Williams development driver Susie Wolff is the world's fastest woman.
Williams development driver Susie Wolff is the world's fastest woman.
Hopes for more female Formula 1 drivers, writes Jacqui Madelin
'Not since 1976 has a woman raced in Formula One," says the voice-over introducing a documentary on Scottish racing driver Susie Wolff.
To screen on BBC Knowledge tomorrow at 8.30pm, the programme, Driven: The Fastest Woman in the World, follows Wolff for a year.
Filmmaker David Stoddart is Wolff's brother and he acknowledges that relationship could have complicated the process as he filmed her through several races in the German DTM touring car series.
Then the Formula One test came up, a stroke of luck for Stoddart that became the focal point of the doco, and drew the BBC on board.
The siblings grew up with motorsport and both raced karts. Wolff was quickly behind 2008 F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, and on the podium with him in Formula Renault.
Stoddart says success as a professional racer is not just about driving but the ability to absolutely focus on that one goal.
"I'm too much of a daydreamer," he says, "and she had that absolutely single-mindedness to pursue a career racing, and her lifestyle choices reflect that.
"When she made that decision when she was about 13 it was like that was it, she was going to do nothing else."
DTM was Wolff's big break - in 2006 she passed former F1 driver Jean Alesi in her first race. "She drives equally so she gets treated equally," says racing legend Ralf Schumacher. But it's not that simple.
Wolff talks about the frustration of driving a pink car.
Williams development driver Susie Wolff will be taking part in practice for this years British and German Grand Prix. The first Woman to drive a F1 race since 1992.
"She understands that she has to play that role slightly as well, motorsport is a business," says Stoddart, "there are some obstacles that are going to be harder for a woman to overcome but also sometimes it provides opportunities in the marketing, the noticeability of a woman in a male-dominated sport [which] work in her favour as well."
The documentary addresses Wolff's challenges as a female race driver in terms of spouse and family, and strength. G forces in Formula 1 introduce a physical challenge this relatively slight woman's single-minded focus and rigorous training overcomes.
"I don't think that for Susie or any other woman in motorsport that should be something that stops them achieving top results, they just have to understand that's an area they have to work at."
Stoddart is convinced Wolff won't stand out for long.
"It's just a case of more women choosing it as a sport, and when you have the same amount of women as men competing in motorsport you'll see more and more women up there. I think it's changing already, I see more women getting involved in motorsport from an early age and it's going to keep building from there," he says.
"People talk about the difference between men and women in motorsport, I just think it's numbers, that's it."
Meanwhile, he says F1 is a very tough, exclusive club to get into.
"I know she's got the single mindedness to achieve that." If she does, will Stoddart make another documentary?
