7 years in DTM with Mercedes
Susie Wolff raced in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) series for Mercedes for 7 years, ultimately choosing to leave on her own terms.
Snapshot · Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Susie Wolff (Managing Director of F1 Academy)
Explore episode
Jun 24, 2026
Where this was said
DTM Years: Barcelona Test, Mika Häkkinen and 7 Years with Mercedes
At 50:18 · chapter starts 47:40
The DTM test in Barcelona was everything. Mercedes were direct: arrive, get your seat fitted, do a warm-up. Susie asked for a lap of the track to familiarise herself. Gerhard Unger called over Mika Häkkinen — two-time F1 world champion — who showed her the racing lines in a hire car. She gave the test everything, waited 10 days, was summoned to Stuttgart and offered a contract. She stayed for seven years before leaving on her own terms. Dax and Monica's sidebar about Monica's Mercedes C43 — gifted by Dax because he was embarrassed by her old Prius — leads to Susie's observation that she drives a 1972 Mercedes Pagoda in Monaco to buck the trend of everyone trying to outdo each other.
Femininity Stopped Feeling Like Weakness
As a teenager, Susie suppressed her femininity because she felt it made her look weak in a male environment. Then Mercedes put her in a pink car because the sponsor's logo was pink. Suddenly little girls were appearing at the fence in pink outfits asking if it was the 'Hello Kitty car.' She realised: if pink gets girls to the trackside, she could drive a pink car. Getting married and no longer being 'on her own anymore' completed the shift.
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