Susie Wolff, the director of the F1 Academy, has announced that she has lodged a complaint against the FIA three months after the Federation launched an investigation into possible disclosures of confidential information to her husband Toto, the Mercedes team boss.

There’s definitely something rotten in the F1 kingdom. The conflicts never stop. Even when the wars that are tearing Red Bull apart between an Anglo-Thai camp and an Austro-Dutch one come to a halt, other battles come to the fore in the paddock.

War rages within the Red Bull team between Jos Verstappen and Christian Horner

This time, it’s the war between the President of the Fédération Internationale (FIA), Mohamed Ben Sulayem, and the Wolff couple that has taken center stage on Thursday morning. The day before, the FIA Ethics Commission had cleared its president of “any accusations of interference” in the 2023 Saudi Arabian and Las Vegas Grands Prix.

“If some people think that silence can absolve them of any responsibility, they are mistaken”

Six hours later, Susie Wolff, director of the F1 Academy women’s series, announced in a press release that on March 4 she had lodged a complaint in France against the FIA (headquartered in Paris).

Although we don’t know exactly what the grounds are, we can imagine that proceedings for defamation would be the best way to respond to the suspicions raised by the FIA’s investigation into the couple. ” If some people think that silence can absolve them of any responsibility, they are mistaken,” says the plaintiff in her statement.

Strong reactions against the FIA investigation

Last December, the FIA launched an investigation following the publication of an article in Business F1 magazine raising the possibility that Susie Wolff, working for Formula 1, had divulged confidential information to her husband, the Mercedes team boss.

Within an hour, the German team and the FOM, the F1 rights holder, had strongly rejected the accusations in press releases, before Susie Wolff took to social media sites to express her indignation at being reduced to the role of a subservient wife, uncritically betraying her employer for her husband.

An abandoned investigation

Even before announcing a few days later that it was dropping the investigation, the FIA had felt the embarrassment of launching an inquiry on the basis of a magazine’s allegations. It tried to justify itself, claiming that the investigation had been launched following a complaint from two team bosses, without giving their names.

But none of the heads of the ten teams confirmed this information. On the contrary, the teams decided to issue a statement rejecting the allegations. Even Christian Horner, who has shown little sympathy for Toto Wolff since their 2021 war, and who is not yet embroiled in his internal battle for the leadership of Red Bull, denied the allegations. So, while awaiting his return to the limelight, Susie Wolff attacks.