had interrupted her studies at Edinburgh's Business School in 2001 to turn professional as a Racing driver.

On June 26th, 2018, Susie was appointed Team Principal and shareholder of ROKIT Venturi Racing, a Formula E team. This was her first formal move into team management and ownership. In August 2022, after having a successful season to date and a Vice-World Championship title, Susie announced her departure from the team and Formula E, leaving people to wonder what she will take on next in her career.

On March 1st, 2023, it was announced that Susie Wolff would be the managing director of F1 Academy, an all-female racing category. The category is aimed at giving the next generation of young female drivers a platform, support and guidance in their racing careers, hoping to one day have a female race in Formula 1. When mentioning F1 Academy, Susie said in an interview, “F1 Academy creates those opportunities, but we’ve still got work to do. I don’t think it's at a point where we can say the work's done.” Wolff continues, “I see it more as a movement than a moment and not every little girl in the world wants to be a racing driver. But if she can be inspired by seeing what's possible, in what's still regarded as quite a male-dominated environment, then I think that can be a positive for us. “

Article Written By Jessica Livingstone