F1 Academy managing director Susie Wolff has championed the partnerships with the likes of Hello Kitty and Wella for breaking down preconceptions that female racing drivers cannot be feminine.
Growing up as one of very few female racing drivers, Wolff has often spoken about the assumptions those around her had at the time. "I just wanted to be seen as a racer, but at the time there was also this idea that any girl in racing was a tomboy. I wasn’t that and it was very hard navigating," she told The Guardian.
"I remember being with Mercedes-Benz in DTM, thinking: ‘If I wear a dress, they might not take me seriously because they’ll think I’m trying to look pretty. But I want to wear a dress. If I wear a suit maybe they’ll think I’m butch.’
"It brought in an insecurity that only became easier when I met Toto. He said: ‘Be you. If that means wearing a dress, wear a dress. Being authentic is the easiest way to navigate the pathway.’"
Wolff backed the partners of F1 Academy, including Charlotte Tilbury, Wella, and Hello Kitty, in helping to break down those barriers.
“We're also changing the perceptions of the sport, you know, with our Hello Kitty collaboration," she said in an interview via the F1 Academy YouTube channel. "It doesn't need to be racing cars or Barbie or a doll. It can be both.
"I loved pink as a little girl. I wasn't a tomboy, but I loved racing just as much. And we're breaking down these preconceptions that this is a man's world and there's no space for femininity."
Wolff added: "They've come on to F1 Academy to be part of the journey with us. We're not an established sport like Formula 1, which has been going for 75 years. But what's most impressed me about the brands, you know, American Express, TAG Heuer, Gatorade, they've come and they've said, 'Well, we want to be on this journey with you because if we're in F1, we are absolutely going to support F1 Academy.'
"That's something which I think has really shifted in the last few years that these brands say, 'We want to show up in women's sport. We want to speak to those audiences. We want to show that yes, we're in F1, but we're also going to be an F1 Academy.'
"And now we have Wella hair care, which is another one to break down this idea that you can't be feminine and performing at the same time. Well, you absolutely can. And so those partners that we have, I'm super grateful for their support because not only do they allow us to change the narrative, but they're also helping us build F1 Academy.”
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