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.

 

[F1ang-o]

Anatomy prevents 'balls out' racing....

 

[EvilWhippet]

F1 shouldn't be ashamed of only having the best drivers in the world. When was the last time there was a female driver good enough to be in F1? Forget "boys club", just the highest level of motorsport with a very high standard that no women - and only a tiny number of men - currently meet. Do you honestly believe Susie Wolff is qualified to be in F1? Look at her not as a woman, as a racing driver. Has she earned a drive in F1?

I'm into equality, not favouritism.

 

[EvilWhippet]

Patrick is surely making a fortune in the states and switching to a series where - realistically - she'd either dawdle around at the back in a crap team or get thrashed by her teammate in a good team would ruin her reputation.

Should F1 be ashamed of only having one black driver? Despite there only being one black driver I'm aware good enough for F1?

 

[Kamui-FastestChefInTheWorld]

Firstly, sorry if this goes off topic or is too serious, I'm in quite an angry mood.

Everyone in this modern world wants equality. Given that most of the EU seem to be in favour of quotas for gender, ethnicity, etc. which are simply discriminatory against those who are part of the 'majority' group, the same goes with F1. Everyone seems to think that introducing women to the sport is beneficial, with the OP saying that

it is way beyond time that a woman driver should be in F1

I ask 'why'? Why should someone be given a chance solely on the basis of their gender? Would anyone, only looking at her junior record, ever put her within a mile of an F1 drive? This is, frankly, discriminatory.

[/rant]

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

F1 is a true meritocracy. At least it doesn't have gender separation like football, cricket, tennis, rugby etc. which is arguably far worse. Racing in F1 should be seen as a challenge rather than a right. I would be very happy to see the day when women in F1 compete equally (or better) but the most important thing is that the best drivers compete (unlike now, ha!).

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Surely all a woman needs to do to get into F1 is go out and beat all of the boys. There is no way that a woman would lack backing or struggle to find it if they were genuinely quicker. Perhaps we are just waiting for that person to arrive and they just haven't yet.

 

[Brogan]

No-one is entitled to a seat in an F1 racing car purely because of their gender.

She has to do the same thing Pérez, Maldonado, Chilton and all the rest have - get enough backing to buy one.

 

[Fenderman]

Fine have a rant but the essence of Greenlantern101 's comments is perfectly valid.

So few women and black people in F1 is a reflection of the obstacles that have historically existed at the root of the sport. Back in the 1930's women were creaming the men at Brooklands but since its establishment in the 1950's F1 somehow evaded any significant female intrusion into its heart. The problem is akin to the glass ceiling phenomenon in the halls of industry and power where legislation has been used to break it down. To suggest that discrimination somehow no longer exists is as cromagnon a fantasy as is the knee-jerk method of so called "positive discrimination" as a remedy. The fix is already underway. albeit somewhat late, and that is to get more diversity of young people into karting and on the route up the Formula's ladder (whether that's young women, black, Asian, or whatever).

When folk's mention the US it should be borne in mind that access to motorsport is far more open to people of all persuasions and it is based on merit and the opportunity to demonstrate that merit. However, it is a fair question to ask "just how much longer will it take to haopen for F1?"

 

[Mephistopheles]

Regardless of gender if a driver isn't good enough then he/she shouldn't be in F1 as a gimmick or otherwise there are damn few seats as it is without clogging them up with a gender statement....

 

[Mephistopheles]

May I just add that there are plenty of women in F1 it is just that none of them are drivers at the moment.....

 

[ExtremeNinja]

There are only 24 active racing drivers in F1. The proportion of females who participate in motorsport is significantly less than 4%. Even if you go right to the roots in karting you will not find anything even close to a 4% female participation rate. This, for the same reason that you will not find anything like 4% of netball players to be male. Perhaps little girls just don't have aspirations to be racing drivers, in general. That is not to say that if they did then they couldn't. Anyone can turn up to a karting circuit and race and I don't believe there is any blocker to participation other than the motivation to participate. It is this that is lacking and does that mean that the sport is broken? I don't think it does at all.

This all sounds like PC over common sense. I honestly believe that if a female racing driver is good enough and has the same motivation as a male racing driver then there is no more or less obstacle for them to get to where they want to be.

 

[RasputinLives]

I'd much rather see this lady in the Williams reserve seat.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Powell#section_1

At least she's won something and is progressing up the established junior catogries. Still a long way to go but would much rather see her being given the oppitunity get experience with an F1 team than Susie Wolff.

 

[RasputinLives]

Even this lady has a better claim

http://www.grandprixweekly.com/2012/02/18/motorsports-mondial-427/

Her results aren't as good as Alice but one look at her and you see she's a sponsors dream if she shows any talent at all.

She still has a better career record than Susie.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

I can't see the logic in replacing non-merit-able drivers with non-merit-able drivers, even hypothetically. The bare faced truth is that there is no woman anywhere on the planet right now who deserves to be in the driving seat of an F1 car on merit, whatsoever.

 

[gethinceri]

I'm with you RasputinLives, Alice Powell is a technically skilled driver, a winner and has a few quid behind her. If I was investing in a driver it would be her.

 

[Fenderman]

Well Natacha Gachnang had a better record than Max Chilton so why is he in F1?

 

[RasputinLives]

Gachnang isn't even the most talented driver in her family though and if she was in F1 we'd have to call her Moosetta and thats not the most flattering nickname.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Fenderman. Why indeed? The answer to that question, whatever it may be, wouldn't merit another sub-class driver a spot, though. I'd rather weed out the undeserving drivers than justify more undeserving drivers on the basis that we have some already. Obviously, I know that is not what you are advocating for a second, but for me the question of why Gachnang isn't in F1 is an easy one to answer. The question of why Max Chilton is in F1 will not provide me with an answer I will ever be comfortable with. He shouldn't be here either.

 

[Fenderman]

I didn't say she should be. I was just wondering how come we could tolerate an under achiever like Chilton. If he deserves a seat then there quite a few women out there who do likewise. If he doesn't then fair dinkum. Having said that I wouldn't write off the whole of the fairer sex. Especially now that they're just starting to get really interested and interesting in motorsport after what seems to have been a very long time out in the cold.

 

[RasputinLives]

I don't see any difference between Susie Wolff and Max Chilton. She isn't in the Willams drive because she's female or talented but because of her connections and money.

If Williams wanted to take on a driver just because she was female it would be one of the two ladies I listed who are at least both only 20 and could possibley have the potential to get to F1 standard. Which was the point I was originally making.