Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and his wife Susie Wolff are considered the power couple of Formula 1. The two got married in 2011 and, ever since, have been a happy set of family with their kids.
Susie has been a prominent member of the motorsport fraternity, so much so that she was formerly a test driver at Williams. In 2015, she was even inches away from being the first female F1 driver to start at a Grand Prix.
Nevertheless, she did multiple free practice appearances for them, and according to Toto, she was only a few tenths of a second away from Felipe Massa. However, the Grove-based team decided to remain with the Brazilian. Even after that, she remained at Williams in the same role but decided to retire from motorsport at the end of that season.
A few years later, she became the CEO of the Formula E team Venturi and took them to championship glory. But she decided to part ways with them last year and has been on a sabbatical since then.
Flying is not just for men.
Driving is not just for men.
Ambition is not just for men.For #DayOfTheGirl, @Susie_Wolff and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador @GhazalMia share how they shatter glass ceilings for women everywhere. pic.twitter.com/B4CMNpRph4
— UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) October 11, 2022
Toto Wolff Wife: How did the couple meet?
The first meeting the two had was in 2006. At that time, Susie was a huge name in junior racing, as she was doing well in DTM and Formula Renault. And women being a minority in motorsport helped to boost her popularity.
On the other hand, Toto was back then also a race driver and participated in the Austrian rally, and that year he finished as a runner-up in the championship. That year he also won in Dubai 24-hour. While both were in motorsport, the couple’s fate collided on a track and, since then, were pretty close.
In 2011, they decided to marry each other, and since then never have been apart. When Toto joined Williams in 2012 as the executive director, Susie joined the F1 team as a test driver.
Toto Wolff and Susie Wolff’s children
In five years of marriage, the duo have had only one child, Jack Wolff, who is often seen on the paddock wearing a Mercedes t-shirt. Apart from Jack, Toto has two other children— Benedict and Rosa Wolff- from his first wife, Stephanie.
Not much is known about his first marriage, as Stephanie reportedly likes to have a discreet life. Though Wolff only once has spoken about his previous spouse, he mentioned that he still shares cordial relations with her, and Susie is the key person who has helped Stephenie be a part of their household, as he claims, together the three take care of their kids.
“I am in the very lucky situation that we are a true ‘patchwork family’. Susie and my former wife Stephanie are the centre of pulling that all together. Both put the well-being of the kids above their own. I’ve been together with Susie now for eight years, and my kids have always been a very important part of that relationship,” he revealed in Beyond the Grid.
Toto also revealed that he and his wife Susie includes Stephanie in their Christmas and a few holidays together. The divorce must have been tough, but they all grew up from that.
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Gaining popularity with DTS
In 2022, Susie gained popularity after she appeared in Netflix’s docu-series Drive To Survive in season 4, which extensively covered the 2021 F1 season. That season was particularly controversial for his husband’s team as their driver Lewis Hamilton was controversially denied the championship.
She even shot at the FIA by saying, “rules are rules,” an attack on the then race director Michael Masi, who was accused of changing rules at the last minute to benefit that year’s winner Max Verstappen.
susie wolff is THAT woman pic.twitter.com/iabudDwskX
— ★ (@dearlews) March 1, 2023
She sat for several episodes where she gave her expert insight into several key moments from the season. That stint suddenly boosted her popularity in the Formula 1 world among the newer fans.
Return to Formula 1
With Williams removing Jost Capito from his role after the end of the last season, the Grove-based team was looking for a suitable replacement. Susie, who just came from a strong stint in Formula E, was lined up to get that role.
However, she once again missed nailing the job at Williams, as James Vowles, a former Mercedes engineer, filled the spot. But now, Susie has returned to the sport in a very different role.
The Scot has been announced as the new managing director at F1’s Women Driving academy. She has lately pledged to increase gender diversity in the sport, and this designation is a follow-up to that.
The next chapter begins as I join @f1academy as Managing Director.
This is an opportunity to promote genuine change in our industry by creating the best possible structure to find and nurture female talent on their journey to the elite levels of motorsport, on and off track. pic.twitter.com/7BQCz5Uo0L
— Susie Wolff (@Susie_Wolff) March 1, 2023
