Former Scottish racing driver, Susie Wolff, has revealed she only had one black point during her driving test – and it was for speeding.
Wolff, from Oban in Argyll, started racing karts aged eight before progressing to become a Formula 1 test driver for Williams.
The driver with “motorsport in her blood” admitted there was pressure on her to pass her driving test at the first attempt.
She told BBC Radio Scotland: “Thank goodness I did because I would have been under pressure if I’d failed it.
“I did get one mark and that was for speeding.”
Learners pass the test if they have no more than 15 minor faults, such as briefly exceeding the speed limit. Speeding forcing the examiner to take action would lead to an instant fail, however.
Wolf, 42, now managing director of the all-female racing series F1 Academy, said she was lucky to get opportunities to race as a youth.
Despite a lack of female racing role models to follow, she aimed to become an F1 driver after being taken to a Formula 3 race at Donnington Park aged 13.
She said: “That’s when the dream was cemented in my head, ‘I want to try and make it to Formula 1’.
“Because I have an older brother and my parents never really differentiated between son and daughter I didn’t realise I was picking something really unusual for a girl, it was just my ambition and a dream that I chased.”
Wolff, now a role model for young female racing drivers herself, admitted she doesn’t miss the thrill of racing and “never has the inclination to get back into a race car”.
She said she remains a better driver than passenger, however, and admitted friends feel nervous when they are behind the wheel giving her a lift.
She said: “I think I’m a good passenger but a better driver. Being in a car on a race track is very different to being on the road.
“When I jump in a car with people and I’m not driving they get really nervous because they think I’m judging how they’re driving.
“I’m like ‘no really, you’re doing a great job, don’t think that I’m judging you’.”
