Susie Wolff
c/o James Moy Photography
Susie Wolff will retire at the end of the season. By the manner in which this news has been greeted, one would imagine the announcement had been made by one of the all-time greats. There has been an outpouring of emotion, of platitudes and sadness.
But to pretend Susie Wolff’s career has been anything but ordinary, would be to serve the very cause she champions a disservice.
Susie Wolff had a dream. That dream was to drive a Formula 1 car. It is a dream she has fulfilled, and there are not many of us on this earth who can be as content as to say that we have achieved our life’s ambition. For that, one can only be happy for her. Susie is an incredibly warm and likeable person. She is sincere and charming and I would hazard has not a bad bone in her body. How can one not be happy for such a person achieving their dream?
And she did so nobly, not simply driving a Formula 1 car but taking to the track competitively in timed practice sessions, comparing favourably with team-mate and multiple race-winner Felipe Massa. While we will never know the difference in their programmes, and thus fuel levels the two were running, the history books will forever show she lapped within 0.2 seconds of the man who, for half a minute, was the 2008 Formula 1 World Champion.
Susie and Toto Wolff
c/o James Moy Photography
Wolff’s very appointment, however, created controversy. When she first signed for Williams back in 2012, detractors of course pointed to the part ownership of the team of her husband Toto Wolff. Why else would a team with the competitive desires of Williams, employ the services of a driver who had, in seven years of competing in the DTM, finished in the points just twice, it was asked. Admittedly those two seventh place finishes left her ahead of Grand Prix winners David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher in the championship table, but her junior career in no way merited a promotion to an F1 development driver role on skill alone.
Of course, Williams went to great lengths to point out that the board had approved Susie’s appointment and that Toto Wolff had removed himself from that particular discussion and vote. But to those looking simply at performance, her appointment simply didn’t make any sense when so many talented junior series champions and race winners had been overlooked.
Her appointment came not long after Maria de Vilotta had been announced in a similar role at the Marussia F1 Team. Women drivers were back en vogue in the F1 paddock and so naturally Susie’s appointment was seen as a good news story. At the time, one could not have imagined that her many hours spent in the simulator would prove so worthy to the team and would result in her getting actual track time. Nor could anyone have foreseen what a fantastic ambassador she would become not only for Williams, but for Formula 1 as a whole.
At the same time, she worked incredibly hard with the FIA on its Women in Motorsport programme, becoming a mentor to young girls coming through the ranks and sitting on influential panels at the highest levels of the governance of our sport.
But her very position at the table due to her Formula 1 seat is something which, if I am honest, I cannot say sat easily with me. For me to do so would be disingenuous.
Wolff took part in 2 practice sessions in 2014
c/o James Moy Photography
She has been heralded as a ground-breaker, a pioneer and a role-model for women. A latter-day Nomex-clad Emmeline Pankhurst of sorts. But if one is to applaud her on track achievements so loftily, we must ask why we do so. We do not claim Channoch Nissany to be a pioneer of Israeli motorsport, nor Adderly Fong a champion for Hong Kong. Why then does Wolff deserve such praise? Like them, she achieved very little in an otherwise ordinary racing career, and yet had a light shone upon them when taking part in a practice session on a Grand Prix weekend.
If we laud her simply because she is a woman, is that not in itself incredibly sexist? Does that not defeat the entire purpose of the fight for equality? If we are ever to achieve a day in this sport where women compete on equal terms with men, then it follows that the barometer we use to judge success must also be equal.
Susie, whether we dare to admit it or not, formed one part of a triumvirate of women over the past 5 years who found a role in Formula 1 in spite of, not because of, the talent they had shown to that point in their careers. Maria de Vilotta, God rest her soul, should never have been put in a Formula 1 car. Carmen Jorda, after a year at Lotus, has thus far only been allowed to sit in a simulator.
If we take it back to a question of equality, would any young man with the racing pedigree of Maria, Susie or Carmen be looked at twice by a Formula 1 team? Our answer is clear. And is a definitive no. Unless, of course, they could bring either some form of substantial sponsorship or be commercially appealing to the squad in some other way.
Those who call for equality in Formula 1 and for women to be judged on equal terms as men decry the outdated use of promotional girls on the grid or the podium. But if someone like Carmen Jorda, with a pitiful junior racing CV, is appointed to a Formula 1 team to spend the majority of her time being filmed doing nothing in an F1 garage while wearing team kit, in between talking to sponsors in the Paddock Club, how far away is she from the promotional girls which those battling for equality in the sport wish to see removed?
Carmen Jorda
c/o James Moy Photography
And so we must ask… Does, or has, the promotion of these women to official driving roles at Formula 1 teams, in spite of the fact that their talent level in no way merits such a position, actually detracted from the fight for women to be seen and to be judged as equals in the sport? Because if they truly were judged as equals, one could argue they wouldn’t be there.
The irony is that there are women out there who are good enough and who could and perhaps by now should have been given a chance not just to test, but to race in Formula 1. It is very easy to pour scorn on the idea, but Danica Patrick is an Indycar race winner, she led the Indy 500, and ten years ago would have been worth giving a shot. Simona de Silvestro is a Formula Atlantic Vice Champion and an Indycar podium finisher. Sadly, she became caught up in Monisha Kaltenbourn’s 2014/2015 driver pool of madness and lost out in the biggest possible way having put her Indy career on hold to follow her F1 dream.
Alice Powell is a multiple championship winning racing driver, who has, through lack of funding, had to turn her sporting attentions to hockey, whilst assuaging her thirst for speed with a Bob Skeleton.
But young women are coming through the junior formulae. Tatiana Calderon is just one name to keep your eye on. In Florida last year she took on the boys and won, in a field that comprised none other than F1’s man of the moment Max Verstappen. Just last weekend, she finished on the podium in three of the opening four races of the MRF championship in Abu Dhabi.
Tatiana Calderon
c/o TatianaCalderon.com
These are the achievements and these are the kind of racers we should be championing. And it is worth pointing out that Tatiana Calderon is just one of the drivers to have benefitted from Susie Wolff’s commitment to the future of women racers through her work at the FIA.
Susie Wolff achieved her dream of driving a Formula 1 car. Her time at the Williams F1 team went far beyond the vast majority of expectations in the ultra-critical world of the Formula 1 paddock. I’d wager it probably exceeded hers, too. For the position in which she now finds herself, is a far more important one than the role of which she dreamed as a child.
And as such, we should perhaps hold back on lauding her career just yet.
For if we do so on the basis of her achievements as a driver, and we do so in glowing terms, we are being false to ourselves, false to you and potentially detrimental to the perception of women in motorsport and the pursuit of equality.
When we first see a woman climb to the top step of a Formula 1 podium, or clinch her first F1 world championship… and we will… and in her post race joy she talks about watching Susie Wolff at Williams and how it inspired her to follow her own dream, then we can praise her achievements with sincerity.
But not today.
Susie’s calling has only just begun.
Good luck Susie
c/o James Moy Photography
The Buxton Blog 
So true, Will. Nice to see someone with the guts to be honest. I admire Susie Wolff for what she has done, but she is not a great driver. She pursued her dream, more than most of us pursue our dreams, and got to do something very few people in the world ever get to do. That is enough, let’s celebrate that!
Felipe Massa was not 2008 world champion for any period of time. Not for 30 seconds, not for 10 seconds, not for 1 second.
It SEEMED like he was GOING TO be champion for half a minute, but he never WAS champion. That isn’t how F1 or sport in general works.
Thanks for pointing that out. I was unaware. And ever so glad that, of the whole article, that’s the one focal point you chose to take away. Kudos indeed.
Great article Will.
There are people in all of the sports including motorsports that for different reasons including lack of money never get to achieve their dreams. There are a couple of things that can be argued, was Susie at the right place and right time when women drivers in F1 were the in vogue thing to try and gain exposure in new markets for the sport and that’s why she got the roles that she did at Williams or was Toto the main influence (indirectly) as to why she got the roles? Maybe she would’ve silenced the critics a bit if she could proved that she could run with the men in race trim with equal fuel levels mid field.
As far as Carmen Jorda, she’s a pretty face for the sponsors and fans to chat with. If she hasn’t been in the simulator by now, I doubt that she ever will be.
Tatiana Calderon will be successful in motorsport. She is showing that she belongs racing with men.
Also, if Susie was really serious about getting a F1 seat, she would have tried to secure drives in other racing series in order to get seat time.
I’m an athlete who plays (and has played) on a men’s team for many years because there are not that many women’s teams. I don’t get any criticism from the men because I’ve proven that I can play well with them and help the team succeed. Once a woman proves beyond a doubt that she belongs with the men and can help them and herself succeed, there isn’t criticism and she’s taken seriously.
Susie and Carmen are actually making it harder for women to be accepted as important, contributing team members by men based solely on the woman’s talent and not just their looks.
I wish Susie well in the next chapter of her life. Hopefully, she’s able to help women open more doors for themselves in motorsport on and off the track.
I’m disappointed in your viewpoint here, will. Especially your assertion that it is sexist to praise her achievements simply for being a woman in F1.
Guess what, all aspects of life in motorsport – but especially F1 – are harder for women, and this must be acknowledged when we discuss someone’s achievements. From day one people have doubted her ability *simply* because of her gender. They have doubted her *very place* in the paddock. This is a sport where the most visible job a woman has is to stand in a dress in front of the cars. Do you see how this adds a dramatic additional fold to the complexity of trying to be successful in F1 for a woman?
The deck is stacked against women even entering motorsport – imagine being a little girl interested in karting and seeing all men around – and even further stacked against them being successful – because there is so much doubt in the racing community about their ability to succeed – that therefore any accomplishment at the level of F1 is worth at least some praise.
Yes, she is not a race winner, or even a race starter… but that doesn’t mean her road was less difficult. In fact, when you compare her road to that of a pay driver, one might say that certain pay drivers have had a significantly easier time getting to where they are than Suzie had getting to where she got.
Jon. I’m in no way belittling the effort required to succeed. Merely stating that in my opinion equality should mean equality. If we judge the success of a man by one set of parameters, is it not utterly sexist to lower the bar of expectation for women? I’ve seen female racing drivers win races against otherwise all male fields. As any female racer will tell you, when the helmet goes on they’re all the same. The means by which we judge their achievements behind the wheel must also be so.
[…] Susie Wolff and the Path to Equality (The Buxton Blog) […]
As a woman and a Formula 1 fan, I have mixed feelings about this article.
Yes, I agree that when you talk about a “great driver” you’re not supposed to take gender into consideration. Being a man or a woman has nothing to do with being a great driver.
But Susie Wolff’s legacy goes far beyond the fact that she was or wasn’t a great driver.
(And I will digress a little, but how many great drivers have we ever had in F1? Just being in F1 alone is already a huge achievement, and ever since the paid drivers era started I find it useless to discuss whether Susie deserved to be there or not. But that’s of course only my humble opinion.)
To me, true equality means having equal opportunities. And we know women aren’t treated equally, they’re not given the same opportunities. It’s a lot harder for women to thrive in motorsport, when so many people try to make you believe you don’t belong in there. When they try to make you believe you belong in front of a car, wearing a miniskirt and holding an umbrella.
For a girl who likes motorsports and maybe thinks about becoming a driver someday, there’s a huge difference between having grid girls or female drivers as role models. When she sees a female driver, she feels entitled to be there.
It just has to start somewhere. Susie Wolff may not be the perfect role model, but she was there. She showed young girls that it was somehow possible. If you believe the presence of women as drivers is beneficial for F1 (I certainly do), then yes, you have to praise Susie.
Agree with your view…fair point!
You are very lucky Joana. Twenty years ago there were no women to look up to in F1, nor was known in other forms of racing. I am too old to have Susie as a role model but I truly hope see inspires younger women.
Thank you Will. I hope many young women see this and are guided. Also that Susie is willing to help and guide women is part of her inspiration.
An honest piece. There is, however, a chicken and egg aspect to these kinds of discussions when judging Susie Wolff or other women trying to break into top echelon of motor racing.
In a small way it mirrors discussions of affirmative action in broader society: near all can agree AA is necessary from time to time to help the advancement of the systematically disadvantaged. The challenge is in deciding when the playing field has been leveled sufficiently that such actions are no longer necessary.
In the case of F1 and women as drivers, it is fair to say (at least in my opinion) that we are not at that stage. Nor if I am honest: terribly close.
Thus, judging Wolff’s achievements on a curve so to speak is not unreasonable. Still, as you point out, Will, hopefully there will come a day in the not too distance future where that will no longer be necessary, or fair to men. Until then, progress like Susie Wolff’s deserves applause.
[…] Diese Arbeit, die Wolff nun aufnehmen wird, ist vermeintlich auch ihre bedeutsamste. So kann die Schottin wirken. Denn auch wenn sie im Freien Training in Hockenheim 2014 auf 0,2 Sekunden an Teamkollegen Felipe Massa herankam, die Leistungen reichten schlussendlich nicht. Womöglich wird jedoch dank Wolffs Arbeit in zehn oder 15 Jahren eine Frau in der Formel 1 antreten. Mit ihrem Wissen und ihrer Erfahrung kann Wolff nun etwas ausrichten – im Rennauto selbst konnte sie es nicht. […]
Calderon f3 2014 29 points, place 15, verstappen f3 411…. With a lot of wins. Sorry why would she deserve F1? I fully understand your article, but Susie, like Calderon is simply not F1 quality. I do hope at a time someone will.
You can’t look at a driver on the basis of one season. And particularly not in such a primary stage of their education and evolution as a racer. FORIX is all well and good but raw statistics never tell the full story. Is Tatiana a Max? No. But nobody is. Does she have genuine potential to not only race on terms with but beat the best male drivers of her generation on equal terms? Yes she does. And I’ve seen her do it. In the flesh.
To me, it doesn’t make any difference whether it be male, female or transgender. When a driver hits the scene the way an Ayrton Senna or Michael Schumacher did, the gender(s) won’t matter…
[…] NBC F1 reporter Will Buxton noted on his personal blog, Wolff’s “junior career in no way merited a promotion to an F1 development driver role […]
[…] NBC F1 reporter Will Buxton noted on his personal blog, Wolff’s “junior career in no way merited a promotion to an F1 development driver role […]
When a woman has the talent of Schumacher or Senna, then they belong in F1.
A quick glance at the grid in any formula should make anyone realise male and female racers are not being perceived as equal in motorsport. That said, if you look only at test and development drivers in F1, men with the racing credentials of Susie Wolff or Carmen Jorda are not being afforded the same opportunity to get into a F1 car. Will alluded to that, and whether we see it as ‘sexist’ or not, it shows that equality in F1 is a complicated and sensitive subject. Will was brave to take it on in this article.
Women are now marketable in F1, and I can only see this heading in one direction. Eventually, a talented female racing driver is going to get enough financial backing to get a shot in an F1 race. It could have been Simona de Silvestro at Sauber or even Alice Powell at Caterham last season. If F1 continues on the path it’s on, those opportunities are going to become more frequent (for anyone who can obtain a Super Licence).
Susie Wolff has opened that door, but that door is going to bring further challenges and potential obstacles. It’s difficult enough that some drivers who merit a crack at F1 are being dismissed as ‘pay drivers’ without a female driver having to overcome that obstacle as well. I fear, however, that is an inevitability at this stage. I just hope whoever does get that opportunity makes a good impression.
While I respect your opinion here and you makes some good points, a call for equality based on merit, with regards to female drivers, is a little far fetched at this point. Women have been disadvantaged and kept out of racing until now and even now it is still much more a male-dominated sport at every. single. level. So to say that now anyone who gets it must only get in on merit is silly.
There are no role models at the top, or below the top. Or much below that. So a few placements to boost support and increase interest of girls at very low levels so that there can start being more equality throughout motorsport shouldn’t be seen as horrible. When more women come through the ranks of lower tiers, selection can be merit-based. We’re not there yet.
But the much larger point is that calling for merit-based female drivers ASSUMES that all the other (male) drivers are there based on merit and we know that not to be the case. I only closely follow F1 but there are plenty of drivers there (race, reserve, and test) who probably don’t belong there on merit. They pay, or have sponsors.
Call for all and only merit-based appointments when the playing field is level. Not when the deck has been stacked for a century and the door has only just been opened to outsiders.
I usually enjoy your articles but not really sure what to make of this. Until there are truly equal opportunities for women to get to the top level of the sport, only then I think there is room to complain about a driver being overtly praised. The un-dead mummy who heads the sport (aka Bernie) has dismissed women drivers in F1 as a gimmick, so until they’re taken seriously (e.g being considered as equals to male drivers on a performance level) at the highest level we can’t make the case that they have equal access and therefore should be judged truly equally. It’s a slippery slope for sure, but I see some of this as a means to a greater end. I’m ok with Wolff not being the very best female driver, but to me it mostly matters what she has done with her opportunity to be a part of F1.
PS it’s Maria de Villota, not Vilotta.
I think you present an interesting take on this whole story Will. Often times the media gets so wrapped up in attracting new viewers with a story like Susie’s that it does not realize the negative repercussions of what it is doing. I agree that making Susie’s race career out to be anything more than average just furthers the disparity between genders. What makes her career special is not that she was a spectacular driver, but rather that she was a spectacular person. Even if she never participated in a grand prix Susie Wolff is an excellent role model for young girls, and in the next chapter of her life will do more for woman in racing that starting a grand prix ever could have.
I only disagree with one small part of your entire post.
Danica.
She is nothing more than Carmen Jorda with a lot of seat time. In IndyCar she was always with a winning team. And didn’t, except for once in Japan, when Helio thought the race was a lap longer. And at the Indy she led, she illegally got repair work done in he pits under a yellow (that she caused) but wasn’t black flagged due to ‘promotional consideration.’
Gimme Katherine Legge, Simona, Susie, Tatiana, or almost any other female driver. But you can keep Danica.
For the reasons listed above I would have loved to see just one ‘female only’ race. Danica would have been proven to be a back marker there, too.
Unfortunately Danica has hurt the cause more than Susie has helped, at least in America.