Investigation Against Toto And Susie Wolff - All You Need To Know

Wednesday, 06 December 2023 at 11:00

Updated at Wednesday, 06 December 2023 at 11:18

FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) launched an investigation against Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and his wife Susie Wolff based on alleged conflict of interest.

Toto Wolff is a team principal and a stakeholder in the Mercedes F1 team, while his wife, Susie, is currently a managing director of the F1 academy.

It is suspected that the two can share valuable information with each other to which they would not and should not have access as members of different parts of the organization.

Allegedly, Toto Wolff had access to details concerning Formula One Management (FOM) activities, which are unavailable to other team bosses and could present a competitive advantage.

The other side of the argument is that Wolff's wife, Susie, could also have access to discussions between team bosses, which could benefit Formula One Management.

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BusinessF1 magazine recently claimed Wolff made a statement during one of the team bosses' meetings revealing information no other team bosses were aware of and could only come from FOM.

Based on the suspicions in the media, FIA decided to launch an investigation to look into the complicated matter. FIA recently stated:

“"The FIA is aware of media speculation centred on the allegation of information of a confidential nature being passed to an F1 team principal from a member of FOM personnel. The FIA Compliance Department is looking into the matter."”

While nothing is clear at the moment, if the allegations were proven right, it could have huge implications for Formula One and the Mercedes team.

Formula 1 issued a response to the launched investigation, saying it "notes the public statement made by the FIA this evening," adding it "was not shared" with them in advance. F1 also said:

“"We have complete confidence that the allegations are wrong, and we have robust processes and procedures that ensure the segregation of information and responsibilities in the event of any potential conflict of interest."”