Williams test driver Susie Wolff will retire from motorsport after spending three years working with the Formula 1 team.
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Becoming the first woman to participate on a grand prix weekend for two decades when she drove the Williams FW36 in the 2014 British Grand Prix FP1 session, Wolff went on to compete in four FP1 sessions, as well as enjoy several test outings. Wolff joined Williams after seven seasons in German touring cars with a best result of 13th in the championship.
With her racing career finished, Wolff is planning an initiative with the Motor Sports Association – Great Britain’s governing body – that will celebrate the women that already compete in the sport.
Susie Wolff is giving up her dream of being the first woman to reach the a Formula One starting grid since Lella Lombardi made 12 starts in the series in 1975 and 1976. Formula One drivers are built like jockeys but (like jockeys) they are mostly very strong; Lewis Hamilton is a smallish man but it is hard to shake hands without wincing in pain.
“My goal was to get on to the [F1] starting grid and that didn’t look achievable. So I had to call it a day”. There were those who wanted it to happen.
Wolff has admitted reality sunk in earlier this year when Williams signed Adrian Sutil as injury reserve for Valtteri Bottas in Melbourne, despite the fact she was there with the team as official test driver. “I don’t believe I didn’t make it onto the grid just because of my gender”.
“We have two issues: not enough young girls starting in karting and no clear role model. A lot of the owners wanted to kick me off. Everyone else who thinks women aren’t good enough can get stuffed”.
(CNN)She put the pedal to the metal in a male dominated world but Susie Wolff has now chose to put the brakes on her bid to shatter Formula One’s glass ceiling.
Wolff, the wife of Mercedes F1 team motorsport chief Toto Wolff, will have her final race at the November 20-21 Race of Champions event in London.
She also played a key role in the development of the team’s most recent cars through extensive simulator work and straight-line aerodynamic testing.
“I dared to be different, I want to inspire others to do the same”, she wrote in a blog on the Huffington Post website.
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Wolff has been linked with taking up a presenting position on the BBC motoring show Top Gear.
