Most drivers don't know what it's like to be different

QUEEN OF FORMULA ONE SUSIE WOLFF TELLS HANNAH STEPHENSON ABOUT FIGHTING SEXISM IN THE WORKPLACE

- HANNAH STEPHENSON

FORMER racing driver Susie Wolff was just three when her father bought her and her brother two mini three-wheelers with 50cc engines for Christmas.

Before you knew it, she had found her need for speed.

"I'm thankful that I found that passion so early. I love speed, even on a ski slope or out on the water, I love going fast."

Today, she is a force to be reckoned with in the multi-billion pound world of motorsport. She and her husband, Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff, have become known as a "power couple" in this glamorous industry, although she insists they are grounded.

"We have our feet on the ground. We know that this Formula One world can be crazy because of the media spotlight that's on it, but we don't take ourselves too seriously."

Susie, 42, retired from racing in 2015, but is now nurturing female talent as managing director of F1 Academy - as featured in the popular Netflix documentary series F1: The Academy - and is warm, chatty and thoughtful as she sits down to discuss her memoir, Driven.

The Oban-born racer has paid the price physically for her sport, the injuries, the accidents, the bruised ribs and her ongoing neck issues, caused by gruelling training in which her head was tethered to a network of weights, a rehearsal for the G-forces to come. These days, she still has treatment to stop her neck stiffening up.

It's been a bumpy, often painful, ride but she found success in a male-dominated sport, was hired as a development driver by Williams F1, and also drove F1 vehicles on track. She remains the last woman to take part in an F1 practice session in 2015.

Yet Susie recalls: "I only ever did one interview where I wasn't asked about my gender."