Her parents, John and Sally Stoddart, owned a motorcycle dealership in Oban and her father raced bikes competitively. She progressed through the ranks of motorsport, starting off in karting, before graduating to Formula Renault and Formula Three, then moving to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) to compete for Mercedes-Benz. In 2012, she was signed by Williams in Formula One to work as a development driver and made history at the 2014 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, becoming the first woman to take part in a Formula One race weekend in 22 years. On 4 November 2015, Wolff announced her retirement from motorsport, last competing at the Race of Champions held at the end of November.