Susie Wolff has spoken about her transition into the role of managing director of F1 Academy.
The all-female racing series, which began in 2023, is a Formula 4-level single-seater racing championship with the aim of increasing female representation in motorsport.
“Well, we had sold a Formula E team, [Gildo Pallanca Pastor] and myself, and he’s a visionary and he was looking to move into the space industry,” Wolff explained during an appearance on the Bloomberg Originals The Deal podcast.
“He wanted to build an electric rover to go on Mars. And I was really intrigued by the technology, really thought it would be great to get out of motorsport and push myself out of my comfort zone. So I was quite far along on that journey.
“And I got a call from Stefano [Domenicali] and Greg Maffei. They were at the Mexican Grand Prix. And they said, ‘Listen, we are thinking of starting an all-female racing series.’ I said, ‘Fantastic. It would be great and anything I can help with in the background…’
“And they said, ‘No, no, you’re gonna run this for us.'”
Discussing the move, Wolff added, “And there was a transition period because I definitely didn’t see myself doing that. But after a lot of discussions at home, realised it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The sport that I knew so well, having been a driver, I knew all the challenges of being in a racing seat and how tough it could be.
“And I knew the business side of it and very much felt, well, if I didn’t take this opportunity and didn’t hand the baton into the next generation and try to make it better, I would probably always regret it.”
Susie Wolff, Managing Director, F1 Academy, and Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor, Alpine F1, watch the podium ceremony
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
Confirming that she still had reservations ahead of the move, Wolff continued, “My scepticism was: did we need an all-female championship to help? The sport isn’t segregated, is it right only to segregate one level?
“And then the championship had already been set up to race separate from F1 and racing on empty racetracks with no spectators was going to always be difficult to make it a commercial asset for Liberty and ultimately Formula 1.
“So I knew there had to be a completely different business model and there had been a series that had tried and failed before. Which had contacted me several times and I never understood their business model, but I knew it wasn’t easy to make something like F1 Academy into a viable commercial model.”
Despite her reservations, Wolff has made the F1 Academy a great success, giving female racers a platform to propel their careers forward.
The next F1 Academy race is set for the Canadian Grand Prix weekend in Montreal.
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