Formula 1 teams have united behind Mercedes and F1 Academy boss Susie Wolff in a stunning rebuke against the FIA after the governing body launched an investigation into allegations of a conflict of interest and the transfer of confidential information.
The FIA made the surprise announcement on Tuesday night that its compliance department was investigating “media speculation centred on the allegation of information of a confidential nature being passed to an F1 team principal from a member of [F1 management] personnel”.
The governing body did not name Mercedes, Toto Wolff or Susie Wolff, but the statement was widely interpreted to refer to a report by BusinessF1 magazine claiming that several team bosses had made complaints to the governing body about an alleged two-way transfer of information between Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and wife Susie Wolff.
Susie Wolff is the managing director of the junior racing series F1 Academy and reports directly to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali.
The report alleged Toto Wolff and his Mercedes team benefited from improper access to high-level F1 information via his wife not available to other teams. It further alleged that information from confidential meetings of the team principals was being leaked back to F1 via Susie Wolff as the intermediary.
But in a twist to the surprise announcement, all nine of Mercedes’s rivals have issued identical statements denying any complaints had been made to the FIA and defending Susie Wolff in her role heading the F1 Academy.
“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,” the nine teams said in separate but identically worded statements.
“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.”
Speaking to Sky Sports in the UK before the joint issue of statements, Red Bull Racing principal Christian Horner defended long-time foe Toto Wolff and his team.
“We have a big rivalry on track but we haven’t raised any official complaint either about Susie or Toto or Mercedes to the FIA,” he said.
“In fact Red Bull has been the team that has got most involved with F1 Academy from its inception to the point where between the two Red Bull owned teams we’ll be entering three cars. We’ve been working closely with Susie, who’s been doing a great job on Formula 1 Academy.
“We, like others, were quite surprised by the statement that came out [on Tuesday], but it certainly wasn’t instigated or required or set off by Red Bull.
“This is an FIA thing. They’ve taken this action — certainly nothing to do with Red Bull.”
The nine denials followed strongly worded statements from Mercedes, Susie Wolff and F1 itself rejecting accusations of improper conduct and expressing surprise that the FIA had suddenly opened an investigation.
“We are confident that no member of our team has made any unauthorised disclosure to a team principal and would caution anyone against making imprudent and serious allegations without substance,” F1 said, having noted that the FIA had not shared its statement with the sport before releasing it to the public.
Mercedes said the FIA had jumped based on “unsubstantiated allegations from a single media outlet” and protested that “the team has received no communication from the FIA compliance department on this topic, and it was highly surprising to learn of the investigation through a media statement”.
Autosport has reported that the FIA is yet to serve Mercedes any information about the allegations against it.
Susie Wolff delivered the most stinging criticism, saying that she was “deeply insulted but sadly unsurprised by the public allegations” levelled against her.
“It is disheartening that my integrity is being called into question in such a manner, especially when it seems to be rooted in intimidatory and misogynistic behaviour and focused on my marital status rather than my abilities,” she said.
The rare unified response from the usually uncooperative teams will heap pressure back on the FIA to explain its decision to publicly declare an investigation into Mercedes and the Wolff family.
As it stands, it appears that world motorsport’s governing body has given credence to serious allegations based on a single unsubstantiated media report.
While possible, it is unlikely teams are openly lying about their involvement given the FIA could easily name names in an act of self-defence in what is fast becoming an embarrassing situation.
The incident has built into a significant escalation in a growing feud between the FIA on one side and F1 and the teams on the other, with relations having deteriorated since the December 2021 election of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
Ben Sulayem has made it his mission to exert greater control over the sport, putting him on a collision course with F1 owner Liberty Media, which had enjoyed a relatively hands-off relationship with former FIA president Jean Todt as it set about growing the sport after its takeover in 2017.
The tension comes against the backdrop of Formula 1 executives opening negotiations on the next so-called Concorde agreement, the commercial covenant that binds itself, the teams and the FIA together in the running of the sport. The next agreement cycle will begin in 2026.
The FIA is believed to be angling for a greater formal role in the day-to-day operation of the sport as well as more money form F1’s growing revenues, of which the governing body has typically received a relatively small percentage.
The FIA was reported to have dragged its heels on expanding the number of sprint races from three to six in a bid to extract more money from the sport.
The conflict is likely to reach only greater heights as Concorde negotiations intensify.
The tension has already snapped into several flashpoints. Ben Sulayem was issued a cease-and-desist notice earlier this year for what F1 said was commercial interference via a tweet suggesting a rumoured US$20 billion valuation of the sport was inflated.
Ben Sulayem also opened expressions of interest to expand the grid this season against the wishes of F1 and the 10 teams. The FIA’s approval of Michael Andretti’s bid has forced Formula 1 to enter into commercial negotiations with the prospective American team, putting the sport in a difficult and potentially litigious situation should it decide to maintain the status quo.
Amid mounting tension, Ben Sulayem said he would take a step back from day-to-day management of Formula 1, but while he has been less publicly present, the president has reportedly been as involved as ever in running the sport.
The BBC has reported that teams believe it was on his motion that Toto Wolff and Ferrari boss Frédéric Vasseur were hauled before the Abu Dhabi stewards was swearing in a late-night press conference in Las Vegas.
The Race has reported widespread belief that Ben Sulayem was also behind the hasty reassessment of the €50,000 fine handed to Lewis Hamilton for walking across the live track at the Qatar Grand Prix. The governing body subsequently raised the maximum fine available to the stewards in future investigations to a heavily criticised €1 million.
That much-panned incident was partly put down to poor communication from the governing body, which said it was attempting to use Hamilton’s fine and the heavy-handed €1 million figure to send a signal to junior races coming up through the ranks about acceptable behaviour at the top level of the sport.
This week’s fumble may be put down again to poor communication. Few would argue that the FIA shouldn’t investigate serious allegations made in the media, but most would contend that publicly declaring an investigation severely lacks tact when the evidence publicly available so far amounts to one media report.
As has so often been the case over the past two years, the governing body finds itself in a mess largely of its own making.
