Susie Wolff

Susie Wolff born 6 December 1982 in Oban is a British racing driver from Scotland. She has progressed through the ranks of motorsport, starting off in karting, then moving up to Formula Renault and Formula Three before moving to the DTM to compete for Mercedes-Benz since 2006. In 2012 she was signed by the Williams Formula One team to work as a development driver and she is still in that role.
She lives in Ermatingen, Switzerland with her husband Toto Wolff, since January 21, 2013, executive director of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team. The two were married in October 2011.

Susie is aiming to be the first ever woman since 1976 and Lella Lombardi to race in F1.

She has her own TV program on Sunday 24.3.2013 BBC2 8pm : Driven: The Fastest Women in the World.

Her race record is none to impressive at zero wins, and you would have to say she would not deserve a drive based on that alone. However it is way beyond time that a woman driver should be in F1 and if Susie can open that door which has been closed since 1976 then I say good luck to her and I hope she gets a drive in a decent car.

 

[Titch]

Well the Williams team is heavily influenced these days by Frank Williams daughter, she may feel strongly that women should be given more chances in the sport. But the 16% share of her husband is probably in the mix somewhere.

 

[Greenlantern101]

Well I am glad she is getting a few P1 sessions and a few in season test. I doubt it will lead to a race seat but I am glad she has been given the opportunity.

 

[downforce]

IS there much point though really. Surely there must be better women to lead womens presence in the sport. Currently Kalterborn must be thee leading figure. Its a shame Danica Patrick wasn't interested.

Susie wolff isn't the right one though.

 

[Greenlantern101]

Simona de Silvestro is a good bet for a race seat next year in the Sauber.

 

[Bill Boddy]

She is 31 years old, by the time she could get in the grid she will be 32 years old. To get a race seat at that age she would need to be phenomenal, most drivers are beginning to get written off at that age.

OK, which drivers have had the first GP race over the age of 30. I'll start you off with Juan Manuel Fangio, who's going to fill in the rest?

Or is it just Williams looking for publicity and expecting that she will not make it anyway in which case they would be far, far better off getting someone 12 years younger.

Grumps off into the distance...equality for men would be nice.

 

[Fenderman]

What worries me is the same issue that concerns me about drivers coming in for motives other than quality. Nepotism or a fat wallet is no qualification. IMHO any driver entering F1 should have open wheeler feeder series race wins a couple of championships under their belt. The drive to get women onto the grid must be via getting them on track (excuse the pun) at an early age and through what is to date the proven best route - i.e. karts, national open wheel classes like Formula Nippon, British F3 etc. and the GP3 and GP2 feeder series and/or US equivalents and World Series by Renault, etc.

Suzie Wolf clearly has a lot to offer with regard to testing and development as her feedback is said to be very good and on a par with new bloods. However, her best results are four podiums in Formula Renault (2003-2004) and two 7th place finishes in DTM in 2010 in which she competed in seasons (2006-2012). Sorry Suzie but that's not the ideal CV in my book. It smacks of nepotism to me and there are a number of young women drivers chalking up wins and championships who really deserve their shot first.*


*There is a pertinent discussion on women in F1 in a dedicated thread which I will try to find and bring back onto our radar.

 

[gethinceri]

They need someone much hotter looking, driver skills are irrelevant if the entrant is female.

 

[downforce]

How about Michelle Ryan?

 

[FB]

OK, which drivers have had the first GP race over the age of 30. I'll start you off with Juan Manuel Fangio, who's going to fill in the rest?

Damon Hill was 32, he didn't do too badly did he?

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Didn't Hill have success in bikes before coming to F1? I suppose you could argue that Hill only got his shot at F1 because of his name. He also lucked into an all powerful Newey designed Wiiliams too.

If Wolff has fast enough she would have already made an appearance at an F1 weekend, she's just there as a combination of her husbands influence and publicity. The only plus point is that her presence on the track may inspire more female racers in the future.

 

[Bill Boddy]

I think that he was still 31 then, his birth date was 17 Sept 1960. However, any more 30+ candidates?

 

[Galahad]

Phil Hill, I think.

Ascari was over 30 for his first world championship race but that wasn't his first GP.

 

[Fenderman]

The thing is drivers are starting out so much younger these days. When people like Senna and Schumacher cut their teeth on Karts that was the exception rather than the rule. Nowadays it's almost a prerequisite first step, following which a solid career path to F1 is usually pretty steep with consistently better than average results. Obviously there are current exceptions to this new "rule" and, funnily enough, these seem to be down to a driver's own knapsack of sponsorship dosh or the good old fashioned "knowing" or being related to "the right" people.

Call me a cynic on this one because I am.

 

[FB]

Jean Pierre Jabouille was 31 when he made his debut.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Damon did not luck into that drive at William he was the development driver for that car ages before he got near a race seat anyone who knows anything about Damon's career would know there was absolutely no luck involved you only have to look at what he did with that Arrows and the Jordan after Williams to know he was a hugely talented driver, it wasn't his name that took him to a world championship it was talent.

 

[Greenlantern101]

Bill Boddy you peaked my interest, so started browsing my F1 book. About half way through the list of drivers and got bored.

Philippe Alliot 30
Michael Andretti 31
Peter Arundell 30
Jean Behra 31
Jean-Pierre Beltoise 31
B Bira 36
Felice Bonetto 46
Slim Borgudd 35 (ABBA's drummer)
Vittorio Brambilla 37
Louis Chiron 51
Christiano da Matta 30
Emmanuel de Graffenried 36

More interesting is seeing how many drivers died before they even got to 30.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I could name you hundreds of drivers from the 50's that were well into their 30's when they first drove in F1

 

[Greenlantern101]

Hundreds ?

Go on then.

 

[FB]

This topic is rambling, and I'm as guilty as everyone else. If we want a driver's age topic can someone start one.

Cheers

FB

 

[soccerman17]

Its a shame Danica Patrick wasn't interested.

Hahahahahahaha this is a joke right. Danica is barely NASCAR or IndyCar material, definitely not Formula One. I'm still a bit skeptical about Simona di Silvestro, but I do think she is far and away the best female driver out there. She can race with the boys, but hasn't shown anything special enough to be given a chance over any of the plethora of promising young male drivers that get skipped out on.