Susie Wolff will not allow any FIA wrongs to be “brushed under carpet”

Susie Wolff announced this week that she had lodged a criminal complaint against motor racing’s governing body in the French courts over unfounded allegations made against her last December.

This relates to the FIA issuing a statement that it was looking into claims that Wolff, in her role as F1 Academy managing director, had passed on confidential information to her husband – something that was quickly found not to be true.

The manner of the FIA’s public declaration, and the way the identity of the Wolffs was revealed, caused tremendous upset, and this is what has prompted the proceedings in court.

The decision to go legal with the matter has received the backing of Lewis Hamilton, and Toto Wolff has made it clear that his wife is determined to see things through to the end to get to the bottom of why the FIA acted in the way it did.

“First of all, Susie is a strong woman,” Wolff told Sky. “She doesn't take anything from anyone and, as always, follows through on her convictions and values - and that's the case here.

“She's very unemotional about it and pragmatic. She feels wrong was done, and the court needs to hear that. Nothing's going to bring her off that path. That's how her character is.

“And, on the other side, it is the case and the fact that all year now we have been talking about cases of [lack of] transparency and various other factors that are just not great. And this is what Lewis referred to. 

"We should talk about the greatness of the sport and where we are, and not the other stuff, but it needs to be pointed to.”

Susie Wolff

Photo by: Erik Junius

While the FIA backed away from its probe over the Wolff matter just 48 hours after it began, the lack of apology and explanation about what prompted its action has not sat well with the Wolffs.

There are doubts over the reality of team complaints that the FIA suggested were made against the Wolffs, and questions also about the source of the original story that prompted the FIA investigation in the first place.

With a lack of apology and explanation so far from the FIA about why it took the course of action it did, Toto Wolff said the key thing now was getting answers about what really happened.

“I think Susie, like I said before, she's started that process many months ago,” he said. “[She] has done it very diligently, as far as I'm concerned, and will go all the way in.

“And I think it matters for her most to find out what happened. And [that] people take accountability and responsibility, and things are not brushed under the carpet.

“I think we as a sport need to do that in all areas, whether it is Susie's case, or whether some cases with the other teams.

“I think this sport has such a massive platform, we're doing so well, and maybe sometimes we need to take it out of the, let's say, jurisdictions of our sport into the real world and see what it does.”

Wolff did not think the legal action would act as a game-changer for the governance of F1, but said that there were times when those involved could not just sit back and accept certain actions taken against them. 

“I don't think there is such thing as a watershed moment,” he said. “I just think that, at a certain stage, we shouldn't be just getting those hits and accepting them.”