'Ten more years before there is a female driver on the F1 grid'

Susie Wolff, the managing director of the new all-female Formula One series, the F1 Academy, thinks it could take up to 10 years before the championship's goals are realised and a woman is back on the F1 grid.

"I believe it’s eight to 10 years away from happening," she told the Guardian. "That’s not just because we are lacking the female talent pool and lacking those who progress through the sport but also because of the realisation that getting to F1 is incredibly tough," Wolff said.

Wolff supports academy

No woman has competed in a Grand Prix since Lella Lombardi started in Austria in 1976. Lombardi and Maria Teresa de Filippis are the only two women who have ever driven in F1 since the championship in 1950.

The sport's owners are trying to bring more diversity into the sport by creating and supporting the F1 Academy. "But I think this foundation and everything we can achieve with the F1 Academy in the medium to long term can be the real driver for change in the sport," Wolff added on the academy.