Serious allegations against the couple
Formula 1 teams team up for Toto and Susie Wolff
December 7, 2023, 3:52 p.m
Suspicion of betrayal of secrets – a serious accusation hits the motorsport couple Toto and Susie Wolff. The world motorsport association FIA is investigating. But who are the accusations coming from? The Formula 1 teams join together to fight back.
In an unusual step, all of the Mercedes racing team’s Formula 1 rivals have denied having triggered the investigations against its team boss Toto Wolff and his wife Susie for betrayal of secrets. The nine other teams in the premier motorsport class published largely identical statements in which they assured that they had not lodged any complaints with the world association FIA about a possible conflict of interest.
The FIA had previously caused unrest by announcing that it would investigate media reports that a Formula 1 team boss had been leaked confidential information by an employee of the rights holder. The background is a report from a specialist portal about an alleged conflict of interest between Wolff and his wife, who works for the Formula 1 marketer FOM, about which other Formula 1 officials allegedly complained to FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
“We have a great rivalry on the track, but…”
All teams now disputed this. All racing teams also reiterated their support for the Formula 1 Academy and its managing director Susie Wolff. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner also commented on the affair on Sky: “We have a great rivalry on the track, but we have not submitted any official complaint to the FIA about Susie or Toto or Mercedes.” The case is a matter for the FIA, “which has decided to initiate a process.”
Susie Wolff is doing “a great job,” praised Horner, who also expressed his “respect” for Mercedes’ achievements and explained that their rivals are “still an outstandingly strong team.” Basically, the rivalry between the two Formula 1 racing teams should “take place on the racetrack,” emphasized Horner.
Susie Wolff suspects misogyny
Mercedes had already sharply rejected the allegations from the media report on Tuesday evening as being baseless. Susie Wolff wrote on social media: “It is disheartening that my integrity is being questioned in this way.” The former racing driver suspects attempts at intimidation and misogyny were the cause of the allegations. The Formula 1 management said: “We have full confidence that the allegations are false.”
According to the media report, Susie Wolff is said to have access to confidential knowledge from the top of the racing series at FOM and allegedly shared this with her husband. In return, Toto Wolff may have informed his wife about conversations between the team bosses, so that this information in turn reached the rights holder.