“I’m the first to admit I’m very lucky with the husband I have,” she says. “For sure that is a big part of me being in F1 but it is not everything. It wouldn’t be enough to get me into F1 if the performance wasn’t there.
“There was never a plan that I was going to do more in this team than one test in an F1 car. If that test had ended in the gravel or I had been five seconds off the pace, I wouldn’t be sitting here now.
“It’s not enough any more just to be talented, put your helmet on, go out on the track and do well. But it’s also not enough to have big bucks behind you and expect to buy yourself into a team.
“It’s about putting a package around you. Yes, you bring a sponsor with. Yes, you’re fast. Yes, the sponsors in the team love you already and want you. The market you’re representing is important for them. And all those things are enough to put you in a cockpit.
“If it was enough just being a female and being a marketing ploy, why the hell am I not on that grid? I’m not. And I’m nowhere near getting on there yet.”
Wolff’s goal is “to do a Formula 1 race – I’m not even saying a season, because I’m realistic. I know how tough it is to get myself into a race seat.”
When the average age of the grid is 24, and people are already wondering how much longer even the great Alonso can go on as he approaches his 33rd birthday, it’s clear time is not on Wolff’s side.