Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has said that the ill-fated FIA investigation into him and F1 Academy Managing Director Susie Wolff “has caused great damage.”
Reports claimed in December that there were complaints of a ‘conflict of interest’ with rumours alleging that Mercedes boss Toto Wolff raised a comment in a meeting that could only have been made based on information handed down by the FOM, potentially by F1 Academy Managing Director Susie Wolff.
The FIA Compliance Department responded to these claims by launching an investigation into the pair and the F1 fraternity quickly put on a united front to reject the claims being made.
Mercedes and Susie Wolff were quick to dismiss the “baseless allegations” by way of written statements and F1 followed suit, along with the other nine teams on the grid.
The FIA subsequently ended what Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur called an “embarrassing” moment for the sport by curtailing its investigation after only two days.
Toto and Susie Wolff called for “transparency” over the “unfounded” investigation and the Mercedes boss is still not satisfied with the FIA’s handling of events, which in his own words are “not what you expect from the world of F1 in general.”
The Austrian told Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport: “The investigation opened and closed in two days has caused great damage.
“If we want to make sport more and more professional, we must try to bring transparency where there is none and establish standards of the highest possible level.
“My position is this. I can’t speak for Susie but she is someone who doesn’t give up, she has a steely determination.
“It’s not the first time she has faced difficulties, and she will get to the bottom of every court.
“If one types ‘Susie Wolff’ on the web today, the investigation comes out as the first news: the bullet came from the rifle and can no longer go back inside.”
In Vasseur’s comments to Autosport last month, he suggested that had the FIA taken the time between opening and launching the investigation to determine the validity of the claims being made against Toto and Susie Wolff it would have helped “avoid any bad conclusions.”
Instead, the integrity of two high-ranking members of the motorsport community was questioned by the sport’s governing body, with Susie Wolff’s professionalism judged based on stereotypes she’s faced throughout her career.
At the time the story unfolded, the F1 Academy Managing Director’s statement said the allegations were “rooted in intimidatory and misogynistic behaviour, and focussed on my marital status rather than my abilities.”
The unanimous support towards Wolff from the rest of the F1 grid is just the latest in a long line of disagreements between the sport and the FIA in recent times, particularly during current President Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s tenure.
The F1 Academy meanwhile is set to grow in stature in its second season of competition under Susie Wolff’s direction, with the series now a permanent fixture on the F1 support package and all ten F1 teams being represented by F1 Academy drivers.
