Company: F1 Academy
Title: Founder & Managing Director
Industry: Sports
Standout achievement in 2025: Broadened F1's commercial and broadcast reach, establishing a sustainable business model, while inspiring the next generation of women racing talent.
A former Formula 1 driver and ex-CEO of Venturi Racing, Wolff has developed a new sports business model with the backing of all F1 teams and owned by Formula One — an all-female, single-seater championship series supported by global sponsorship revenue.
Wolff's sponsorship dealmaking includes Charlotte Tilbury, the first beauty brand to sponsor motorsport, as well as TAG Heuer, Tommy Hilfiger, Gatorade, American Express, Puma, Standard Chartered, Wella Professionals, and Perelli. In 2025, new deals were struck with Lego and Morgan Stanley. This business model has positioned F1 Academy as the only junior single-seater series globally where talent, not personal funding, determines opportunity.
Since its founding in 2023, F1 Academy has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in subsidies for young female drivers across the globe, with the mission of finding and developing the first female Formula 1 World Champion. In 2025, F1 Academy entered race markets in China and Canada. Its races are broadcast in over 170 global territories. All 10 F1 teams reaffirmed their commitment to the Academy late last year and the new Cadillac Formula 1 team announced it will join in 2027.
In collaboration with Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine production company, the Netflix docuseries "F1: The Academy" was released in May 2025. Last year, Wolff also released her memoir "Driven" overseas, which is slated for publish in the U.S. in April.
Disclosure: CNBC is a sponsor of the McLaren Formula 1 racing team, which participates in F1 Academy.
