Wolff impressed at a test in Silverstone last July, and will be given the
chance to drive in the first practice sessions in Silverstone and
Hockenheim, at the British and German Grands Prix respectively. The former
German touring car driver will also drive at an in-season test with
Williams.
Wolff, the team’s development driver, said she sees the move as part of her “natural
progression”, but stopped short of saying a fully fledged race seat was
within her grasp.
“It’s an incredible opportunity they have given me and it’s one I am
going to grab with both hands,” she said.
“Each step of the way, I proved myself, did a good job, gave the team
what they needed in terms of feedback and then led to more opportunity
within the team.”
Wolff believes her performance in last summer’s test helped shake up the idea
that she was simply a “blonde girl walking around the paddock”.
“Yes, [it helped] massively,” she said. “There was definitely
a stereotype of ‘blonde girl walking around the paddock dreaming of being a
Formula One driver’, and there was a lot of people in the paddock who
thought it was just a marketing ploy from Williams.”
Women have enjoyed next to no success in Formula One since the last female
driver to enter the world championship in 1992. Italian Giovanna Amati
failed to qualify for three races in the Brabham, and the last woman to
enter a race was her compatriot Lella Lombardi in 1976.
Pat Symonds, the well-respected chief technical officer of Williams, who was
head of engineering at Renault in their championship-winning years, said
Wolff has established herself as a “valued member of our driver line-up”.
Symonds added: “She has demonstrated a natural talent for developing a
car and providing strong feedback, and these sort of characteristics will be
key this season as the teams seek to quickly understand and refine the
radically overhauled 2014 cars.”
De Silvestro, who joined Sauber as an “affiliated driver”,
explicitly said her aim was to be on the grid in 2015, and the midfield team
said they had signed her to try and make this possible, even if it was with
another team. But Wolff was much more coy about her chances of gaining a
race seat.
The Scot said it was “impossible to say” whether it would happen,
and that it was about “grabbing the opportunities and always proving
yourself”.