Following a statement made by the FIA on Tuesday, all 10 teams have united to demonstrate their support for F1 Academy managing director Susie Wolff, who is facing allegations of giving away “confidential” information to her husband, Toto Wolff.
The FIA stated on Tuesday that they’d be investigating allegations that an unnamed team principal had gained secret information from FOM personnel.
Whilst not naming them specifically, it was recognised that this was directed at Susie and Toto.
Concerningly, the FIA’s strong statement was made following a report by one publication, Business F1 Magazine, rather than based on evidence.
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F1 and Mercedes immediately released their own statements denying the allegations and that they fully supported Susie, whilst they also stated that they were surprised to hear about the investigation via social media.
The FIA reportedly failed to communicate with either company, further increasing tensions between F1 and the governing body.
Susie also released her own powerful statement, where she admitted that she was “unsurprised” that the FIA had questioned her “integrity”.
According to Business F1 Magazine, several team principals became concerned after Toto supposedly knew about information before it was announced in a meeting, leading to complaints to the FIA.
In a huge show of unity, every F1 team released a similar statement stating that they have “not made any complaint to the FIA” regarding Susie passing information onto her husband.
“We can confirm that we have not made any complaint to the FIA regarding the allegation of information of a confidential nature being passed between an F1 Team Principal and a member of FOM staff,” the statement from each of the nine teams read.
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“We are pleased and proud to support F1 Academy and its managing director through our commitment to sponsor an entrant in our liveries from next season.”
This move by the teams has applied significant pressure onto the FIA, with questions being asked as to why they released such a statement based on one report and media speculation.
Whether the teams uniting will lead to the FIA explaining the reasoning behind their statement remains to be seen; however, their actions come amid recent reports that F1 is reconsidering breaking away from the governing body.