Smith: FIA owes the Wolffs, F1 answers after clumsy investigation climbdown

June 29, 2024

The FIA’s prize-giving and gala is meant to be Formula One’s governing body’s grand celebration of its racing year.

The FIA sees it as a way to bring together its racing family from across the globe, uniting the winners in its world championships by recognizing their achievements altogether. For this reason, the F1 world champion does not receive the trophy he has spent all year striving to win until weeks — or, in Max Verstappen’s case, two months and a day — after actually clinching the title.

Yet last week in Azerbaijan, the focus of the F1 world was less on celebrating the season just gone and more on the latest storm to embroil the FIA’s leadership – one entirely of its own doing.

In the space of two days, the FIA had launched an investigation into an alleged conflict of interest existing between Toto and Susie Wolff, felt the backlash from not only the Wolffs but also all 10 F1 teams, who collectively denied filing a complaint, and then quickly closed its investigation.

The FIA claimed in a statement putting an end to the matter (in its mind, at least) that “as the regulator, the FIA has a duty to maintain the integrity of global motorsport.”

GO DEEPER

Mercedes in legal exchange with FIA regarding controversial investigation

But that very integrity will surely be undermined moving forward without some big answers on why this sorry affair unfolded in the way it did.

The saga’s origins stretch back to an article in Business F1 magazine at the beginning of the month. The publication quoted an off-record conversation with an anonymous team principal discussing concerns confidential information could pass between Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, and Susie Wolff – who, as the managing director of F1 Academy, is an employee of Formula One Management (FOM). Business F1 referred to those possible conversations between the married couple as “pillow talk.”

The FIA said it was “aware of media speculation centered on the allegation of information of a confidential nature being passed to an F1 team principal from a member of FOM personnel.” But besides the Business F1 article, it had not been reported or speculated anywhere.

Nor did the FIA contact the Wolffs, F1 or Mercedes about the matter. The first any of the parties knew about it was the public statement, prompting them to hit back. They were shocked to see the statement without any prior knowledge or consultation. If there was even a shred of doubt in the FIA’s mind, it could have quietly inquired about the matter behind closed doors. The steps it did take, understood to be requesting information from FOM over its compliance policies and procedures, needn’t have been foreshadowed in the public arena in the way it was.

Then there was the show of strength from the teams, who all issued identical statements denying they’d filed any complaint with the FIA amid suggestions multiple team principals had come forward. In a year when the political divides in F1 have only grown — the FIA on one side; FOM and the 10 teams on the other — amid the push to expand the grid to an 11th team and add Andretti, this served as another deep rift between the two sides. The lack of unity is evident as discussions loom over the next Concorde Agreement, which defines the commercial and political agreements tying together the FIA, FOM and the teams.

The climbdown on Thursday from the FIA was embarrassing. While it may claim to have the sport’s best interests at heart, the way the FIA carried this out was clumsy and heavy-handed.

Speaking on Friday before the ceremony, Lewis Hamilton called it a “disappointing week, really, to see the governing body of our sport (seek) to question the integrity of one of the most incredible female leaders we’ve ever had in our sport, with Susie Wolff, without questioning, without any evidence.

“Then just saying sorry at the end, that’s just unacceptable.” Actually, Lewis, the FIA didn’t even say sorry.

So, where do we go from here?

Toto Wolff stated on Friday, “We are currently in active legal exchange with the FIA. We await full transparency about what took place and why, and have expressly reserved all legal rights.” For the FIA to take action on such a serious matter seemingly without any foundation and any communication with or explanation to the parties involved, there must be answers. There must be accountability or, at the very least, transparency.

It’s the latest in a long line of controversies involving the leadership of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. At the start of the year, he sparked criticism from FOM when he called a rumored $20 billion valuation of the series “inflated” and was reminded in a legal letter that FIA is not supposed to interfere in F1’s commercial matters. Then there was the emergence of comments written on his website from 2000 when he wrote he did not like “women who are smarter than men, for they are not in truth.” The FIA later claimed this did not reflect his views and pointed to his track record for promoting women in motorsport.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has remained visible this year at numerous F1 events, including the United States Grand Prix in October. (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Ben Sulayem was meant to take a backward step from day-to-day F1 matters this year, handing more of the reins to his senior management group. But he’s remained as involved as before. He’s a visible figure at races, especially in the pre- and post-race ceremonies. He has been especially active in his push to expand the F1 grid to 11 teams, a matter that, after the FIA’s approval, now lies with F1 alone. There’s not been any noticeable difference from the 2022 F1 season, the first he was in charge as FIA president.

Ben Sulayem has not spoken publicly about the matter — he cut back on commitments at the gala after sustaining a concussion in a fall — but there needs to be accountability from the top. Was this really about “protecting integrity” and ensuring fairness within F1? Or was this a political move that backfired?

Away from what this means for F1’s political dynamics, there’s a more concerning undertone that needs to be addressed.

Susie Wolff has been subject to online abuse and, in her words, “insinuations have been made about my integrity” as a result of this saga. She said in her initial reaction to the news that she thought those insinuations were “rooted in intimidatory and misogynistic behavior.” In her role leading F1 Academy, she spearheads the push for deep-rooted, necessary change. The “family pictures” the FIA posted from the gala to its official accounts on Friday night show how far there is to go. How many women can you see in these photos?

Family pictures 🫶

How nice it is to have all drivers, competing in all championships around the world, to regroup for the 2023 FIA Prize Giving ceremony.
The FIA wishes you all the best for the upcoming season. See you next year. #FIAPrizeGiving2023 pic.twitter.com/sed0QGr9fr

— FIA (@fia) December 9, 2023

The buy-in of all 10 teams to F1 Academy next year is an important step. Each team will have one affiliated driver and its livery on one of the cars. The series supports the next generation of female drivers, helping them up the racing ladder and putting them on the F1 undercard. Change will not be immediate, but this is the strongest commitment yet from the sport to end the 47-year wait for a woman to line up for the start of a grand prix.

As an organization, the FIA embarks on positive initiatives for women in motorsport. Through its Girls on Track scheme (an evolution of Dare To Be Different, a scheme set up by Wolff after ending her racing career), the FIA works with national governing bodies to promote women in motorsport at grassroots levels. But to have sparked this controversy involving the most influential female role model in global motorsport right now only adds to the need for answers from the FIA.

When Ben Sulayem was elected in 2021, dealing with the fallout from the Abu Dhabi finale, he promised to break with the FIA’s previous leadership style. He vowed to improve transparency and make changes. In his first month in charge, he even wrote on Twitter that “transparency is vital to good governance and accountability.”

Now more than ever, he needs to make good on that promise – if this is truly about maintaining the integrity of global motorsport.

(Lead image: HIGH TWO/Sipa via USA Today)

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