Fiona Mansell
The FIA has dropped their investigation into Toto and Susie Wolff concerning the alleged sharing of confidential information in Formula 1.
Who are Toto and Susie Wolff?
Susie Wolff began her career in motorsport over 20 years ago. In the British Grand Prix in 2014, Wolff became the first woman in 22 years to participate in an F1 race weekend. After retiring from driving in 2015, she founded Dare To Be Different, a nonprofit organisation aimed at increasing the participation of women in motorsport. She is now the acting director of the F1 Academy.
She is married to Toto Wolff, the team principal and co-owner of Mercedes F1 and the director of Mercedes motorsport.
Allegations Against Toto and Susie Wolff
On the 5th December 2023, the FIA, F1’s governing body, announced it was launching an investigation into Toto and Susie Wolff around a conflict of interest. The FIA said that it was “aware of media speculation centred on the allegation of information of a confidential nature being passed to an F1 team principal from a member of FOM [F1] personnel.”
This followed an article by Business F1 magazine that claimed rival team bosses had raised concerns the Wolffs were sharing confidential information from their respective employers.
The allegation was that Toto Wolff had information he could only get from a member of F1 personnel, his wife.
The Wolff’s Response
Susie Wolff and the Mercedes team strongly denied the allegations.
Wolff took to social media to express her discontent, stating that she was “insulted but sadly unsurprised.” She also explains her belief that these actions were “rooted in intimidatory and misogynistic behaviour.”
— Susie Wolff (@Susie_Wolff) December 5, 2023
In an unprecedented move, all F1 teams, including RedBull, McLaren and Ferrari, denied making any complaints to the FIA concerning confidential information. They also shared their ongoing support for the F1 Academy.
Lewis Hamilton also showed his support, calling the investigation “unacceptable.”
FIA’s Investigation Dropped
After just two days, the FIA announced the investigation into the conflict of interest had been dropped.
In a statement, they said: “Following a review of Formula One Management’s F1 Code of Conduct and F1 Conflict of Interest Policy and confirmation that appropriate protective measures are in place to mitigate any potential conflicts, the FIA is satisfied that FOM’s compliance management system is robust enough to prevent any unauthorised disclosure of confidential information.” No ethical or disciplinary action would be taken.
The governing body also rejected claims that its investigation was prompted by misogyny.
Susie Wolff expressed her annoyance with the FIA’s handling of the situation on social media, claiming the governing body had not contacted her during the investigation when her integrity was being publicly questioned. She thanked those, including the other F1 teams, for their support.
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Featured image courtesy of crazylenny2 via Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image licence is found here.
Fiona.mansell
Fiona is now undergoing a master's degree in 'Visual Journalism' in Cardiff after recently graduating with first-class honours in 'Performance and Media.' Most of her writing focuses on her passion for motorsport.