Susie Wolff driving ban upheld by British court

Former Formula 1 test and development driver Susie Wolff has failed in her appeal against a driving ban for speeding.

"I'm not a girl racer, I save my speed for the race track," Wolff told the court. "It is a hugely embarrassing situation to find myself in

"I'm a professional driver and to be caught speeding and to have my licence taken away for speeding, it would have an effect on my reputation."

Wolff was originally banned for six months by magistrates in November. She had been recorded doing 35mph in a 30mph zone in June 2015 in the village of East Hanney, Oxfordshire.

At the time the incident occurred, Wolff already had nine points on her license as a result of two previous speeding offences.

The ban had been suspended until the appeal was heard on Friday. Wolff told Oxford Crown Court that losing her licence would affect her charity work.

Wolff was a test driver for Williams F1 between 2012 until 2015. She took part in free practice in the 2014 British Grand Prix - the first woman to be involved in a GP weekend for 22 years.

The 34-year-old decided to leave the sport and start a family with her husband, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. She awarded an MBE at the end of 2016.

Toto and Susie Wolff expecting first child together

As well as working as a commentator for Channel 4's Formula 1 coverage, Wolff is a brand ambassador for Mercedes around the world.

She has also been undertaking charity work encouraging girls to take part in motor sport. She told the court that a driving ban would impact both roles.

However the Recorder, Sarah Campbell dismissed the appeal and fined Wolff £500 together with £345 in costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

"It may well be an embarrassment as far as her position is concerned. But it may be a salutary lesson to those aware of the facts," said Campbell.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.