Talks at GoogleSusie Wolff | Driven | Talks at Google
Talks at Google
Introducing Susie Wolff and Her Memoir 0:06
Susie Wolff is introduced as a pioneer in motorsport, the first woman in twenty-two years to take part in a Formula One race weekend, and later a team principal and CEO of the Venturi Formula E team. She now serves as managing director of the F1 Academy. She joins the discussion to talk about her memoir, Driven, written with her brother, which traces her path from racing in Scotland to leading in Formula One management.
What Driving an F1 Car Feels Like 3:02
Wolff describes the physical toll of driving a Formula One car, especially the strain on the neck, since the seat is molded to the driver but the neck is not fixed. She explains that power steering makes the wheel light to turn, so the real difficulty comes from cornering forces, which can hit four and a half times body weight under braking. She recalls a test session in Barcelona where her head was thrown forward at the first braking zone, and describes taking advice from a teammate to add a neck pad, painted to match the car, and to lean her head into a long right-hand bend rather than fight it.
Growing Up in a Try-Everything Family 6:00
Wolff credits her parents, including her father's motorbike shop, for raising her and her older brother without treating son and daughter differently, which let her ride motorbikes and love Barbie at the same time. She admits she went through a period in her career worrying that being too feminine would stop people taking her seriously, and that F1 has since shifted toward welcoming more women, citing a sold-out Hello Kitty collaboration at the Las Vegas Grand Prix as an example of blending femininity with racing.
Racing a Pink Car and Learning Confidence 10:04
She recalls hating the pink car she drove for Mercedes-Benz in German touring cars because it felt like a cliche, but realized it brought more young girls to the track, teaching her that representation matters. She concluded that performance is the real source of power, since being genuinely good at your job eventually makes gender irrelevant, and notes motorsport is one of the few sports, alongside sailing and equestrian sports, where men and women compete without segregation.
The Swimming Story and Learning Grit 12:01
Wolff shares a childhood memory of being left off her swim squad while her brother and best friend were picked, and resolving privately that the coach had made a mistake. She trained harder, beat squad swimmers at the next gala, and was eventually added to the team, a story she says shows the tenacity that carried her through many failures later in her career. She also recounts a school talk where a young boy asked how many races she'd won, and she answered that she'd lost far more than she'd won, while telling a young girl that grit, determination and resilience matter more than any physical trait.
Mentorship, Role Models, and F1 Academy 19:33
She describes meeting Lotta, a successful Swedish kart racer about fifteen years older, who helped her find gear that actually fit her body and became an early role model, reinforcing the idea that seeing someone else succeed makes success feel possible. Wolff explains F1 Academy, founded by Formula One itself after noticing that 42 percent of its global fan base is now female, with the 18 to 24 female demographic growing fastest. The academy fully funds over 80 percent of its young female drivers to remove financial barriers, races alongside F1 events for visibility, and has all eleven F1 teams attaching their names and liveries to it, something she calls unprecedented.
Building Support for F1 Academy 22:30
Wolff recounts the rocky start of F1 Academy, arriving at a nearly deserted Circuit Paul Ricard where team bosses said sponsorship wasn't materializing and drivers said they couldn't cover their share of costs. She called Formula One CEO Stefano Domenicali, gathered industry opinions, and pushed to have F1 Academy race alongside F1 itself with all eleven teams and commercial assets brought in-house. She describes persuading teams one by one, starting with Ferrari's Fred Vasseur, then McLaren's Zak Brown, then Red Bull, until she reached a critical mass of seven teams, followed by tense negotiations with lawyers before the final three teams signed on.
Building F1 Academy from scratch 28:02
Susie Wolff describes the tenacity needed to launch F1 Academy, piecing together a race calendar alongside Formula One. Saudi Arabia was, surprisingly, the first promoter to sign up, despite women only having gained the right to drive there seven years earlier. She recalls the first eighteen months as brutally hard, often feeling like a two-person operation refusing to take no for an answer, before momentum built and sponsors like Charlotte Tilbury, Tommy Hilfiger, American Express and Puma came on board.
Navigating uncertainty and compromise with F1 31:32
Wolff explains how she handled tough questions from F1 teams and lawyers by admitting she did not yet have answers, then working to find solutions collaboratively. She gives the example of team garages needing shared logo space with no walls between them, a problem solved through negotiation. Formula One itself had to take a leap of faith, relaxing its usually tightly protected intellectual property rules to let F1 Academy use its branding differently, while Wolff offered teams the flexibility to walk away after one season if the partnership did not work for their brand.
Partnership with Toto and balancing motherhood 34:00
Wolff credits her husband Toto for never wrapping her in cotton wool, recalling how before her first F1 practice session for Williams he simply told her, don't be shit, rather than offering a soft pep talk. She describes how after becoming a mother she felt an urgent need to return to work, and how Toto encouraged her to become a Formula E team principal and even to take equity in the team. She admits there is no perfect formula for balancing a demanding career and family, relying instead on gut instinct, saying no often, and constant communication, acknowledging days of exhaustion, including one at the Monaco Grand Prix when Toto told her she looked exhausted.
Advice on career pivots and self-belief 39:31
Reflecting on leaving racing and feeling lost before finding her next chapter, Wolff advises trusting your own instinct rather than following others' definitions of success, and staying conscious of whether you are driving your own journey or just a passenger in it. She closes by describing the letter to her younger self from her book, urging belief in yourself even when you feel like an impostor, recalling the skepticism she faced taking over a Formula E team with no prior leadership experience, and encouraging people to get comfortable in uncomfortable situations, since that is where the biggest personal and professional growth happens.
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