Wolff investigation saga ’embarrassing’ for F1, says Vasseur

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur used the word “embarrassing” to sum up the saga surrounding the FIA’s recent compliance investigation into F1 power couple Susie and Toto Wolff.

Last week, F1’s governing body launched an ethics investigation into a potential conflict of interest between Susie Wolff, who is the head of Formula One’s all-female racing series F1 Academy, and her husband Toto, who is the team principal and co-owner of the Mercedes F1 team.

The investigation appeared to stem from a report in Business F1 magazine that suggested rival team bosses had raised concerns about confidential information being shared between the couple.

However, the day after the investigation was announced, F1’s nine other teams issued co-ordinated statements supporting the Wolffs, which effectively undermined the validity of the original story and the need for an official probe.

Within 24 hours of the statements from the teams, the FIA said it had shelved its investigation, leading to a further statement from Toto Wolff saying he was in an “active legal exchange” with the governing body and awaiting “full transparency” on the subject.

Asked if he was concerned about the apparent rift between the FIA and F1’s other stakeholders, Vasseur said: “I think all of this story is quite embarrassing for the whole sport.

“The story started with an article in a newspaper — I don’t know if a newspaper is the right word — and I think in this situation when you are speaking about individuals, you have to be careful about what you are saying.

“I think it would have been appropriate from the FIA to … they needed 24 hours between the announcement and the second announcement, so it would have made sense to use that 24 hours before the first announcement to avoid any bad conclusions.”

The story emerged against a backdrop of worsening relations between the FIA and F1’s commercial rights holder Liberty Media, which has been a theme within the sport since the election of current FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem in December 2021.

However, Vasseur remains confident that F1 is in good health as negotiations over a new Concorde Agreement — the wide-ranging contract that binds the commercial rights holder, the FIA and the 10 teams together — enter their final…