F1 teams break silence on conflict of interest drama involving Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and wife Susie Wolff with exact same statements
The Formula One teams have come up with the cope/paste of each others' statements regarding Toto Wolff's involvement with the FOM.
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As the drama based upon FIA’s Compliance Department investigation over the allegations on Toto Wolff and Susie Wolff fester further, Mercedes came out with their statement on this fiasco. It started off as a basic speculation with Business F1 reporting that Toto Wolff had divulged some information at one of his recent interviews which he could not have gotten unless he has eyes and ears inside the Formula One Management. Then, the rumors grew into a full-blown scandal where it was being alleged that Toto and Susie have insider information regarding the FOM despite being its employees.
The FIA quickly released an official statment to address the growing public interest in the matters of Toto Wolff having access to confidential FOM documents. They announced they would be placing both the Wolffs under investigation by their Compliance department. Since then, Mercedes shunned the actions of the rule-maling body of Formula 1 by claiming they were never notified of such an investigation until they saw it just like everybody else on the FIA statement sheet. And Susie Wolff also slammed the allegations bringing in talks of misogyny as she blamed sexism for people pointing fingers at her.
But throughout this entire incident, all the F1 teams that are rivals to Mercedes kept mum. The radio silence from the Silver Arrows’ biggest competitors who are otherwise quite vocal such as Red Bull and Ferrari did not quite sit fit with the fans. They began questioning if any of those teams acted as the whistleblowers who complained against Toto and Susie to the higher authority. But then, all other F1 teams apart from Mercedes released the exact same statement denying all claims that they played snitch in the entire fiasco.
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.All the F1 teams wrote in their ditto statements on X.
Susie Wolff has claimed to be ‘deeply insulted’ by the allegations she is currently facing
As a celebrated former racer from Scotland, Susie Wolff is often regarded as a part of F1’s power couple because of her marriage to Mercedes Boss Toto Wolff. Despite being frequently spotted with her husband, Susie is a known face around Formula One in her own merit as she has even raced seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton in the junior categories. Even though she has stepped back from competitive racing now, she acts as the Head of F1 Academy–the female-exclusive series organized by the Formula One Management.
Since Susie is by all means an employee under FOM as the Chief of F1 Academy, she stands a chance of having entered into a conflict of interests if she were privy to their confidential information. As she has now been put under investigation by the FIA, she released her own statement which used incendiary words to blame misogyny for her fate today.
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.
In other news, Toto Wolff has remained silent about the allegations that have been flung his way. The Austrian spoke to the media for the last time before these controversies broke out when he was addressing Mercedes’ hopes of getting back to their winning ways in 2024.
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)