Susie Wolff promoted to official test driver at Williams

Filed under: Motorsports, Hirings/Firings/Layoffs



It's been a long time since a woman has competed in Formula One - over two decades, in fact - but that could stand to change in the near future if Susie Wolff continues making headway into grand prix racing. And in her latest advancement, she's been named by Williams Martini Racing as the team's official test driver for next season.

The 31-year-old Scottish driver drove a Mercedes in DTM for seven straight seasons, achieving two seventh-place finishes in 2010 as her best result. In 2012, however, she signed on as a development driver with Williams, becoming the first female to drive on a grand prix weekend when she participated in the free practice sessions at Silverstone and Hockenheim.

For next season, though, Susie steps up to become the team's third driver - a place occupied this season by Brazilian driver Felipe Nasr - which will give her more testing opportunities and put her in line for a race seat should Felipe Massa or Valtteri Bottas be unable to compete. The team also announced Unilever as a new sponsor, having poached it and its Rexona deodorant brand, from Lotus.

Susie, most intriguingly, is married to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. She signed on as test driver at Williams when her husband was part owner and a key executive at that team, but when Toto was hired by Mercedes, Susie stayed at Williams - which continues under Mercedes power for next season. The team just completed its best season in over a decade, finishing third in the constructors standings on the back of nine podiums.Continue reading Susie Wolff promoted to official test driver at Williams

Susie Wolff promoted to official test driver at Williams originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 03 Dec 2014 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



Permalink | Email this | Comments