Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images
It has been anything but dull this F1 offseason
The 2023 Formula 1 season is barely in the books, but the news will not stop.
On Tuesday, the sport’s governing body released a statement indicating that a compliance investigation was underway into Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff, and allegations that the boss was being given confidential information from someone within Formula One Management (FOM). That statement came in the wake of reporting from Business F1 that various team principals noted that Wolff had shared some information during a meeting that the other team principals had not been privy to.
The reporting from Business F1 also outlined speculation that Susie Wolff, the current direction of F1 Academy, might be involved.
That statement from the FIA was met with thunderous denials not only from Mercedes on behalf of Toto Wolff, and his wife Susie Wolff, but also from F1 as well. And in the wake of later reporting that team principals were behind tipping off the FIA — and sparking the investigation — the nine other teams all released coordinating statements on Wednesday, not only denying any involvement, but backing the F1 Academy and its director, Susie Wolff.
The statements all read largely the same, with a denial of any involvement and then show of support for both Susie Wolff, and the F1 Academy:
You can see all nine statements here:
Susie Wolff took over as the Managing Director of the F1 Academy in March of 2023, following five years as the Team Principal of Venturi Racing in Formula E.
According to the reporting from Business F1, rival team bosses raised concerns about whether the Wolffs were sharing information that was confidential to FOM. Further, the reporting from Business F1 indicated that there were also concerns about whether information discussed at team principal meetings had passed to FOM executives via the couple.
However, all nine of the other teams are now on record denying that they were behind raising such concerns.
Something is not adding up, and adding further drama to the situation is reporting from Andrew Benson of BBC Sport on Tuesday evening that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem may be on thin ice. As Benson wrote on Tuesday, “[a] number of sources told BBC Sport at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last month that if Ben Sulayem continued to act in a manner senior figures considered to be detrimental to the sport, F1 owners Liberty Media would lose patience and consider breaking away from the FIA.”
However, Benson indicated that the relationship between the FIA and F1 was “smoothed over” when such a move was considered at the end of the 2022 season.
The plot thickens …
