After the fuss surrounding investigations into alleged betrayal of secrets, the head of the female Formula 1 junior series F1 Academy, Susie Wolff, is taking legal action against the world motorsport association FIA. Like the wife of Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff before the Australian Grand Prix this Sunday (5:00 a.m. CET in the FAZ live ticker for Formula 1 and on Sky) shared via social media, she filed a criminal complaint with the French courts on March 4th. The ad, writes Wolff, refers to the FIA’s statements about her from last December.
“There is still no transparency or accountability regarding the behavior of the FIA and employees in this matter,” wrote the 41-year-old. “I think it’s more important than ever to stand up, denounce inappropriate behavior and ensure that people are held accountable.”
Intimidation and misogyny?
At the beginning of December last year, the FIA examined media reports that a Formula 1 team boss had been given confidential information by an employee of the Formula 1 rights holder. The background was a report by an English magazine about an alleged conflict of interest between Toto Wolff and his wife, about which other Formula 1 officials allegedly complained to FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
Accordingly, Susie Wolff, who is employed as managing director of the F1 Academy by the Formula 1 marketer FOM, is said to have access to confidential knowledge from the top of the racing series and allegedly shared this with her husband. In return, Toto Wolff may have informed his wife about conversations between the team bosses, so that this information in turn reached the rights holder.
The former racing driver Susie Wolff, married to the Austrian Toto Wolff since 2011, expressed the suspicion that attempted intimidation and misogyny were the motives behind the allegations.
Hate on the internet
Shortly after the investigation became known, the nine other teams in the premier motorsport class published largely identical statements in which they assured that they had not lodged any complaints with the world association about a possible conflict of interest.
Just two days after the investigation was published, the FIA closed it again. The world association said that “appropriate protective measures are in place to defuse potential conflicts”. The association is also convinced that the FOM’s compliance system is “robust enough to prevent unauthorized disclosure of confidential information.”
Sönke Sievers Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 2 Sönke Sievers Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 31 Anno Hecker Published/Updated: Recommendations: 8
Susie Wolff then reported that she had become a victim of hate online. “I will not allow myself to be intimidated and I intend to pursue the matter once I find out who instigated this campaign and misled the media,” the Scot wrote at the time.
