[attach id=266515 size="medium"]Susie Wolff... ‘big challenge’.[/attach]

Susie Wolff will get to test her mettle alongside some of Formula One’s regular male racers after former champions Williams included the Scot in their test line-up for Silverstone this week.

The wife of Mercedes motorsport head and Williams shareholder Toto will be driving the FW35 car on Friday in a young driver test that has been thrown open to race regulars as well to allow Pirelli to test tyres after controversial recent blowouts.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for me, so now it is up to me to prepare myself the best that I can for the day,” the 30-year-old development driver, the only woman currently carrying out such a role, said in a team statement.

“It’s going to be a big challenge but the most important thing is to do a solid and consistent job and to give good feedback to the team to be able to prove I am at the level to compete on a day such as this.”

Wolff has already driven a 2011 Williams for a demonstration run at Silverstone and was the first to drive this year’s car when she carried out an aerodynamic test at the Idiada facility in Spain in February.

“Most of my work is based in the simulator which is why this day is so important for me,” she said.

“It will give me a better understanding of what the car is like on track and how that correlates to the simulator which will also help further develop the work I can do there.”

Formula One has not had a woman driver competing in races for decades, with Italian Giovanna Amati the last to try and get on the grid when she failed to qualify in 1992.