Wolff: Next female F1 driver won’t happen soon

Susie Wolff thinks it will take some time before a female driver enters the Formula One world championship, as the Scott is set to bow out of motor racing at the end of the season.

Having joined Williams in 2012, Wolff became the first woman to take part in a grand prix weekend in over 20 years when she drove in the opening free practice at Silverstone in 2014. Three more FP1 outings followed for the 32-year-old but an actual race seat never materialised.

Despite being promoted to a test role last winter, Wolff admits this reality sunk in when her squad had rushed to sign Adrian Sutil as their official reserve driver following Valtteri Bottas’ lower back injury at Melbourne.

“My progression into Formula One came to represent so much more than a racing driver simply trying to reach the pinnacle of the sport,” wrote Wolff in her latest Huffington Post blog entry.

“It was also the hope that finally there may again be a female on the starting grid. I rode the wave, was energized by all the support and fought hard. There were those who wanted it to happen. Those who didn't.

“I got oh so close. I wanted and fought very hard to make it onto that starting grid but the events at the start of this year and the current environment in F1 the way it is, it isn't going to happen.

“I can only tell you, I gave it my all. Do I think F1 is ready for a competitive female racing driver that can perform at the highest level? Yes. Do I think it is achievable as a woman? Most definitely. Do I think it will happen soon? Sadly no. We have two issues, not enough young girls starting in karting at a young age and no clear role model. Sometimes you just have to see it to believe it.”

Italy’s Giovanna Amati is the last female driver to have competed in F1, though she did not qualify for the three races she entered with Brabham in 1992.

Fellow countryman Lella Lombardi remains the only woman to have ever scored points in the sport when she finished sixth in the accident-shortened 1975 Spanish Grand Prix held at Montjuïc circuit in Barcelona.

Along with Wolff, the only other female racer currently involved in F1 is Lotus development driver Carmen Jorda.

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