What many people don't realise is the first F1 test I was offered by Frank Williams and the team was a one-off. It was never planned that I would become part of the team or it would lead to more.
— Susie Wolff
In Formula E, because it has that structure of being quite cost-controlled and partly standardised, it means a small team or big manufacturer, if you get it right you have a chance for success which is great.
I was always a very competitive little kid. I did swimming very competitively, downhill skiing very competitively. Everything was competition.
It's not a gender thing. You can pick anyone off the street and it depends on his or her own character how they can drive a car.
My progression into F1 came to represent so much more than a racing driver simply trying to reach the pinnacle of the sport. It was also the hope that finally there may again be a female on the starting grid.
As a sports person, you are always aware that at some point your career is coming to an end and you have to do something else. I always knew it had to end one day, and I was very determined to make sure I wasn't going to be known as an ex-racing driver.
I think we all, as drivers, come to the table with a package. It's either your speed and raw talent, your sponsorship money, your nationality. For me, one of my unique selling points is my gender, without a doubt.
I think from a driving perspective, the great thing of being in a simulator a lot is that you can constantly work on areas. Of course it's not like being in a real car, and you always have to remember that, but it means there are all these things that you can work on.
Sir Stirling Moss, who said that women don't have the mental aptitude to take part in F1, is from a different generation. There's no reason why women can't rise to the top in F1. If you're not good enough you don't survive.
When I decided to stop racing, I really wanted to give something back to the sport and for me it was always going to be about inspiring young girls and women.
You need to get female talent which is good enough to compete at the right level because no team is going to compromise on on-track performance just to tick a gender box.
I've never played on my gender.
I loved the speed of go-karting, but didn't have a lot of natural talent. The first time I went out on the track I found it scary; other karts were flying past and bumping into me.
People have different ideas on how to increase female racing driver participation. My belief is that men and women should compete together.
I like being feminine, it's my way of not conforming to the stereotype that if you're a racing driver you don't care how you look.
I was always an adrenaline junkie, always competitive, always a speed freak.
Every racing driver in the world dreams of making it to F1, there's only 22 spots on the grid.
It's not a man's world any more.
I think there's nobody closer in the world than your own husband. And we are very passionate about what we do, very competitive.
I was asked to do some studies to see if I was different. And I do have more male testosterone than the average woman does. Whether that makes me more aggressive, I don't know.
I dared to be different, I want to inspire others to do the same.
There was very little opportunity to carry on in Formula 1. My goal was to get on to the starting grid and that didn't look achievable.
I am someone that relies on my gut feeling.
I have to perform every time I'm in the car, and show that I'm capable, and I need a little bit of timing and luck to come together.
I'm proud of my driver test. So many people were waiting for me to test and fail, so they could say that women would never be able to race in F1. I always view my time in F1 as before and after the test. Beforehand, I could sense everybody asking, ‘What's she doing in the F1 paddock? Is she good enough?' After my test, that attitude changed.
As F1 is a male-dominated environment, you have to prove yourself. And first of all that means being given the chance to prove yourself.
If you are a successful woman, that can inspire the next generation.
We need to get more women into sport, whether that's young girls in karting or off the track. The more we get into sport, the more you are going to get rising to the top of the sport.
I never thought of myself as a role model, but I've had so many messages from girls, women, mothers saying I was an inspiration.
I hated reading - I was not a 'good kid' - but I was determined when I put my mind to something.
If I was to turn around now and say that motorsport should be segregated, then my whole career would have been for nothing. Every result that I have achieved on my own would stand for nothing, if I couldn't compete against male drivers.
When you're eight, you're not thinking about the future. But karting was always the big passion, the big love.
If there's 10,000 little boys racing around the world and there's only 10 girls, best case 100, the numbers are stacked massively against us. If you don't increase the talent pool of young girls, you're not going to get the best drivers at the top.
I never let my gender define me but in my whole driving career I only ever did one interview not being asked about being a female.
I'm a realistic person, but I'm also a person who believes a lot in goals.
When I did my first media interviews after I was announced as a team principal, the first question was, what qualifies you for the job? The second question was, did your husband place you in the role? And the third was, how are you going to do your job as a mother? I was speechless to think that we were not making any progress.
Men are much more egotistical. But that means women can accept criticism and improve easier than men can.
We have two issues - not enough young girls starting in karting at a young age and no clear role model. Sometimes you just have to see it to believe it.
My big break came at 22 years old when I joined the Mercedes Benz touring championship team.
The decision to retire was very easy. The timing had come to the point where it was very clear that my time was up.
You have to be ready to pounce when a rare chance comes.
Motorsport has always been my passion, and speaking about being a female in a man's world is part of my responsibility.
These race cars are dangerous and you don't put someone in one unless you are 100 per cent certain that they can do what they need to do and be safe in the car.
We are going to have to go through generations of change before we see the impact of females taking a role in the workplace and Formula 1 is no different.
I'm not doing what I do to prove what a woman is capable of. I'm not doing what I do to make Formula E more diverse. I'm doing what I do to be successful. If that's inspirational, then great.
I never really thought about being a woman in a man's world. Then at the World Championships in 2000 I finished 15th. I was called on to the podium just for being a woman, and I realised things were going to be different.
Ultimately, a women's only championship is not going to get more females into motorsport as a whole.
All the Formula 1 teams that Dare To Be Different has come into contact with - Ferrari, McLaren, Force India, Williams - they're all very proactive in supporting us. They allow us to contact their female staff members and they're very conscious of wanting to help increase their percentage of women in the industry.
Racing's in my blood. My mum met my dad when she went to buy her first motorbike in his shop.
There's no prize for being the best woman.
