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.

 

[RasputinLives]

There isn't.

I made a separate point about Button, if you refer to him, in an attempt to show how men can get into F1 on the strength of a pretty average record (in cars at least) while it seems that a woman must somehow contrive to be a world champion elect before even being considered worthy of a chance.

I can honestly say I don't think anyone has a problem with women getting into F1. I think we have a problem with talentless people getting into F1.

As for the JB thing. Are you really comparing a 20 something youngster with a big rep from karting being given a shot in F1 to a mid 30 something who has been in cars with no success?

Truth is if Susie Wolff was not a woman she'd have absolutely no one saying 'come on give then a chance'.

Where were the Susie Wolff cheer squad for the likes of Phillipe Adams, Sakon Yamamoto and Baumgartner?

 

[RasputinLives]

Having just rechecked the records I'd like to point out that JB's 'pretty average' junior record consisted of him winning all 34 races and the title in karting, moving into Formula Ford at 18 and winning that in his first year and then taking 3 wins and 3rd in the championship in F3.

Meanwhile Susie Wolff has 1 points finish in DTM in 8 years of racing.

I understand what you were trying to say regarding Wolff but the point is its her lack of talent people object to not her gender.

In case no one has noticed Sauber quietly have a female test driver who was in the car recently and there has hardly been a word about it.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I can't really see why this is even being discussed if I'm honest, in this day and age.

Does Maldonado being so bad set back the cause of male F1 drivers by 20 years or more every time he crashes? No.
Narain Karthikeyan? Nope.
How about Alex Yoong? No, think not.
Taki Inoue or Luca Badoer perhaps? No, not even them.

I care not whether Susie Wolff is the absolute best female driver out there, whether or not she is pretty, or whether she has a 'sexy' accent. I wouldn't even care if she were to be advantaged in getting a drive because of who she's married to or who she knows. God knows, plenty of men would never have been within a mile of a F1 car through merit alone. How many male drivers can you think of who got where they did through being part of an influential family, or by dint of being heavily sponsored by a major company from their home nation?

Justin Wilson won the international F3000 title in 2001, with a record winning margin over a certain Antipodean by the name of Mark Webber. So who got a Formula 1 seat with Minardi (owned by another Aussie) the following year? You guessed it.

Jenson Button was by this time already in F1, having won a seat a couple of years earlier on the strength of coming 3rd in the British Formula 3 championship!

We now have more women in F1 than ever before, at every level. Two current teams, Williams and Sauber, are being ably led by women. "Ah, Monisha Kaltenborn" I hear you mutter; "She's doing such a great job with Sauber isn't she? Look where they are now compared to last year". To which I'll say just three words: Dennis. Ron. Mclaren.

There's no reason at all why a woman shouldn't succeed as a F1 driver given the chance, and if Susie Wolff or anyone else were to get the opportunity to try, I'd be all for it.

Have I totally misinterpreted this post then?

 

[Mephistopheles]

I believe that the word token is being used in the wrong context by you Chad Stewarthill there are no token men in F1 because they are all men unless you are trying to differentiate between them by nationality or race or creed or upbringing such as oh we have a token black fella to attract people of his colour to watch or a token American to open the market in America and now we want a token women to attract the female supporters, and so using the term token in this way is totally disrespectful to the people involved, yes there are some drivers that aren't there on merit alone but that does not make them tokens unless it is to say oh look we have a token rich guy best we get a token poor one to balance it out....

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Have I totally misinterpreted this post then?

Yes.

As I explained, my point about Button was entirely separate from the list of crap male drivers at the top of that post.

And yes, to answer the point made in your other post, perhaps I was using the word 'token' in the wrong context but I was not the one who first applied it; I was countering the use of the term as applied to women in another post.

Of course I would be against the promotion of a woman driver to the sport simply because she was a woman. But no-one has yet given me a good reason why if a female driver, be it Susie Wolff, Simona de Silvestro or anyone else, wished to compete in Formula 1 and a team principal wished to offer her a seat, she shouldn't be deemed suitable even if she were not absolutely brilliant, given the number of male drivers who currently and in the past have 'graced' the sport while being not absolutely brilliant themselves.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

RasputinLives while I'm not trying to dismiss Jenson Button's karting achievements, Susie Wolff's own record in karts (while not being in the same league as Jenson's) is not too shabby.

Also, in DTM she was regularly competing in one or two year old spec cars. If you compare her record in that series against male competitors in similar spec vehicles, she comes out pretty well. In 2010 for example she was in a 2008 spec car and finished above David Coulthard in a 2008 car and Ralf Schumacher in a 2009 car.

 

[RasputinLives]

Again its out of context because DC and Ralf were way past their prime and past caring. As for her Karting record, other than the Scottish championship she won one year she has never placed above 10th in any Karting championship she's been in. Whilst I'm sure she is better than anyone we know as a driver I'm afraid there are hundreds of individuals in front of her when it comes to the queue yo get into F1. Including other women by the way (De Silverstro, Visser etc).

Susie has consistantly not got results in whats she has compeated in and if she were a man no one would support the idea of her being in F1.

As much as she seems like a lovely women I'm afraid its true.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Racing is racing, F1 drivers can't help remaining competitive and you can't just dismiss the fact that two former Grand Prix winners were beaten over a DTM season by someone in equal or lesser machinery just by making a random claim, without any evidence, that they were 'past caring'.

I have never suggested that Susie is the best woman driver out there; it's just that this happens to be the 'Susie Wolff' thread.

So anyway, it's fairly obvious that I'm in a minority of one, so... I'll get me coat.

 

[Bill Boddy]

She beat two of this forum's absolutely top drivers of all time, R. Schumacher and Coulthard so she deservers a drive.

 

[teabagyokel]

Chad Stewarthill - If I complain that Ayrton Senna's crap nephew, Nelson Piquet's crap son and Yuji Ide's convenient nationality get into F1, I can hardly support Toto Wolff's crap wife making it either.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Actually teabagyokel I agree with you when you put it like that; except for Bruno, who in my view has been a bit harshly judged. Who knows what one more season might have brought about? For instance, how many would have thought just two seasons ago that Grosjean would have a future in F1?

 

[RasputinLives]

Me.

Grosjean may have been a bit lary but he has been a champion in every catogry he'd ever been in and had already showed pace. Bruno on the other hand was out qualified by Sakon Yamamoto, Beat over a season by Chandhok and beat over a season by Pastor Maldonado when Pastor crashed out of two third of the races.

Bruno had 50 Grand Prix and never really showed any potential I'm afraid although he is still massively better than Susie Wolff.

 

[Jen]

Bruno had 50 Grand Prix and never really showed any potential I'm afraid although he is still massively better than Susie Wolff.

Therein lies the rub, sadly!

 

[Mephistopheles]

Toto Wolff's crap wife

That's a bit harsh, she may be a very good W.I.F.E

 

[teabagyokel]

Chad Stewarthill - Off topic, but the quality of Grosjean's team-mates undersold him as the quality of Bruno's flattered him.

 

[soccerman17]

Susie Wolff beat two aging Grand Prix winnners in touring cars, so she is obviously a better Formula One racer than them. Yep.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Yeah yeah, we''ve had that answer already.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

Sniff Petrols comments on todays debut:

http://sniffpetrol.com/2014/07/04/woman-drives-f1-car/

 

[Speshal]

Susie's broken the car again

 

[F1Yorkshire]

It's ok its not broken, someone just needs to show her how to change gear.