Toto Wolff believes that his wife, Susie Wolff, deserved to drive for Williams in F1. She never got her chance because of Felipe Massa driving for the British team and Williams not daring to choose her.

Susie Wolff was the team's test driver in 2014, when the Brazilian drove his twelfth full F1 season at Williams. Susie Wolff was allowed to drive a free practice session at the British Grand Prix in 2014 for the first time since 1992 as a woman. In this practice, she finished 15th respectively.

Last chance

"She was within a few tenths of Felipe Massa", her husband, who is now the team boss of Mercedes, told the Financial Times. But a chance in F1 never came for Susie. 

“The final chance was denied”, Wolff says now in retrospect. He adds that Williams didn't dare to go for it. It has now been 46 years since a woman, Lella Lombardi, took part in an F1 race. Currently, Jamie Chadwick, who is doing very well in the W Series, has also failed to progress despite her links to teams in Formula One.

'Combination won't happen within 10 years'

Toto Wolff says it is "not realistic" to expect a combination of men and women driving in F1 within 10 years. "I’m sure there are girls out there that can make it on merit", he said.