Secret affair
Formula 1: Susie Wolff takes action against the world association
Toto Wolff, boss of the Formula 1 team Mercedes, and his wife Susie Wolff come to the premiere of the film “Ferrari”. Susie Wolff is taking action against the world motorsport association. photo
© Alberto Pezzali/Invision/AP/dpa
The secret affair in Formula 1 is not over yet. The wife of Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is filing a criminal complaint against the world motorsport association. She demands accountability.
After the fuss surrounding investigations into alleged betrayal of secrets, the head of the female Formula 1 junior series, Susie Wolff, is taking legal action against the world motorsport association FIA.
As the wife of Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff announced on social media, she filed a criminal complaint with the French courts on March 4th because of the FIA’s statements about her from last December.
“There is still no transparency or accountability regarding the conduct of the FIA and employees in this matter,” the 41-year-old wrote. “I think it’s more important than ever to stand up, denounce inappropriate behavior and ensure that people are held accountable.”
The accusation: alleged betrayal of secrets
At the beginning of December last year, the FIA examined media reports alleging that confidential information had been leaked to a Formula 1 team boss by an employee of the Formula 1 rights holder. The background was a report from a specialist portal about an alleged conflict of interest between Toto Wolff and his wife, about which other Formula 1 officials allegedly complained to FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
Intimidation and misogyny as the cause?
Accordingly, Susie Wolff, who is employed as managing director of the Formula 1 Academy by the Formula 1 marketer FOM, is said to have access to confidential knowledge from the top of the racing series 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.
The former racing driver Susie Wolff, married to the Austrian Toto Wolff since 2011, expressed the suspicion that attempted intimidation and misogyny were the motives behind the allegations.
Shortly after the investigation became known, 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 about a possible conflict of interest.
Online hate against Susie Wolff
Just two days after the investigation was published, the FIA closed it again. The world association said that “appropriate protective measures are in place to defuse potential conflicts”. The association is also convinced that the FOM’s compliance system is “robust enough to prevent unauthorized disclosure of confidential information.”
Susie Wolff then reported that she had become a victim of hate online. “I will not allow myself to be intimidated and I intend to pursue the matter once I find out who instigated this campaign and misled the media,” the Scot wrote at the time.