F1 rejects FIA's 'conflict of interest' allegation against Susie, Toto Wolff: Details

The FIA on Tuesday announced that its Compliance Department had opened an investigation into potential breaches of the governing body's regulations. While not naming anyone directly, FIA released a statement saying that it "is 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 (Formula One Management) personnel."

This action had been prompted by a report in BusinessF1 magazine alleging that team principals were unhappy that Mercedes boss Toto Wolff had been privy to secret information from FOM. For the uninitiated, Toto's wife Susie Wolff is the managing director of the of F1 Academy since March this year. With complaints having been made to the FIA, probably from fellow F1 team principals, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem took the decision to investigate the matter formally.




Both Formula 1 - which runs the F1 Academy series, and Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team released statements saying that they had not been notified about the investigation, and only learned about it through a media statement. "We wholly reject the allegation in the statement and associated media coverage, which wrongly impinges on the integrity and compliance of our Team Principal," said Mercedes in a statement.

F1 also denied any wrongdoing. "We have complete confidence that the allegations are wrong, and we have robust processes and procedures that ensure the segregation of information and responsibilities in the event of any potential conflict of interest. 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," said F1's statement on the matter.Discover everything about the automotive world at Times of India.