More women in F1? "More opportunities have to be created"

Susie Wolff, wife of Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, has no problems with the high standards for drivers to make it to Formula 1, but she does think that more opportunities need to arise for women to get to the needed skill level.

Sauber do have Tatiana Calderon on the books as their test driver, but the Colombian doesn't have a single point on her super licence, meaning that there is a really long way to go for her if she ever wants to end up in F1.

"It's normal to have obstacles like this," Susie Wolff explains to F1only.

"The Formula 1 is the highest class in motorsports so it's logical that you have to be the best to be able to participate."

So it's not the bar that's too high for women, it's just all about a lack of opportunity for women to get to the needed level and to get those super licence points.

"If we want more variation in F1, we'll have to create more opportunities for women," the founder of Dare To Be Different explains.

Dare to Be Different is an initiative that wants to give women those opportunities in motorsports, starting in lower classes. On the first weekend of the new Formula E season, for example, seven women will be taking part in the first testing session of the sport.

"It's a chance for them to show what they can do and hopefully a step in the right direction."

Even though she tries to get women into motorsports, Wolff isn't a big fan of the newly-announced W Series, the open-car racing class for women.

"It gives women the chance to compete but I'm not convinced by the long-term of the class. What kind of opportunities will the winner of the series get?"