Susie Wolff to bid adieu to racing

Williams F1 Team has announced that their development driver Susie Wolff will retire from competitive motorsport at the end of the 2015 season. The Scottish female driver who had joined the team in April 2012 will hang the helmet after being promoted as the Offical Test Driver in 2015.

Susie was one of the first women to drive at a Grand Prix in more than two decades when she drove at the FP1 of the 2014 British Grand Prix. Her earlier racing career started with karting in 1996 when she was named the “British Woman Kart Racing Driver of the Year”.

She raced in karts until 2000 when she won the title of Top Female Kart Driver in the World . From 2001 she entered the Formula Renault Winter Series an later switched to the Formula Renault UK. She drove three seasons Formula Renault UK and finished 5^th overall in the last one before moving to British Formula 3 championship in 2005.

2006 saw her make the move to the prestigious German touring car series DTM and raced seven seasons there before the debut in Formula 1 with Williams as a development driver in 2012.  She married the then investor and Executive Director in Williams Toto Wolff (now Team Principal, Mercedes F1 team) in 2011.

Speaking about her retirement, Wolff said: “I’d like to thank Williams for the opportunity they have given me over the last few years which has allowed me to achieve my dream of driving a Formula 1 car. It has been great to work with everyone at the team, both at Grove and trackside, and I’d like to thank everyone who has been part of my journey at Williams. I am now closing this chapter but looking forward to new challenges in the future”.

Susie’s last appearance was at the FP1 of the British Grand Prix this year, and she has played an extensive role in developing the teams’ car through simulator work and straight-line aerodynamic testing.

Over her tenure in Formula 1 she has become the inspiration to all female racers in various verticals of racing. The last time she will be seen in action will be at the Race Of Champions 2015, which will be held at the London Olympics Stadium from November 20-21, after which she will retire from all forms of motorsport.