Susie Wolff (Managing Director of F1 Academy)
6/24/20262 hr 10 min
Susie Wolff (Driven, F1 Academy, and Williams Formula One) is a former professional racing driver, and managing director of F1 Academy. Susie joins Armchair Expert to discuss her motorsport-obsessed childhood in Scotland, her grandfather's career as a daredevil motocross rider, and discovering karting as the only girl on the track. Susie and Dax talk about racing against Lewis Hamilton as a kid, the physical toll of driving an F1 car, and building F1 Academy from a financially unworkable idea into a fully-backed series for female drivers. Susie explains why performance is the purest validation, how femininity stopped feeling like weakness, and why writing a letter to her younger self was the most emotional part of writing her memoir.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDax Shepard· Host0:00
Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert, Experts on Expert. I'm Dan Shepherd, I'm joined by Lily Padman.
Monica Padman· Host0:05
Hello.
Dax Shepard· Host0:05
We got a fox in today, but her name is Wolff.
Monica Padman· Host0:09
Oh, good shot.
Dax Shepard· Host0:10
[laughs] Yeah.
Monica Padman· Host0:11
Good shot.
Dax Shepard· Host0:12
Susie Wolff.
Monica Padman· Host0:13
Oh.
Dax Shepard· Host0:14
Oh, we love her.
Monica Padman· Host0:15
She's so incredible.
Dax Shepard· Host0:17
I love her.
Monica Padman· Host0:18
We love her.
Dax Shepard· Host0:18
She's so cool.
Monica Padman· Host0:18
She's so incredible. Um, coolest person- On Earth ... yeah.
Dax Shepard· Host0:23
Yeah.
Monica Padman· Host0:24
I felt really lame. I said it.
Dax Shepard· Host0:26
Yeah, well.
Monica Padman· Host0:27
Yeah, it's hard.
Dax Shepard· Host0:27
I do, too.
Monica Padman· Host0:28
It's hard not to feel lame.
Dax Shepard· Host0:29
She makes me feel lame.
Monica Padman· Host0:30
But she is also so sweet and nice and kind and inclusive.
Dax Shepard· Host0:34
But her gift is to make you feel lame.
Monica Padman· Host0:36
Yeah.
Dax Shepard· Host0:36
Yeah, yeah, that's her gift. Um, Susie is a former professional racing driver and current managing director of F1 Academy. She's also one of, I think, either the only one or maybe one of two women to ever drive an F1 car on a track on a race weekend.
Monica Padman· Host0:49
Incredible.
Dax Shepard· Host0:50
And if people remember the Toto Wolff interview, that is her husband, and he said she's a half second faster no matter what he does. When he cheats, he uses different, different tires, puts weight in her, her car. [laughs] He can't get anywhere close to her. She has a new memoir out.
Monica Padman· Host1:05
Mm-hmm.
Dax Shepard· Host1:05
Called Driven. Very appropriate title. Please check that out. Susie Wolff is a blessing on planet Earth. Enjoy. This podcast is brought to you by Squarespace. I feel like spring always does this thing where you realize you've been thinking about something for a long time and suddenly it feels like, okay, maybe I actually do something with it.
Monica Padman· Host1:25
Totally. It's less pressure, but more, like, readiness.
Dax Shepard· Host1:28
Yeah, like you've been sitting