The Federation’s about-face: “There is no conflict of interest for the Mercedes team principal.” A bit of a fool for the world body which found itself against the compact wall of the F1 teams
7 December 2023 (change at 9.17pm) – Milan
We joked, there is no accusation. Act as if nothing had happened. The FIA is going back. As if all the chaos triggered on December 5th with the first press release announcing the opening of an investigation could be erased with a second communication, sent in the late afternoon of today December 7th. Which reads: “Following a review of the Code of Conduct and the conflict of interest policy of the Fom (Formula One Management, which manages F1, ed.) and the confirmation that adequate protection measures are in place to mitigate any potential conflict, the FIA is satisfied that the FOM’s compliance management system is sufficiently robust to prevent any unauthorized disclosure of confidential information.” That is, there is no leak of information, nor conflict of interest between the suspects, namely Toto Wolff, team principal of Mercedes, and his wife, Susie Stoddart, CEO of F1 Academy, the women’s championship headed by Fom, therefore to Liberty Media, and which is at the same time completely independent of the FIA.
the f1 front
—
“The FIA can confirm that there are no ongoing ethical or disciplinary investigations into any individual,” it is written in the note released today. “As a regulatory body, the FIA has a duty to maintain the integrity of motorsport and reiterates its commitment to integrity and fairness.” Obviously. It remains bizarre that the day before yesterday, Tuesday, the suspicions seemed to be so well-founded that the start of the proceedings was announced to the press – without notifying the interested parties – and after just two days it was concluded that “there are no ongoing investigations in terms of ethics or disciplinary action on any individual.”
the flop fails
—
It is presumable that the compact and unanimous reaction of all nine other teams must have shocked the FIA. On Wednesday the Formula 1 teams had all posted on their social networks the response to what can now be defined as the FIA’s allegations. Each with their own colors and characteristic graphics, the teams had all posted exactly the same words on social media. “We confirm that we have not made any complaints to the FIA about confidential information passed from a member of the FOM to a team principal. And we proudly confirm our support for the F1 Academy and its director.”
suspicious
—
Translated: if the FIA – as is probable – counted in a fractured front, it must have been quite a bit taken aback. It’s true, however, that someone must have made him believe it. The BusinessF1 article that triggered the investigation spoke of a source who complained about information in Toto Wolff’s possession and about information allegedly reaching Stefano Domenicali. Accused of acting as an intermediary for Susie Wolff, the accuser is presumably a team principal, since the venue of the alleged leak would have been a meeting between the ten managers of the same number of teams on the grid.
domenicali-sulayem
—
Yesterday’s joint statement, however, states that everyone is out. And the FIA had no choice but to go backwards. Tomorrow evening, in Baku, at the annual banquet for the annual awards of all the FIA World Championships, it will be interesting to see the greetings between Stefano Domenicali, there representing Liberty and Fom, and Muhammed Ben Sulayem, president of the FIA. Already last year Ben Sulayem had come out with some sudden jokes on the budget cap – at that time the source of the dispute – with Domenicali who, with savoir faire, had promptly settled the waters. It’s unlikely that I can think about doing it again tomorrow evening.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
2023-12-07 20:13:05
#Sensational #FIA #denies #investigation #Toto #Wolff
