Toto, Susie Wolff and the FIA investigation: much ado about nothing?

(Cover picture: MercedesNewsUK - X)

With the 2023 Formula 1 season now over and the engines off, it's what happens off the track that makes the news... A few days ago, in fact, we became aware of an investigation by the FIA into Toto Wolff and his wife Susie, who - as you'll remember - holds the position of CEO of F1 Academy, the project which brings 15 cars driven only by women (aged between 16 and 25) onto the track, also on F1 race weekends.

Beyond the importance that this project may have in terms of inclusion and its role as a promotional showcase to open a path for women drivers in Formula 1, in this story what's relevant is precisely the role of Susie Wolff (at the same time Toto's wife and, professionally speaking, very deeply involved in the F1 and FOM environments). But let's go back, and try to reconstruct what happened...

Phase 1: the article on "Business F1" and the FIA investigation into the Wolffs

The story starts from an article published by the magazine "Business F1" which reports a rumour according to which a conflict of interest has arisen at Wolffs. As mentioned, in fact, as CEO of F1 Academy, Susie Wolff would have become aware of some information (still unknown to us) to which her husband Toto, as Mercedes Team Principal, cannot have access.

FIA immediately took a stand, issuing a note in which it said it was "aware of media speculation regarding allegations of confidential information being shared between a Formula 1 team principal and a member of Formula One Management. The FIA Compliance Department is examining the matter". The Federation's fear, obviously, is that Mercedes may have information that will guarantee them a competitive advantage over other teams...

Phase 2: Susie's response, and the teams take a stand

Susie Wolff's response was not long in coming, precisely on the evening of Tuesday 5 December, and she did so via a message (shown below) through her social channels:

In this message, Susie sends the accusations back to the sender, speaking of intimidation and misogyny towards her. Strong words, of course, but justified by the fact that no further evidence to support the investigation was provided, neither publicly nor to Susie herself!

At this stage, the question that everyone in the world of F1 was asking is: "Who started the rumour regarding the conflict of interest at Wolffs?". The first suspects, as often happens in these cases, are the other teams: obviously each team has a legitimate interest in nipping in the bud any advantage (potentially) acquired by a competitor in an illegal way... But this investigative trail cooled down immediately, because - almost jointly - all the other 9 teams apart from Mercedes report their involvement in the facts. Also in this case, these statements can be found on the social channels of the teams: I didn't attach them all here for brevity, but you can find them very easily!

Phase 3: FIA closes the case and declares the investigation concluded!

And so, with all the potential perpetrators of this tip out of the way, unbelievably on Thursday 7 December, less than 48 hours after the announcement of the investigation, FIA itself declared the case closed with the following words:

"Having reviewed FOM's Code of Conduct and Conflicts of Interest Policy and confirmed that adequate safeguards are in place to mitigate any potential conflicts, FIA is satisfied that FOM's compliance management system is robust to to prevent any type of unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. The Federation can confirm that there are no ongoing investigations, either in ethical or disciplinary terms, involving any individual. As a regulatory body, the FIA has the duty to maintain the integrity of global motorsport and reiterates its commitment to ensuring fairness"

Right after that, came another comment from Susie Wolff, who, trying to look at this matter from a broader perspective, hopes that her sport can grow and manage eventualities like the one hypothesized in a more serious and professional manner.

It is interesting to note how Toto Wolff, however, preferred to keep - at least publicly - a low profile on the whole issue. From a communication point of view it's undoubtedly an excellent strategy, especially considering the themes raised by his wife Susie in the first of his two public messages. The only words from the Mercedes boss came at the conclusion of the investigation:

"We understand that there is considerable media interest in this week's events, there is currently a legal exchange with the FIA. We expect maximum transparency on what happened and on the reasons, and we expressly reserved all legal rights. Therefore, you will understand, we will not make any official comments for now, but will address the matter in due course"

Toto Wolff

Phase 4: FIA-FOM cold war at the end of year Gala...

The final act (at least until the moment this article is being written) took place on the evening of December 8th, in the usual end-of-year gala organized - in Baku - by the Federation to reward the winners of the most important competitions in the motorsport panorama. President Ben Sulayem wasn't missing from the event and, on the sidelines of the award ceremony for Max Verstappen as 2023 World Champion, he wanted to invite Christian Horner, Anar Alakbarov (president of the Azerbaijan automotive federation) and Stefano Domenicali, CEO of FOM (Formula One Management), to the stage.

After a few moments of frost - symptomatic of the less than friendly relationship between FIA and FOM for some time now - the guests finally went on stage to have their photo taken with president Ben Sulayem.

What do we learn from this story?

What has happened in the last few days is a clear sign of how tense the relations between the FIA and FOM are: the rift between the sporting and business parts of Formula 1 is perfectly represented by the power struggle between these two entities.

At the moment, I feel like saying that the FOM has greater political power on its side, while the Federation is - for a year now - relying on the few levers at its disposal (i.e. the possibility of call tenders to welcome new team, or to open investigations to guarantee sporting equality between existing teams...).

In this whole matter, my personal opinion is that the FIA emerges significantly weakened politically: both due to the timing with which the investigations of the case were opened and closed, and due to how compact the opposing front has shown itself - with all the teams very close together. I hope, however, that what has happened won't be used as a pretext for other political battles, thus risking of "breaking" the fine balance on which Formula 1 is now based.

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