Susie Wolff finally completed a full practice session for Williams at Hockenheim today, but it wasn’t without an early scare that threatened to sideline her for the second race in a row.
During practice for the British Grand Prix, Wolff became the first woman in 22 years to take part in an official grand prix weekend session, but her bow lasted just 20 minutes after an engine failure on her car.
She had one final shot during practice today at Hockenheim, and lightning looked set to strike twice when her FW36 car began to slow as she exited the pits. The car was stuck in first gear, forcing her to crawl back at a pedestrian pace.
“That was a tough moment because it was immediately clear when I left the pit lane that there was a problem with the drive, and then I lost it completely at the hairpin,” she explained to reporters. “I stayed quite calm because at the end of the day, you’ve just got to get through it. These things are out of your control.
“In that moment, out on track, I said ‘no no no no no, it’s not going to finish like this’. I had such a good feeling for today. I think when you have that optimism and that belief that this is not the end, you just somehow know it’s going to work, and maybe I would be saying a different story now if I had stopped out on track but the truth is we got back to the pits and that was the most important thing.”
Wolff did manage to get her ailing car back to the pits, and Williams soon fixed the problem, allowing her to go out and complete a full run. She finished 15th on the timesheets, just two-tenths of a second shy of full-time Williams driver Felipe Massa. Wolff was delighted with the performance and the work undertaken.
“Yes, I’m happy with my performance today,” she said. “My main target result was always going to be Felipe, and the team set out a programme. It was important to do a good job today because obviously with the change in the setup, taking the FRIC out, it was important to then get as much information for the team as possible.
“So I knew exactly what I had to do and I knew it was my only chance then to show what I was capable of out there, but I had a really good feeling because I was well prepared for it. I know the track very well from my DTM times, and I was just looking forward to driving the car because it’s so much fun to be out there driving.”
As for a next run? Wolff is unsure, and could not comment on when Williams would next give her a chance to test the car when asked about it by NBC Sports.
“That’s the million dollar question, the next one…” she pondered. “That’s the difficulty because as soon as you come into the pit lane and finish the session, the next question is ‘okay, when do you get back in the car?'”
“That’s one of the toughest things in Formula 1: getting more opportunities. The team are happy with my performance, so that was an important step in the right direction, and now I have to see what else is possible.
“It’ll be difficult this season to get any more time in the car, that’s clear, but that’s next on my to do list.”
Wolff certainly held her own today during practice, and it will be interesting to see just how her fledgling F1 career develops from here. Nevertheless, she should be proud of her achievements over the past three weeks and of her result during practice in Germany today.
