‘Sad it’s always Lewis’ - Susie Wolff’s frustration at lack of F1 driver support

The seven-time world champion visited the F1 Academy paddock to speak to its drivers during the United States Grand Prix weekend, and was spotted watching Saturday’s race from the pit wall. 

Hamilton was also in parc ferme to congratulate Marta Garcia on becoming the series’ first champion following her victory at the Circuit of the Americas. 

But F1 Academy managing director Wolff, who is married to Mercedes boss Toto, said she would like to see other drivers stepping up to support the championship. 

“It’s a little bit sad that it’s always Lewis,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1. 

“He’s always the one offering support, coming over and really, because I think in the end, he knows what it’s like to be the only one and so he has an affinity.

“But there’s going to be the 10 F1 teams with their own livery, so I expect a lot more interaction from the F1 teams generally next season because they have the platforms, they have the voices and I think that’s something which will be hugely helpful because this is not a short-term project. 

“If we want to see success, it’s got to be long term.”

From next year, all 10 F1 teams will have one chosen driver in the F1 Academy, with each team also featuring their livery on a car. 

This weekend’s US Grand Prix is the only grand prix hosting an F1 Academy race in 2023 but the series will support F1 at several races next season. 

“The great thing for me when I signed all 10 teams, which was no mean feat I have to say it took a long time, it was a huge workload off my desk because they all have junior academies, they all know about nurturing talent and what you need to be successful in this sport and they all had to go out and find their drivers,” Wolff added. 

“You can only stay two years in F1 Academy so they know ‘okay, I need to find the next driver’ and that has already started a wave of these teams looking for young talent, nurturing young talent so that you have a better chance of success.

“Like we all know, these F1 teams are hugely competitive, they want to find the best female driver and that’s already created such a positive knock-on effect, even down to the world of karting.”