Susie Wolff has made a vow after the F1 Academy was launched in a bid to create an 'affordable route' for women up the motorsport ladder.
Wolff rose through the motorsport ranks from karting and made history in 2014 by becoming the first woman involved in F1 race weekend as a test driver for Williams. The MBE was approached by Formula 1 chairman Stefano Domenicali and said the opportunity to be managing director of the new F1 Academy race series was “too good an opportunity." She told BBC Sport : "In the end it was something I had to do and really wanted to do."
The Academy aims to support women drivers as they make the expensive progression from karting into single-seater cars. Five teams have signed up to take part in the new F1 Academy series, which will slot below Formula 3 in the pecking order on the path to F1.
A total of 15 drivers will be involved in the 21-race season in its maiden season. At least one of those events will take place at an F1 Grand Prix weekend. Driver budgets for the series have been capped at £133k – the same figure F1 will be contributing per car.
"That jump from karting to single-seaters, if you don't have the financial means to do it from your environment, is a huge jump, and I have been through that and it was incredibly tough," Wolff added.
Wolff, who is the wife of Mercedes principal Toto, rose through Formula 3 into the TM German Touring Car Championship before being given a chance in F1 with Williams in 2012. She hopes the new Academy will provide women 'a platform to try and progress' further up the motorsport ladder.
"F1 Academy becomes a focal point for what girls are aiming for," Wolff added.
"And with where I see the possibilities of the championship, it will give them a certain platform to try and progress further up the ladder, because it will give them visibility, it will give them support in every area, not just on track, to allow them to have the confidence to keep going up the ladder.
"We will make sure the winner is supported to go on to success. It won't be that they just win and that is job done."
However, after a career spent in the motorsport industry Wolff is aware that it won't be an overnight fix to get women drivers into F1.
She added: "We have to manage expectations because when you when you talk about getting a woman into F1, I know how tough it is to get to F1, to be competitive in F1. It is going to take a long time, of that I have no doubt, and I am well aware of the challenges ahead.
"This is not tokenism, and it's not expecting to open doors for those who are there but not quite good enough. I am well aware we need to increase the talent pool for the best to rise up and only then will we be able to open the door to F1."
