Mercedes’ nine F1 rivals have displayed a united front adamant they have made no official complaint against Toto and Susie Wolff that has triggered an FIA investigation.
The FIA announced on Tuesday that its Compliance Department was looking into an allegation that “information of a confidential nature” had been passed to an F1 team principal from a member of FOM personnel, sparked by a report in magazine Business F1.
It quickly emerged that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and wife Susie, who is managing director of the F1 Academy, and as such is privy to information of a sensitive nature, were at the heart of the issue.
F1, Mercedes, and Susie Wolff, in particular, all issued strongly worded statements in response.
F1 insisted it had “complete confidence the allegations were wrong” and that “no member of our team has made any unauthorised disclosure to a team principal”.
Demanding swift and full transparency from the FIA, Mercedes said it “wholly rejects the allegation in the statement and associated media coverage, which wrongly impinges on the integrity and compliance of our team principal”.
Susie Wolff later issued a damning statement, insisting the allegations against her were “baseless”, and based on “intimidatory and misogynistic behaviour, and focused on my marital status rather than my abilities”.
It was suggested several of Wolff’s rival team principals had complained to the FIA about a potential conflict of interest with the Wolffs, seemingly adding fuel to the fire for the the Compliance Department investigation.
But the nine other teams have now made clear that no such complaint exists.
A combined statement issued on their social media channels read: “We can confirm that we have not made any complaint to the FIA regarding the allegation of information of a confidential nature being passed between an F1 team principal and a member of FOM staff.
“We are pleased and proud to support F1 Academy, and its managing director, through our commitment to sponsor an entrant in our liveries from next season.”
Earlier in the day, speaking to Sky Sports News, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner made clear neither his team nor sister outfit AlphaTauri, were involved in the matter.
“We have a big rivalry (with Mercedes) on track but we haven’t raised any official complaint about either Susie or Toto or Mercedes to the FIA,” said Horner.
“In fact, Red Bull has been the team that has got most involved with F1 Academy since its inception, to the point that between the two Red Bull-owned teams, we’ll be entering three cars in 2024. So we’ve been working closely with Susie, who’s been doing a great job on F1 Academy.
“So I think we, like others, were quite surprised by the statement that came out last night, but it certainly wasn’t instigated or required or set off by Red Bull.
“We’ve not raised any official complaint or made any requests to the FIA or FOM.
“As far as the other teams, I can’t talk on behalf of others. This is an FIA thing, they’ve taken this action, but as I say, certainly nothing to do with Red Bull.”
Discussion about this post