Highland-born motor-racing star Susie Wolff will be in the fast lane all the way to Buckingham Palace after being made an MBE.
The New Year honour from the Queen recognises her “services to women in sport” after becoming the first woman in more than two decades to compete in a Formula One race weekend.
It rounded off a landmark year for the 34-year-old driver from Oban, after she announced in October that she was pregnant and that a “little Wolff is on the way”.
Mrs Wolff’s parents John and Sally Stoddart still run Stoddarts of Oban on Soroba Road, selling motorcycles, quads and powerboats.
Having begun karting at a young age, Mrs Wolff started her professional career in the Formula Renault UK Championship, where she notched three podiums and was twice nominated for British Young Driver of the Year Award.
After a brief spell in Formula 3, she made her name with Mercedes-Benz in DTM, the German Touring Car Championship, between 2006 and 2012, after which she moved into F1 and was signed by Williams.
Mrs Wolff entered as a development driver for the team, holding the position for two seasons before being promoted to a test driver for the 2015 season.
At the 2014 British Grand Prix Susie made history by becoming the first woman to take part in a Formula One race weekend in 22 years.
She married Toto Wolff, the current executive director of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, in October 2011.
Worth an estimated £240million, the couple are 23rd on the annual league table of Scotland’s richest people, and a new entry to the UK’s top 1,000, thanks to their investment in Formula One.
This year, Mrs Wolff launched her own initiative called Dare To Be Different in collaboration with the UK motorsport governing body, the Motor Sports Association, aiming to encourage female driving talent in the male dominated industry.
