Ferrari Team Principal Frederic Vasseur has labelled the FIA’s recent investigation into Toto and Susie Wolff as an “embarrassing” incident for the whole of Formula 1.
Last week, the sport’s governing body announced the FIA Compliance Department was looking into a supposed case of confidential information being exchanged.
This involved an active F1 team principal and a member of FOM personnel amid rumours that Mercedes boss Toto Wolff raised a comment in a recent meeting that could only have been made based on information handed down by the FOM, potentially by F1 Academy Managing Director Susie Wolff.
But the FIA put out a statement only two days later noting there was no ongoing investigation, citing it is “satisfied” with the procedures in place to avoid conflicts of interest or the spilling of confidential items.
However, that prompted a scathing response from both of the Wolffs, with Toto, on behalf of the Mercedes F1 team, revealing that the couple is currently in legal talks with the FIA.
Vasseur criticised the FIA’s handling of the situation and insisted that the matter could have been dealt with away from the public domain to avoid the “embarrassing” episode.
When asked by Autosport if there was any concern over the tense relationship between the FIA and FOM, Vasseur said: “I think this story is quite embarrassing for our sport.
“The story started with an article in a newspaper, I don’t know if newspaper is the right word. And I think in this situation when you are speaking about an individual, you have to take care of what you are saying.
“I think it would have been appropriate from the FIA; they needed 24 hours between the [first] announcement and the second announcement. It would have made sense to use the 24 hours before the first announcement [to investigate], to avoid any bad conclusions.”
Following reports that rival teams had instigated the probe, the other nine teams on the F1 grid put on a united front by posting a collective statement to show support for Susie Wolff and to deny the notion that any of them had prompted the FIA’s action.
Vasseur believes the rare sight of every single side being unified on a topic of discussion within F1 was a small positive to take away from the problematic episode.
“After the incident of last week at least the teams were very united,” he added. “The first conclusion for me is that we were able to act together and it’s not very often that even Red Bull was supportive of Toto!
“And honestly, I think it’s a good point for us also to take position and to discuss with the other stakeholders. I think it’s the first time the teams together showed something like this.”
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