Susie Wolff Speaker Biography
Susie Wolff is much more than just a great race car driver; She is a brilliant role model for women making headway in a profession dominated by men.
Susie virtually inherited her passion for motorsport. Even as a child, she accompanied her parents – who run a motorcycle shop – to different race tracks. From the early age of 8, she started to race karts at the club level. Later, she successfully participated in karting championships in Scotland and England. At age 14, she snagged the top positions at both the European and international levels. Attending a Formula 3 race in 1996, she decided to follow her dream of becoming a full-fledged racing driver – all the way to Formula 1.
Her debut came in 2001, when she started with Formula Renault. In 2003, she was selected as the BRDC Rising Star and qualified as the only woman for the final round of the coveted McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award. The following year, she made the leap into the British F3 International Series.
After testing in the World Series by Renault, she received a call from Mercedes-Benz and got invited to a DTM test. A week later, she signed a factory driver contract with Mercedes Benz.
In 2006, Susie had her debut in DTM and finished her first race within the top 10. As a firmly established racing driver she was part of one of the most popular touring car championships in the world. With solid performances and tough duels, even in difficult conditions, she earned her colleagues’ and competitors’ respect. 2010 became her most successful season within DTM: She ended her fifth season ahead of her brand colleagues Ralf Schumacher and David Coulthard.
In 2012, she was appointed development driver for the Williams F1 Team. As such she’s one of a only a handful of women who made it all the way up to Formula 1.She was the first to get behind the wheel of the FW35 at Idiada (Spain) for aerodynamic testing in February 2013. Getting the FIA Super Licence in 2014, Susie Wolff was allowed to finally really be part of Formula 1. In November 2014 Williams announced that Susie Wolff will be stepping up to the position of Official Test Driver for Williams Martini Racing for the 2015 Formula One season. In 2014, Suzie became the first female driver to drive in a Grand Prix weekend in two decades.
Susie has enjoyed public speaking since she was young, entering competitions during her high school years, and now enjoys speaking at events covering a number of topics.
Susie Wolff continues her work as an FIA Women in Motorsport Ambassador as well as her work as a representative of the Wings for Life Foundation that has set an ultimate goal to make spinal cord injury curable.
My Story
Motorsport is not just a man’s world – achieving my dream of driving in Formula 1, from my start as an 8-year-old in karts.
Diversity
We are not defined by our gender but by our passion and character.
Motivational
Dream big and always set goals. We all have a gut feeling inside leading us towards happiness and fulfillment.
March 23, 2023
Susie came in first place in the hearts of our employees after she delivered her inspirational story with all of us. Employees and executives have come up to me and each one of them was impressed and deeply inspired by Susie's story and her ability to connect with the audience in a personal way. She has an amazing ability to turn an audience of 475 people into feeling like we were having a conversation in a cafe. I highly recommend Susie for anyone looking for a keynote speaker.
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