The last decade has seen serious discussions about female participation in Formula 1. With the W Series and now F1 Academy, it seems the day is not far off when we will see the sport’s first full-time female racing driver. F1 Academy CEO Susie Wolff echoes this sentiment.
Wolff senses that the teams are ready to onboard female drivers onto their teams but are waiting to see the future of performance. Moreover, she also believes that it would be a great attraction for sponsors across the globe.
However, the F1 Academy boss was quick to dispel the idea of having female drivers as only a marketing gimmick. “It’s not just a marketing idea: ‘Let’s put a girl in the car to get people talking about us’. It has to be something credible and real,” she told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Today, if an F1 team were certain they had a female talent to bet on, they would have no doubts about doing so,” she added, suggesting that it would only be a matter of time before a talent like Abbi Pulling or Doriane Pin is picked up by F1.
When I joined F1 Academy just under five months ago, I met with each Formula 1 Team Principal in Bahrain ahead of the Grand Prix to share our vision.
I made it clear that this wasn’t just a women’s initiative being run by a woman, but about advancing our sport as a whole. [1/3] pic.twitter.com/xkCIOZGqLe
— Susie Wolff (@Susie_Wolff) July 26, 2023
Wolff herself would know the struggles women face in elite motorsport. She was dubbed as one of the fastest drivers at one point in her career and even got to drive F1 machinery for Williams during FP1 of the British GP in 2014.
Sadly, she could not make her dream of racing at the pinnacle of motorsport, which has long been dominated by men, come true.
How close is F1 to its first female driver?
Back in 2023, Wolff was asked about her prediction for female representation in F1. She had said it would take at least 10 years, but that was the cut-off as far as she was concerned.
However, she regretted saying that. This was because the W Series and F1 Academy have given a platform for young female drivers who have shown just how good they can be.
“Sometimes I regret having said it, because it makes people think that I don’t have faith in the girls who are competing now, and in reality, there are exceptional drivers who are growing with us,” she explained.
Looking at how the sport has warmed up to women, there is a real possibility that what Wolff said will become true. Jamie Chadwick is already making moves in America with the Indy NXT series while Pulling, who dominated the F1 Academy title, will race in the GB4 single-seater series next season.
