Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2: All Right, Alex, we're here in Miami. It's a huge weekend,
Speaker 2: F one Weekend. Our guest today is Susie Wolf. She's
Speaker 2: the managing director of F one Academy. Their goal to
Speaker 2: get a woman onto the main grid of Formula one.
Speaker 3: The fact that she started racing at the age of eight,
Speaker 3: I'm really interested in how that's impacted her leadership skills
Speaker 3: and her vision.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I really want to get into how she combines
Speaker 2: all these different roles of being effectively the commissioner, a
Speaker 2: role model, a coach, a mentor, and someone who has
Speaker 2: massive ambition for this fast growing sport.
Speaker 4: This is going to be great. All right, let's get
Speaker 4: to it. Susie Wolf, Welcome to the deal. We're so
Speaker 4: excited to have you.
Speaker 1: Thank you for having me.
Speaker 4: Excited to be here, huge time here in Miami.
Speaker 2: We have so much to talk to you about, but
Speaker 2: I want to start with your core mission right now,
Speaker 2: which is getting a woman back onto the Formula one grid.
Speaker 2: It's been fifty years since it happened. You're one of
Speaker 2: the people who's probably been the closest in that intervening period.
Speaker 4: What's it going to take well.
Speaker 1: It's a huge challenge, first and foremost because the sport
Speaker 1: isn't segregated and there's only twenty spots on that Formula
Speaker 1: one grid, so regardless of gender, it's incredibly tough to
Speaker 1: make it. But one of our biggest problems is the
Speaker 1: fact that the sport is still seen as so male dominated,
Speaker 1: so we don't have enough young girls competing for the
Speaker 1: best to rise to the top. So we need to
Speaker 1: change the perceptions. We need to create role models and
Speaker 1: we need to get more young girls entering the sport
Speaker 1: in the hope that one is good enough to make
Speaker 1: it to the very pinnacle.
Speaker 4: And enter F one Academy, which is your TIS.
Speaker 1: Well, if one academy re exists, it's a junior level,
Speaker 1: so it's Formula four, which is in the pyramid from
Speaker 1: LA four, Formula three, form the two, then Formula one,
Speaker 1: and we exist as a segregated championship. It's only for
Speaker 1: female drivers, and it's basically we want to be the
Speaker 1: rocket fuel for progression. We've got some of the best
Speaker 1: junior teams in racing and we want to find and
Speaker 1: nurture young female talents so that they have a better
Speaker 1: chance of making it a Formula one in the future.
Speaker 3: So you come from a racing family. You started racing
Speaker 3: atage of eight. Apologies because my voice is terrible. We
Speaker 3: had a big game last night. But I always think
Speaker 3: about being an athlete all time. You started racing a
Speaker 3: the age of eight, How has that shaped your leadership
Speaker 3: skills in the mission that Jason.
Speaker 1: Just described massively, I think when I look back at
Speaker 1: the age of eight, I was that very competitive, ambitious
Speaker 1: little girl. I loved speed, but of course, you only
Speaker 1: do what you enjoy in the moment. You're not thinking
Speaker 1: of a career. And I wasn't the stereotypical girl racer,
Speaker 1: you know. I loved pink, I had my barbies during sessions.
Speaker 1: But I just found this huge passion for racing and
Speaker 1: that competitive spirit. And I was taken to watch a
Speaker 1: Formula three race at the age of thirteen, and that's
Speaker 1: really when everything changed in my head. I suddenly realized, oh,
Speaker 1: I could be a racing driver. I could make it
Speaker 1: to Formula one. And that's when it stopped being a
Speaker 1: hobby and I became quite dedicated. And I think that
Speaker 1: dedication came with a lot of sacrifice, and sometimes my
Speaker 1: parents felt maybe I was sacrificing a lot of those
Speaker 1: teenage years where you're supposed to, you know, party, meet boys.
Speaker 1: But I never felt that way. I always just loved
Speaker 1: what I was doing, and for sure the tenacity throughout
Speaker 1: my racing career has been a huge help now when
Speaker 1: I've moved into the business side of.
Speaker 3: The sport as SOUSI as a father of two teenage daughters.
Speaker 3: Thinking of you as an eight year old behind a wheel,
Speaker 3: I mean, is it ever scary? Because I get scared
Speaker 3: to go on the turnpike.
Speaker 1: Watching it scary, But when you're out there and you
Speaker 1: know what it's like when you're competing, you're not thinking
Speaker 1: about any fear or any worries of what could happen,
Speaker 1: and the sport is dangerous. I was always aware that
Speaker 1: there was risks involved, but it never stopped me pushing
Speaker 1: myself to the limit. But I do think now as
Speaker 1: a parent I have a little son, it's harder watching
Speaker 1: than it is competing.
Speaker 2: I want to go back to your parents for a second,
Speaker 2: because you know you come by this. It seems this
Speaker 2: competitive spirit and this drive pretty naturally.
Speaker 4: So what did you take.
Speaker 2: From them that pun intended sort of fueled you in
Speaker 2: your competitive pursuits.
Speaker 1: Looking back now as you get older, they shape so
Speaker 1: much of me because my mom met my dad when
Speaker 1: she went to buy her her first motorbike from his shop.
Speaker 1: She raced, but she still had her own business, and
Speaker 1: it was a dress shop business. You know. She was
Speaker 1: very elegant, but in a second could switch into her
Speaker 1: race gear and be able to track with my dad,
Speaker 1: And that for sure gave me a very good inspiration
Speaker 1: of what it could be you can be both and
Speaker 1: also their relationship. My dad had so much respect for
Speaker 1: my mom. They both had their own businesses. He always said,
Speaker 1: whatever he can do, mom can do too, and they
Speaker 1: were very equal and they pushed each other and they
Speaker 1: supported each other. And growing up seeing that, it's definitely
Speaker 1: what I've managed to achieve in my own marriage that
Speaker 1: I have a husband who also pushes me to be
Speaker 1: my best self and doesn't wrap me in court and
Speaker 1: rule at all, but pushes me. And I have that
Speaker 1: support background. But for sure, so lucky to have the
Speaker 1: childhood that I had.
Speaker 4: And for those who don't know, your husband is total wealth.
Speaker 2: Who's the CEO and team principal of Mercedes, the Mercedes team.
Speaker 4: Okay, he is.
Speaker 2: All of those things, and so that that notion just
Speaker 2: you know, sticking with your childhood for a second, this
Speaker 2: was very natural business or it felt you felt at
Speaker 2: home in it.
Speaker 1: Well, my dad always raised two wheels did the Isle
Speaker 1: of Man t t which is probably the scariest, most
Speaker 1: dangerous motor motor fight race in the world, and he
Speaker 1: always said two wheels was too dangerous for his little girl,
Speaker 1: so he at least put me through the line. That's
Speaker 1: he threw the line, and I got a little go
Speaker 1: kart for my eighth birthday.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 2: And so take us, you know, briefly through your racing career,
Speaker 2: because we want to talk a lot about you as
Speaker 2: a business person, but you know, as with Alex, so
Speaker 2: much of your approach is you were an athlete. You
Speaker 2: were on the grid and we see this come through
Speaker 2: very clearly as you're advising and mentoring these young women
Speaker 2: are who are in the academy. Walk us through your
Speaker 2: your racing career.
Speaker 1: Well, I started at eight and wasn't a clear talent initially,
Speaker 1: but had a lot of tenacity. So I kept getting
Speaker 1: better and got to quite a high level in the
Speaker 1: national championships, then the British Championships, qualified for the Europeans
Speaker 1: and by the age of eighteen was ranked fifteenth in
Speaker 1: the world. And I was often the only girl, but
Speaker 1: never saw myself the only girl. In my sport, you
Speaker 1: wear helmets, you don't actually see your competitors. But when
Speaker 1: I was eighteen, I was given an award as top Female,
Speaker 1: and I think that was the first indication that I
Speaker 1: was seen as different, because I remember being embarrassed to
Speaker 1: get the award because I couldn't remember even seeing any
Speaker 1: other girls at on track. But that gave me the
Speaker 1: springboard that could result to move into single seaters. So
Speaker 1: I started in Formula I know and had quite some success,
Speaker 1: was racing against Lewis Hamilton, had some podiums, got a
Speaker 1: lot of attention because I was the first ever female
Speaker 1: to make the Young Driver of the Year award, which
Speaker 1: is a very prestigious award in Europe, and didn't win it,
Speaker 1: got nominated twice, lost it twice, but got noticed by
Speaker 1: Mercedes Benz and I had tried to make it into
Speaker 1: Formula three, that category I'd seen as a young girl.
Speaker 1: But one of the difficulties in my sport is the
Speaker 1: financial barrier. You need money to go racing. You need
Speaker 1: to raise sponsorship, and I mean, I'm giving my age
Speaker 1: away here. But I had a great sponsor, British Telecom
Speaker 1: because they were launching something called broadband, but they were
Speaker 1: great support of mine. But when I was just starting
Speaker 1: in form of three, I then broke my ankle and
Speaker 1: that was one of the toughest episodes of my career
Speaker 1: because everything really slipped away. I lost my seat, I
Speaker 1: lost my sponsor, but I got that one phone call
Speaker 1: from Mercedes Benz come and test for us. And as
Speaker 1: much as people say, well there must have been so
Speaker 1: much riding on that test, I had nothing to lose.
Speaker 1: I had nothing, so I gave it all I had
Speaker 1: and they offered me then a one year contract and
Speaker 1: I ended up staying for seven years, and then managed
Speaker 1: to make my way into Formula one as a test
Speaker 1: driver and stayed there until I realized that I wasn't
Speaker 1: going to make it into a race seat. And I think,
Speaker 1: you know, like as an athlete, you know your days
Speaker 1: will be up at some point, and I very much
Speaker 1: wanted to be in control of that decision and not
Speaker 1: wait for the phone to stop bringing or a contract
Speaker 1: to be produced. So I then decided in in twenty
Speaker 1: sixteen to call it a day.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And they often say that athletes die twice real death
Speaker 3: and when you retire, and I found that to be true.
Speaker 3: But so as going back to your racing days, if
Speaker 3: I look at a baseball player or a young girl's
Speaker 3: playing softball, I truly understand what makes tangibly, what makes
Speaker 3: that player good or great or not so good. I'm
Speaker 3: a novice, so excuse this simple question. What makes a
Speaker 3: good driver.
Speaker 1: It's definitely a combination. I think the earlier earlier you start,
Speaker 1: you build a synapsis of what it is to be
Speaker 1: faster on a racetrack. But for sure, if you look
Speaker 1: at someone like Lewis, who's possibly the greatest of all time,
Speaker 1: incredible hand eye coordination, incredible balance, very peripheral vision that
Speaker 1: you understand what's going on, you can read a race
Speaker 1: on track. And then the ability we see when a
Speaker 1: racing car is dancing because in the end, you are
Speaker 1: trying to push the car to the absolute limit, and
Speaker 1: the the limit is where you need to be to
Speaker 1: put the best lap time together. And it's the drivers
Speaker 1: that are able to find that very sweet spot of
Speaker 1: being on the absolute limit of what the car is
Speaker 1: capable of and getting two or three tenths close to
Speaker 1: the front is pretty manageable. Getting to be the quickest
Speaker 1: and pole position at the very limit, that's what takes
Speaker 1: something extra special.
Speaker 4: And so talk about that moment of transition.
Speaker 2: You know, when you make the call to get into
Speaker 2: the business side, you make it proactively.
Speaker 4: How do you map that out?
Speaker 2: What's your playbook for saying Okay, I want to be
Speaker 2: this or I want to pursue it in this way,
Speaker 2: Like what's your thinking there?
Speaker 1: Well, the decision was really easy. The aftermath was even
Speaker 1: thinking back to it now, I fell into a black hole.
Speaker 1: I initially didn't think I wanted to move into the
Speaker 1: business side of the sport because by that time Toto
Speaker 1: was very successful, winning world championships with Mercedes and Lewis.
Speaker 1: I didn't want to work against him for the take
Speaker 1: up our marriage, but decided I didn't want to work
Speaker 1: for him also for the sake of our marriage. So
Speaker 1: I was searching for the next challenge, and I had
Speaker 1: been approached by a gentleman i'd met once before who
Speaker 1: wanted me to drive for him shield a pastor. And
Speaker 1: when he called regarding formerly e this new all electric championship.
Speaker 1: I thought he was calling me to drive for his
Speaker 1: team again. He said no, no, no, I want you to
Speaker 1: run the team. And I thought, run a team. No,
Speaker 1: I don't see myself doing that. But suddenly some jigsaw
Speaker 1: pieces fell into place. Diesel Gate happened, the electrification of
Speaker 1: the automotive industry sped up. But then suddenly it's all
Speaker 1: everybody was talking about. And I obviously heard from Total
Speaker 1: that Mercedes were very much looking towards electrification in the future.
Speaker 1: And formerly E then gained huge momentum all electric racing cars,
Speaker 1: which none of us have had anticipated in the industry,
Speaker 1: racing in city centers, and I went to visit Shieldo
Speaker 1: at a race in Brooklyn. I could see the statue
Speaker 1: of Liberty E literally racing cars, and I thought, okay,
Speaker 1: maybe this has something. His team was racing at the
Speaker 1: back and he had it a medical issue, which meant
Speaker 1: it had been mismanaged for a couple of years, and
Speaker 1: he said, listen, bring it back to its former glory.
Speaker 1: The team was losing a lot of money, so I
Speaker 1: decided to copy and paste my husband's deal and said, okay,
Speaker 1: don't pay me a salary, give me equity, give me
Speaker 1: thirty percent of the team, I'll turn it around, and
Speaker 1: we were very bound. If he wanted to exit, I
Speaker 1: would go with him if I wanted to. There was
Speaker 1: a lot of tag along and drag alongs, but he
Speaker 1: was a great partner, and I was the mother of
Speaker 1: a young baby. Said listen, I can't move to Monaco,
Speaker 1: where the team was based, and he said, I'm not
Speaker 1: going to judge you. How you do it. You do it,
Speaker 1: and you call me if you ever need my backup,
Speaker 1: and I'll be honest. There were a few moments where
Speaker 1: I thought, what have I got myself into? Because the
Speaker 1: team was losing a lot of money, was not performing.
Speaker 1: But those were tough days. But my goodness, did I
Speaker 1: that I learn a lot.
Speaker 3: So, following up on what Jason said it was losing money,
Speaker 3: You're going, oh, did I make the right decision? I
Speaker 3: think we've all been there at some point. My question
Speaker 3: for you is what were some of the two or
Speaker 3: three things you did to start turning the business around
Speaker 3: from losing money to making money?
Speaker 1: First and foremost, I spent a lot of time on
Speaker 1: LinkedIn trying to poach the best people from other teams
Speaker 1: in motorsport. If you can bring someone in who's won
Speaker 1: a race. They bring so much knowledge and know how.
Speaker 1: We then won our first race the following season, and
Speaker 1: it was a very slow turnaround, but suddenly the energy shifted.
Speaker 1: We had great people on board who knew what it
Speaker 1: was to win, They knew what it took to win,
Speaker 1: and they brought that culture. We definitely became more trustworthy
Speaker 1: of each other. I set realistic targets, not immediately expecting
Speaker 1: to be racing at the front, and slowly but surely
Speaker 1: we built this energy we want a race, and suddenly
Speaker 1: we thought we can do this. And then we got
Speaker 1: a great new partner on board, a new title partner.
Speaker 1: Then more commercial partners followed, and within three years we
Speaker 1: were fighting for the world championship and we were profitable.
Speaker 4: M hm.
Speaker 2: So I want to fast forward a little bit because
Speaker 2: I want to get into EF one Academy, and your
Speaker 2: decision to do that. It's a seismic moment, truly in
Speaker 2: this rapid growth story that's happening around Formula one. So
Speaker 2: tell us about getting that call. I assume it's from
Speaker 2: Stefano Dominicali, the CEO of F one Academy, who you
Speaker 2: obviously know well, has been in the business for a
Speaker 2: long time.
Speaker 4: What is that conversation, like, how does it start?
Speaker 1: Well, we had sold a formerly team shielded myself and
Speaker 1: he was looking He's a visionary and he was looking
Speaker 1: to move into the space industry. He wanted to build
Speaker 1: an electric rover to go on Mars, and I was
Speaker 1: really intrigued by the technology. I really thought it would
Speaker 1: be great to get out of more to sport and
Speaker 1: push myself out on my comfort zone. So I was
Speaker 1: quite far along on that journey.
Speaker 4: And you're literally headed to space.
Speaker 1: I was headed to space and I got a call
Speaker 1: from Stefano and Greg mcfay. They were at the Mexican Grand.
Speaker 4: Prix, gregmfay who was then the CEO.
Speaker 1: Of Liberty, and they said, listen, we're thinking of starting
Speaker 1: an all female racing series. I said, fantastic, it would
Speaker 1: be great and anything I can help with in the background,
Speaker 1: and they said, no, no, you're going to run this
Speaker 1: for us. And there was a transition period because I
Speaker 1: definitely didn't see myself doing that, but after a lot
Speaker 1: of discussions at home, realized it was a once in
Speaker 1: a lifetime opportunity. The sport that I knew so well,
Speaker 1: having been a driver, I knew all the challenges on
Speaker 1: being in a racing seat and how tough it could be,
Speaker 1: and I knew the business side of it and very
Speaker 1: much felt well, if I didn't take this opportunity and
Speaker 1: didn't hand the baton to the next generation and try
Speaker 1: to make it better, I would probably always regret it.
Speaker 4: What were your reservations? What was your skepticism?
Speaker 1: My skepticism was, did we need an all female championship
Speaker 1: to help? You know, the sport isn't segregated? Is it
Speaker 1: right only to segregate one level? And then the championship
Speaker 1: had already been set up to race on separate from
Speaker 1: F one, and racing on an empty race tracks with
Speaker 1: no spectators was going to always be difficult to make
Speaker 1: it a commercial asset for Liberty and ultimately formerly one,
Speaker 1: So I knew there had to be a completely different
Speaker 1: business model. And there had been a series that had
Speaker 1: tried and failed before which had contacted me several times,
Speaker 1: and I never understood their business model, but I knew
Speaker 1: it wasn't easy to make something like IF One Academy
Speaker 1: into a viable commercial model.
Speaker 3: So those were the kind of challenges. What turned you?
Speaker 1: What turned me? Was there enthusiasm. I went to New York,
Speaker 1: I met with some of the Liberty Board and realized
Speaker 1: they were going to put their money where their mouth was.
Speaker 1: And I had spent so long in motorsport talking about
Speaker 1: diversity panel after panel after panel, I kind of felt
Speaker 1: I'd said all that was to be said. But here
Speaker 1: was the owners of the pinnacle of the sport willing
Speaker 1: to put in a lot of investment to create a
Speaker 1: platform that would help female talent on and off track.
Speaker 1: And I realized this wasn't just a box taking exercise.
Speaker 1: It wasn't just a we better do this, because you know,
Speaker 1: we've got a huge female fan base. Now they've really
Speaker 1: meant it and they've followed through it. They've given full
Speaker 1: support every step of the way. And I don't ever
Speaker 1: regret having made the decision.
Speaker 3: So one quick follow up. You talked about it was
Speaker 3: losing money at the beginning. Who funded F one Academy
Speaker 3: and have you raised or will you raise capital?
Speaker 1: We haven't raised capital. I don't think there's any plans too.
Speaker 1: It's been fully funded by Formula One and now, of
Speaker 1: course we managed to get the ten Formula one teams
Speaker 1: on board who are stay colders of the sport alongside
Speaker 1: Formula one, and now we are very close to creating
Speaker 1: a platform which is financially sustainable over the long term.
Speaker 1: And I do believe women's sport it's attracting a lot
Speaker 1: of investment, but I do think it has to come
Speaker 1: to the stage where it's also a business model. And
Speaker 1: thankfully because of the huge interests that we're seeing, we're
Speaker 1: close to being there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, talk to us about getting those ten on board,
Speaker 2: because I would imagine that's got to be one of
Speaker 2: the trickiest things. You have a lot of knowledge about
Speaker 2: all of those teams. What was the process like of
Speaker 2: corraling cajoling them into really supporting.
Speaker 1: It was interesting because when I first arrived, I said
Speaker 1: to Stephan, No, I'm going to need a couple of
Speaker 1: months to go away and really figure out what I
Speaker 1: think is going to work and dive deeper into can
Speaker 1: research and data. So I spoke to a lot of
Speaker 1: governing bodies. I spoke to all my contacts from the
Speaker 1: world of karting. Why we're not seeing more young girls?
Speaker 1: What do we need to do to form to just
Speaker 1: get lots of different opinions and form my own opinion
Speaker 1: as to what was the right thing to do. And
Speaker 1: it was one discussion with Fred Wasser, who's a team
Speaker 1: principal at Ferrari and a good friend, and he had
Speaker 1: a young female driver in his driving in his Ferrari
Speaker 1: academy and he said, listen, you know we can put
Speaker 1: her in it F one academy and we could paint
Speaker 1: the car red. Suddenly I thought, yeah, you could, and
Speaker 1: SOA could all of the other teams.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: He said, well I don't know about that, but you
Speaker 1: know I can try. I can speak. And I said, Fred,
Speaker 1: that's that's given me a really good idea. We're going
Speaker 1: to get every team to take a car.
Speaker 4: So I got that. Sorry to interrupt you, but that
Speaker 4: wasn't the original plan.
Speaker 1: No, the originally that the series had been set up
Speaker 1: racing separate from Formula One and the budgets of the
Speaker 1: drivers were covered by the driver, the team, and one
Speaker 1: third by liberty. So I got home that evening I
Speaker 1: said to Toto, I'm going to get every team to
Speaker 1: take a livery I said, impossible. We will never get
Speaker 1: all ten teams A to agree and be to sign
Speaker 1: the same legal document. Said, yeah, you're right. It might
Speaker 1: be a challenge. But actually the support that I had
Speaker 1: when I had all of the individual meetings, they all
Speaker 1: very much had the same reply. You know, we've got
Speaker 1: one shot to get this right. If we're going to
Speaker 1: do this. I mean bearing in mind the first time
Speaker 1: in the history of the sport that the Formula One
Speaker 1: teams were giving their name and livery to something outside
Speaker 1: of the cars they build, and for an all female category,
Speaker 1: it was bold, but we managed to get the top
Speaker 1: three teams. So Zach was one of the first to
Speaker 1: come on board with McLaren, I had Ferrari, and then
Speaker 1: one by one I managed to get to the number
Speaker 1: six total. Of course, always said you need to get
Speaker 1: more than five and then I can come on board.
Speaker 1: Then I got Mercedes and I won't mention any names.
Speaker 1: Some were not that enthused, but I had more than
Speaker 1: half and I said to them, well, we're going to
Speaker 1: launch and you're either with us or you're not. And
Speaker 1: I think the way the world is didn't want to
Speaker 1: be seen to not be supporting. But now I have
Speaker 1: to say I have a great relationship with all ten
Speaker 1: teams and they've been fully, fully supportive.
Speaker 3: Who had the most reservation, who was the hardest to get.
Speaker 1: It would be unfair to name. Let's just say they
Speaker 1: took quite some convincing, but they're fully on board.
Speaker 2: Now, well, I mean, and I would imagine, Alex, you've
Speaker 2: seen this. I mean, it is and this does get
Speaker 2: to sort of the macro of women's sports right now,
Speaker 2: that when people see the proof, and the proof really
Speaker 2: is in the numbers, The proof is in the viewership,
Speaker 2: the proof is in the sponsorship dollars.
Speaker 4: I mean, what was the for.
Speaker 2: The unnamed who weren't you know, as enthusiastic. What convinced
Speaker 2: other than peer pressure? Was there something that you used
Speaker 2: a number or or an argument that convinced them.
Speaker 1: I think a big part was peer pressure. But when
Speaker 1: I went to meet with each and every team, I
Speaker 1: very much said, you know, don't view me as a
Speaker 1: woman running a woman's thing. This is for the greater
Speaker 1: good of our sport. And this can be something hugely
Speaker 1: impactful and powerful in a really positive way. Because, thanks
Speaker 1: to Netflix and Drive to Survive, forty two percent of
Speaker 1: the f on fan basis female. The fastest growing fan
Speaker 1: demographic the eighteen to twenty four year old female. So
Speaker 1: there is a huge audience and I think the teams
Speaker 1: realized that there was this massive shift and there was
Speaker 1: this younger female audience that was really getting into the sport,
Speaker 1: and it was about showing that the sport they loved
Speaker 1: wanted to create opportunity for women and wanted to show
Speaker 1: that the sport isn't any longer as male dominated as
Speaker 1: maybe it was once perceived to be. So I think
Speaker 1: that was part of the reason, but also I respected
Speaker 1: their reservations. It was bold, My vision was bold. It
Speaker 1: was going to take a lot to pull it off.
Speaker 1: It was a tough time to get it done, but
Speaker 1: we got it done. And then as soon as we
Speaker 1: announced it, it was time to try and get on the
Speaker 1: F one calendar. Stephani gave me huge support to meet
Speaker 1: with all the promoters. Again, not all of them were
Speaker 1: hugely enthusiastic, but somewhere, and I got half a calendar,
Speaker 1: and stephan Will helped me to get a few few
Speaker 1: more on to make a full calendar. And now that's
Speaker 1: not an issue anymore. So that initial maybe skepticism, I
Speaker 1: think is completely shifted because we're up, we're running, and
Speaker 1: people can see that it's having impact.
Speaker 3: Susan being involved with the WNBA and team ownership, with
Speaker 3: the links in Minnesota. Over the last several years, we've
Speaker 3: seen this incredible amount of increase in interest in dollars
Speaker 3: port into sponsorship and marketing, and then in the back end,
Speaker 3: the ri has been incredible because the viewerships have never
Speaker 3: been better. But in your position as a leader of
Speaker 3: the academy, how do you think you can capitalize on
Speaker 3: the influx of capital coming into women's sports.
Speaker 1: Well, we're lucky in that I never needed to look
Speaker 1: for investment. I never needed to go out and prove
Speaker 1: the business case because I had all the support I
Speaker 1: needed from Formula one and Liberty. But I do think
Speaker 1: to be successful in the long term, First and foremost,
Speaker 1: we need to create great racing. We need to create
Speaker 1: something that people want to watch because they shouldn't feel
Speaker 1: obliged to watch because it's the female category. We need
Speaker 1: to come to a race weekend and be a great addition.
Speaker 1: Promoters have to see the value of having f one Academy.
Speaker 1: And then on the other side, if we get that
Speaker 1: extra viewership, if we get those extra eyeballs, commercially, we
Speaker 1: have a very strong proposition. And the two are so
Speaker 1: closely interlinked, and it's really that vicious circle. You can't
Speaker 1: really have one without the other. But suddenly we manage
Speaker 1: to get a lot of the F one broadcasters also
Speaker 1: showing If One Academy now we have our own Netflix
Speaker 1: docu series. Suddenly we do have that reach. So for
Speaker 1: the commercial partners and for the teams, it's a real
Speaker 1: business case to go out to their partners and sponsors
Speaker 1: and say, Okay, well if One Academy makes sense. Not
Speaker 1: only are we doing something that's good for the sport
Speaker 1: in supporting female drivers, but it's actually a reternal investment
Speaker 1: for us. And I think the two had to go
Speaker 1: hand in hand, and it's been definitely lucky timing as well.
Speaker 1: The world changed, women's support had this huge moment, and
Speaker 1: Formula one had this huge surge in popularity, and I
Speaker 1: do think all three came together that it gave us
Speaker 1: a Deaf one Academy a good shot at success for sure.
Speaker 2: So susy when it comes to sponsorship, I mean one
Speaker 2: of the one of the ones that obviously jumps out
Speaker 2: when it comes to deef one Academy is Charlotte Tilbury,
Speaker 2: not a natural name that we would associate with Motorsports.
Speaker 2: Talk to us about how that deal comes about, because
Speaker 2: the car itself really jumps out, but even the association
Speaker 2: is notable.
Speaker 4: How does that happen?
Speaker 1: Well? Once it had the great idea of bringing in
Speaker 1: all the assets in house and owning the liveries and
Speaker 1: commercializing them centrally. I woke up in the first of
Speaker 1: January last year and realized, Okay, I've got six liveries
Speaker 1: I need to sell and the first races in kind
Speaker 1: of eight weeks. But there had been a friend of
Speaker 1: mine from a racing career who had been in touch.
Speaker 1: She knew Charlotte Telburn to listen. Charlotte would like to
Speaker 1: support a driver. So imusially picked up the phone and said, listen,
Speaker 1: don't support a driver. Become a partner of F one
Speaker 1: Academy And it was one of those phone calls. It
Speaker 1: was with their head of Partnerships where ten minutes in
Speaker 1: we just knew we were going to get a deal.
Speaker 1: We were so aligned. They wanted to move into women's sport.
Speaker 1: Their whole mantra is empowerment, see it, believe it, do it,
Speaker 1: and I very much wanted to bring in a female founded,
Speaker 1: female focused brand. I wanted to break down the stereotype
Speaker 1: that will to be taken seriously, as a racing driver,
Speaker 1: you had to be like a tomboy. No. If you
Speaker 1: want to turn up at the track in a face
Speaker 1: filled makeup, you can or with no makeup that doesn't
Speaker 1: reflect on your ability as a driver. And we were
Speaker 1: just so aligned from the get go. It was a
Speaker 1: challenging deal to piece together because Formula one was used
Speaker 1: to huge deals with oil company with logistics companies, and
Speaker 1: this had to be pieced together in a very different way.
Speaker 1: And when I called Stefan Owen and said it's a
Speaker 1: brand called Charlotte Tilbury, he was like, who can you
Speaker 1: ask your wife? And I could hear Sylvia and he's like, okay.
Speaker 1: He said, I trust you. If you think we're going
Speaker 1: to do this, then let's do it. And we got
Speaker 1: the deal done. And I said, okay, you have a
Speaker 1: livery to design, and he sent me through the livery
Speaker 1: with these hot lips plasted all over the race car
Speaker 1: with lipsticks hanging out. I thought, oh my god, this
Speaker 1: is going to create a lot of attention. Maybe not
Speaker 1: all of it positive, but I knew it had a
Speaker 1: real impact with my stepdaughter, she's studying in LA not
Speaker 1: really interested in motorsport. She called me and she said,
Speaker 1: you've just done a deal with Charlotte Tilbury. That is
Speaker 1: so cool. Yeah, And I thought, well, if we've reached
Speaker 1: a dorm over in LA, it means we've done something right.
Speaker 1: And it just blew up.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And so what does a deal like that do in
Speaker 2: terms of not just trying it tension, but maybe changing
Speaker 2: the conversation with other sponsors, or does it.
Speaker 1: The amount of brands who have spoken to have said, well,
Speaker 1: I want to do just what Charlotte Tilbury did. We
Speaker 1: call its copy and paste that deal because she came
Speaker 1: in and really disrupted, and we wanted someone to disrupt,
Speaker 1: to come at it differently, and our paddock club area
Speaker 1: we have a makeup station. We wanted to challenge what
Speaker 1: had always been the status co and racing. Let's do
Speaker 1: it differently. Let's not be ashamed of our femininity. We
Speaker 1: can still be here and be taken seriously as women
Speaker 1: and accelebrating and being women. So it was that partnership
Speaker 1: which really was the foundation for others coming on board.
Speaker 1: Tommy Hill figure was once for the first to call
Speaker 1: and say how can I support and also took a
Speaker 1: livery and then slowly but surely we got most of
Speaker 1: the cars sold, and now it's I'm in a great
Speaker 1: position where I don't have enough cars left anymore for
Speaker 1: the demand, But I keep my feet firm on the ground.
Speaker 1: You know, we've had a cute success in a short
Speaker 1: space of time, but we need to keep making sure
Speaker 1: that we're making the right decisions for the longer term,
Speaker 1: that we're still making sure that we're evolving in the
Speaker 1: right way for these young girls up and coming to
Speaker 1: see the opportunity and to really grab the opportunity.
Speaker 2: So, Susie, you brought up a really interesting point when
Speaker 2: you were talking about the Charlotte Tillbury deal and the
Speaker 2: makeup station in the paddock. And it's really cool, Alex
Speaker 2: when you go and see a race weekend that has
Speaker 2: f One Academy as part of it, because it is both.
Speaker 4: A part of the large the larger.
Speaker 2: Event obviously and then its own sort of separate space.
Speaker 2: But I would imagine that that's a careful balance that
Speaker 2: you have to strike right, you know, to appeal to
Speaker 2: the broader fan base but also bring in how do
Speaker 2: you do that?
Speaker 4: I mean, that must be something you're thinking about all
Speaker 4: the time.
Speaker 1: It's definitely a balancing act. Because we are a junior championship.
Speaker 1: We're very lucky to race alongside F one, which is
Speaker 1: so established with a huge fan base. But we don't
Speaker 1: want to be a little sister in the room. We're
Speaker 1: there to take our space, to own it, to disrupt,
Speaker 1: to be bold, but in a way where it's respecting
Speaker 1: the bigger picture. Just because we're women. Someone say, oh,
Speaker 1: it's not fair that the F one teams have the
Speaker 1: best paddock and you're off from the support paddock. I said, no,
Speaker 1: it absolutely is, because that's the pinnacle of the sport
Speaker 1: and that's Formula one, and we're not here to disrupt
Speaker 1: what is a great, great sport. We're here to be
Speaker 1: in addition, and we're here to build up young talent
Speaker 1: they can hopefully hopefully progress. But it's definitely a balancing
Speaker 1: act of being taken seriously and of owning it, but
Speaker 1: then also understanding of where we fit in the bigger ecosystem.
Speaker 3: Okay, so we are if you don't mind, we're going
Speaker 3: to role play a little bit. Okay. Jason, mister Kelly
Speaker 3: is a CEO and a Fortune one hundred company. He's
Speaker 3: very interested in giving you some dollars. Give me your
Speaker 3: thirty second pitch on what is the value proposition to
Speaker 3: Jason and his company partnering with you?
Speaker 1: You are really putting me on the spot here. I will,
Speaker 1: but we would love you to come on the journey
Speaker 1: with us because If One Academy is something that is young,
Speaker 1: it's only in its second season, but we've had huge
Speaker 1: impact in what is such a big, global, established sport,
Speaker 1: and we believe we can change the perceptions. We believe
Speaker 1: there's a great opportunity for your brand to appear on
Speaker 1: an F one grown Prex weekend and sit alongside huge
Speaker 1: names in the sport, but be seen as supporting something
Speaker 1: which is having huge positive impact in our sport to
Speaker 1: create change. We have great broadcasters, we have great audiences
Speaker 1: now watching if One Academy, and we would we would
Speaker 1: love to have you on board with us. Boom is
Speaker 1: that thirty seconds?
Speaker 4: That's good? I have follow ups. I'm getting there. I'm
Speaker 4: almost convinced.
Speaker 2: But tell me about your audience, Like, tell me how
Speaker 2: you know how your audience is similar to Formula one?
Speaker 2: Who are you bringing in? Who am I going to
Speaker 2: reach that I wouldn't otherwise reach.
Speaker 1: We're definitely reaching a younger audience. I mean, obviously with
Speaker 1: the demographic the Formula one is now hitting it. It's
Speaker 1: younger than it's ever been. But we see that we
Speaker 1: have nearly seventy percent of a female audience, so less
Speaker 1: than or let's say more females and Formula one, and
Speaker 1: we're definitely hitting an audience which isn't already in motorsport.
Speaker 1: It's an audience it's coming upon if on Academy is
Speaker 1: something different as something new and it's not just your
Speaker 1: let's say average motorsport fan, and that's quite exciting because
Speaker 1: if you're already in the sport and you have that viewership,
Speaker 1: but we are attracting something which is not already known
Speaker 1: to the sport.
Speaker 3: So I think we want to sign a five year deal.
Speaker 3: But five year okay, So how does it look today
Speaker 3: versus where you say there's a five years because we're
Speaker 3: in it for the long run with you, Well.
Speaker 1: That's great to hear. But we are definitely got huge
Speaker 1: ambitions for it to be bigger and better in the future.
Speaker 1: But I've always said we we can't run before we
Speaker 1: can walk. It's going to be a step by step,
Speaker 1: and I think one is the educational piece. We need
Speaker 1: more people to understand what ifon Academy is. I would
Speaker 1: love your daughters to say to you, oh, it's not
Speaker 1: F one just this weekend, or if one Academy it's
Speaker 1: coming to Miami, that there is this education, that we
Speaker 1: exist and that we are a great spectacle, the great
Speaker 1: sport to watch alongside Formula One. And we're not there yet,
Speaker 1: and we've still got a lot of work to do
Speaker 1: to build up that wider audience, to make sure that
Speaker 1: we are attracting the next generation audience, those young girls,
Speaker 1: the eight to twelve year olds. If they can see
Speaker 1: a female driver zipping up a Ferrari or a Red
Speaker 1: Bull or a Mercedes race suit, it will change her
Speaker 1: perceptions of what's possible. So we've definitely got to make
Speaker 1: sure that we continue to get that reach. And one
Speaker 1: of the big moments for us will be our Netflix
Speaker 1: Stalky series, because I do think that's could be a
Speaker 1: game changer for us.
Speaker 4: All Right, We're done role playing. That was fun. You
Speaker 4: deal with you know, A and J incorporated, the deal LLC. Netflix.
Speaker 2: I mean, you cannot talk to anyone about Formula one.
Speaker 2: You really can't talk to anyone about sports and media
Speaker 2: without talking about the Netflix effect and drive to survive
Speaker 2: in everything that it did for Formula One. So now
Speaker 2: here comes Off One Academy, your own Netflix series, but
Speaker 2: with a twist. You're in business with Reese Witherspoon and
Speaker 2: Hello Sunshine. Tell us how all of this comes about
Speaker 2: because it feels in retrospect obvious, but it's never that easy.
Speaker 1: I'm sure, no, it's never that easy. But it was
Speaker 1: a partnership that I felt was meant to be. I
Speaker 1: think Hello Sunshine and what Reese created with Hello Sunshine,
Speaker 1: trying to tell the women's stories in a way that
Speaker 1: had been done before. It fitted so well with the
Speaker 1: F one Academy and our story, and the timing was
Speaker 1: quite opportune for them to say, Okay. It was still
Speaker 1: a risk because when they came on board, we were
Speaker 1: racing on empty race tracks. There wasn't really the momentum
Speaker 1: that we have now. But they were very committed. They
Speaker 1: could see the potential and they very much wanted to
Speaker 1: do more in women's sports, So I would say it
Speaker 1: was a leap of faith from their side. Obviously, the
Speaker 1: way the series progressed was very favorable. Getting the team
Speaker 1: of on board racing with F one and then we
Speaker 1: had to find a streaming partner, and that it was
Speaker 1: always clear for me. I wanted it to be Netflix
Speaker 1: because I wanted to be in the F one paddock.
Speaker 1: I wanted to have IF the Team Principles as part
Speaker 1: of our story because they were the people I dealt
Speaker 1: with every week. And I also wanted to be able
Speaker 1: to see how much support F one was giving EF
Speaker 1: One Academy. And the negotiations started and we had more
Speaker 1: than one that was interested, and that led to us
Speaker 1: getting a deal quite quickly with Netflix, and then it
Speaker 1: was for me really a voyage of discovery. I very
Speaker 1: much wanted this to appeal to people that weren't in
Speaker 1: the motorsport bubble, and I had to sometimes take a
Speaker 1: step back because I don't think I'm the right person.
Speaker 1: I know too much about it, not the target audience.
Speaker 1: I'm not the target audience. But it was a really
Speaker 1: interesting journey of trying to create something which we felt
Speaker 1: was compelling viewing, but also did justice to how credible
Speaker 1: and how important IF One Academy is in the journey
Speaker 1: takes us. I think we have such a great opportunity
Speaker 1: with this series coming out. Obviously, we hope people will
Speaker 1: enjoy it. I say, even if we can have a
Speaker 1: fraction of the success that Drives Survived, it will it
Speaker 1: will be a game changer.
Speaker 4: For us, So tell us about it.
Speaker 2: It's sort of that compare and contrast, because I mean,
Speaker 2: you had a front row seat. Your husband, Total Wolf
Speaker 2: was notably very skeptical about Dry to Survive from the beginning.
Speaker 2: Mercedes didn't participate in the first season. He's talked very
Speaker 2: openly about how he got that one wrong, and obviously
Speaker 2: has become a key character. You obviously have appeared on
Speaker 2: Drivers Survived a number of times in your various roles
Speaker 2: around the sport. What did you learn from being featured
Speaker 2: in that series that impacted or affected how you think
Speaker 2: about this series?
Speaker 1: About F one Academy, it was quite a challenge because
Speaker 1: the Formula One teams and drivers and team principles are
Speaker 1: all very established. We have fifteen unknown drivers who are
Speaker 1: at the very beginning of their journey. They're not established
Speaker 1: superstar as yet.
Speaker 4: They're literally teenagers in some.
Speaker 1: Cases, they're literally young women who have been given this
Speaker 1: incredible opportunity, and for some of them, it was quite
Speaker 1: a big challenge to suddenly be with cameras everywhere on
Speaker 1: a Formula one race weekend, and we had to protect
Speaker 1: them in a way that we weren't being too intrusive,
Speaker 1: but we needed to see the drama. We needed to
Speaker 1: see the human stories, and because we're not in the
Speaker 1: F one paddock, the cameras could go everywhere and they
Speaker 1: managed to capture for me quite emotional to watch back
Speaker 1: to see how tough it was for some of the
Speaker 1: drivers and definitely made me question a couple of things
Speaker 1: that we can do to improve it for the young drivers,
Speaker 1: because it is tough. It's you're suddenly in the limelight,
Speaker 1: and as much as you need that exposure, that limelight
Speaker 1: to help you in your career, suddenly these you know,
Speaker 1: there was a seventeen year old signed to a Formula
Speaker 1: one team racing two hours before Formula One and just
Speaker 1: one year previously she was karting, so it was a
Speaker 1: big step up. But I felt very sure that we
Speaker 1: needed to create that exposure and we needed to create
Speaker 1: this disruption to get the eyeballs in the audience and
Speaker 1: to create that impact. So it was definitely a learning process.
Speaker 1: And then of course the balance between how much of
Speaker 1: the racing people wanted to see was it more the
Speaker 1: drama off track. I didn't want it to look like
Speaker 1: a girly, you know, reality TV show. These were serious,
Speaker 1: young racing drivers that had to be taken seriously on screen.
Speaker 1: But I have to say, hello, Sunshine, Netflix were It
Speaker 1: was really a privilege to work with both teams because
Speaker 1: we always had the eye on the bigger picture and
Speaker 1: the balancing act of doing it credit in the right way,
Speaker 1: but trying to create something that people enjoy.
Speaker 2: Watching, which is when you watch this show, it's fascinating
Speaker 2: because you know, there are a lot of people who
Speaker 2: you know, run leagues or run teams, who you know
Speaker 2: they're they're a little bit you know, removed from the action.
Speaker 2: Knowing this guy and knowing how passionate he is about
Speaker 2: the pursuit of excellence on court, on field, whatever, you
Speaker 2: have sat in these seats, and so you have this
Speaker 2: very intimate and emotional relationship with these drivers that maybe
Speaker 2: I dare say different from maybe another executive.
Speaker 4: Is that fair?
Speaker 1: Definitely? Definitely. And there's moments where if I see a
Speaker 1: driver that's sat a bad qualifying or bad race, I
Speaker 1: can sympathize so much with how she's feeling. If a
Speaker 1: driver's under mense pressure because the results haven't come. I
Speaker 1: know what that feels like. But on the other side,
Speaker 1: I remember here last year, you know, Abby Pulling, She
Speaker 1: stood on the podium at the Miami go On pre weekend,
Speaker 1: and I thought to have that opportunity. You know, I'd
Speaker 1: never had the chance to ever be even close to
Speaker 1: Formula one when I was a young rating driver. So
Speaker 1: the idea that we've created that opportunity fills me with pride.
Speaker 1: But there's definitely for me a real emotional pardon. I
Speaker 1: obviously have to try and stay a little bit detached
Speaker 1: from the drivers because I don't want to ever show favoritism.
Speaker 1: But I definitely have definitely passed a baton on. And
Speaker 1: I have a new head of talent development who I
Speaker 1: can see when a driver struggling or I can see
Speaker 1: when there's an issue, and I always say, okay, this
Speaker 1: is You've got to go and speak to her and
Speaker 1: these issues. And I can pass on all the mistakes
Speaker 1: that I want them to avoid that I made, and
Speaker 1: all of the things that which's looking back, I could
Speaker 1: have done better. I love that I can pass that
Speaker 1: knowledge on.
Speaker 4: You must feel that I do.
Speaker 3: And I got to tell you, Jason, and I were
Speaker 3: speaking before you walked in, and we were talking about
Speaker 3: how great that first episode was.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 3: It was really really good. And I can relate so
Speaker 3: much with you because as you kind of walk in
Speaker 3: as the boss. When I entered the New York Yankees
Speaker 3: in two thousand and four, I had another boss and
Speaker 3: his name was George Stein boss, and it was like
Speaker 3: this reverence and like this ultimate respect. And I saw
Speaker 3: those young ladies, and of course I think of my
Speaker 3: daughters the way they look at you. Have you ever
Speaker 3: thought a pincus of the impact you're making in these
Speaker 3: young ladies life, whether they make it to one eventually
Speaker 3: or whether they go on to be an executive like you.
Speaker 1: I don't stop to think about it. I can see
Speaker 1: that they take on board a lot of what my
Speaker 1: opinions are and when I give them advice, and I
Speaker 1: certainly feel sometimes I'm sitting in a room full of
Speaker 1: men and we're discussing if one academy and they all
Speaker 1: have opinions, and sometimes I have to hold myself back
Speaker 1: because I think, well, you're not a woman. You've never
Speaker 1: driven a racing car, and you're trying to tell me
Speaker 1: that this is how it needs to be but I
Speaker 1: respect the other opinions because I think sometimes it's different
Speaker 1: perspectives which can also open my eyes to new things.
Speaker 1: But I love what I do. I love the fact
Speaker 1: that I'm creating something which is giving these young drivers
Speaker 1: an opportunity that I could only ever have dreamed of,
Speaker 1: and that the sport that I love has made this possible.
Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting when you say that, Susie, because
Speaker 2: I think I have some sense from your stories about
Speaker 2: what you're up against a lot of these times, and
Speaker 2: I do wonder in your mind, like, are there times
Speaker 2: when you just think, God, this is exhausting? Like why
Speaker 2: they just like banging on doors or beating your head
Speaker 2: against wall, whatever you know, metaphor you want to use, Like,
Speaker 2: does it sometimes just feel like this is ridiculous that
Speaker 2: I have to work this hard for something that's so obvious.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, there's definitely been moments where I thought, Oh, have
Speaker 1: I this? Have I got it in me to keep going?
Speaker 1: But I think it's from my racing career, that tenacity,
Speaker 1: that never giving up and being so close to achieving
Speaker 1: what I want to achieve. But there are days where
Speaker 1: it just exhausts me. The endless conversations and not being
Speaker 1: able to actually make things happen just talking about So, yeah,
Speaker 1: that there are, but I think everyone has those tough days.
Speaker 2: So it does feel like in these first two years
Speaker 2: there have seemingly been moments. You know, I'm sort of
Speaker 2: flipping the question on it said when I said, are
Speaker 2: they're frustrating moments? Have there been moments a moment or
Speaker 2: two where you've thought, huh.
Speaker 4: Like we're doing something real here, this is happening.
Speaker 1: It was the biggest moment for me was Jeda last year,
Speaker 1: where I had few people with reservations that we should
Speaker 1: be racing in Jeda because it was such a dangerous
Speaker 1: and fast race track, to which my answer as well,
Speaker 1: if men can race it, women can race it, that
Speaker 1: shouldn't be a consideration. But it was the first time
Speaker 1: I'd seen the ten Formula One teams with their own liveries.
Speaker 1: It was the first time I've seen our partners with
Speaker 1: their own liveries. We put all sixteen cars on the
Speaker 1: grids to take a picture, had the Netflix crew following
Speaker 1: me with Hollow Sunshine, and that was a moment where
Speaker 1: I suddenly got a bit emotional because all of that
Speaker 1: hard work it had come to life. We were at
Speaker 1: the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. There were those sixteen cars
Speaker 1: all with their liveries, these young women with their race
Speaker 1: suits ready to go, and that was a very very
Speaker 1: proud moment.
Speaker 2: And so what's the next leap forward? I mean, is
Speaker 2: what's the next big milestone for you and for the team.
Speaker 2: You're two years in at this point, you know you're
Speaker 2: racing around the world. Does it expand to the grid?
Speaker 2: Is it about individual drivers? Is it all of the above?
Speaker 2: Like what do you game plan out when you're doing
Speaker 2: those strategic conversations, what are you thinking about?
Speaker 1: It's really important to me that our champion goes on
Speaker 1: to six in the sport, that the best female that
Speaker 1: we've identified can go back in and mix it at
Speaker 1: the front in a normal championship, because the sport isn't segregated.
Speaker 1: And our champion last year had our first race a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago and nearly finished on the podium.
Speaker 1: Such an important sign for us that we are at
Speaker 1: the level where these young women can compete and do
Speaker 1: have a chance of making it to the top. So
Speaker 1: the progression up the ladder is really important for our
Speaker 1: long term success as much as getting more young women
Speaker 1: racing because we need to increase the talent pool. And
Speaker 1: when I go to cart tracks and my son had
Speaker 1: his first race a couple of weeks ago, and there
Speaker 1: was a girl fighting for the race win, and that's
Speaker 1: normal for him. He doesn't question a young girl being
Speaker 1: on on track with him and being really competitive. And
Speaker 1: that's changed. There's so many more young girls racing because
Speaker 1: now they have a clear target. Well, I want to
Speaker 1: get to F one Academy and we need both to
Speaker 1: function for F one Academy to be successful long term.
Speaker 4: All right, we're gonna move to rapid fire. You know,
Speaker 4: no pressure?
Speaker 2: Ready?
Speaker 1: Well, I just did a pitch in thirty seconds, so.
Speaker 2: I feel like you're good. You're good, You've got this.
Speaker 2: What's one word to describe your deal making style?
Speaker 1: Authentic?
Speaker 3: What's more important to you? Your gut or data?
Speaker 1: Gut?
Speaker 4: Who's your dream deal making partner?
Speaker 1: Toto?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 4: Good one.
Speaker 3: What's the best piece of advice you ever received on
Speaker 3: deal making or business?
Speaker 1: Always have another option, don't fight to make the one
Speaker 1: deal work.
Speaker 4: What's the worst advice you've been given?
Speaker 1: The deal has to happen at eighty cost.
Speaker 3: What's your hype song? Before a big meeting or negotiation,
Speaker 3: don't stop believing good one.
Speaker 2: As we've talked about, you have a new docuseries out
Speaker 2: on Netflix, F one The Academy. What's your favorite sports
Speaker 2: documentary of all time?
Speaker 1: Other than that, I love the Michael Jordan basketball What
Speaker 1: was it called The Last Dance? The Last Dance was fantastic.
Speaker 3: If you can only watch one sport for the rest
Speaker 3: of your life, which one is it?
Speaker 1: Formula one?
Speaker 4: What team do you want to see win a championship
Speaker 4: more than any.
Speaker 1: Oh, the Scottish rugby team. They need to win something.
Speaker 3: Finally, what's your advice for someone who wants to have
Speaker 3: a career just like yours?
Speaker 1: Go for it. I think quite often it's taking that
Speaker 1: first step, which is the hardest, But I think you
Speaker 1: need to believe in yourself and simply go for it.
Speaker 2: Boom, Suzy Wolf, this has been such a train You
Speaker 2: did it, Listen. You were one of the first people
Speaker 2: I thought of when we started this show. I really
Speaker 2: have watched your career with a lot of admiration. As
Speaker 2: I said, and I'm really grateful to you for spending
Speaker 2: some time with us.
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you for having me.
Speaker 5: The deal is a production from Bloomberg Podcasts and Bloomberg Originals.
Speaker 5: The Deal is hosted by Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly.
Speaker 5: This show was produced by Anna Maazarakis, Lizzie Phillip, and
Speaker 5: Stacy Wong. Original music and engineering by Blake Maples. David E.
Speaker 5: Ravella is our managing editor. Our executive producers are Jason Kelly,
Speaker 5: Brendan Francis Newnham, Jordan Opplinger, Trey Shallowhorn, Andrew Barden, Kelly Leferrier,
Speaker 5: and Ashley Hoenig. Sage Bauman is our.
Speaker 1: Head of Podcasts.
Speaker 5: Rubob Shakir is our creative director. Art direction is from
Speaker 5: Jacqueline Kessler. Joshua Devaux is our director of photography. Camera
Speaker 5: operation by Geronimo Galbussa, Angela Reyes Latta and gian Carlo
Speaker 5: zevaios antel Steinback is our gaffer and Lavelle Higgins is
Speaker 5: our grip. Our sound operator is Ivan Alexandrov. Katia Vanoy
Speaker 5: is our video editor. Listen to The Deal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
Speaker 5: or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also tune
Speaker 5: into the Video Companion on Bloomberg Originals and on Bloomberg TV.
Speaker 5: Thanks for listening,