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BBC’s Andrew Benson says Mercedes “could yet move to seek redress from the FIA for the reputational damage its actions have inflicted on the company”.
Yesterday the FIA announced they are dropping their investigation into Toto and Susie Wolff’s alleged conflict of interest.
BBC’s Andrew Benson has reached out to Mercedes and Formula 1 to get their reaction to the news.
“Formula 1’s governing body has ended its compliance inquiry into Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff and his wife, the F1 Academy director Susie Wolff,” Benson wrote.
“The FIA had launched an inquiry into a magazine’s claims that rivals believed the couple’s relationship presented a conflict of interest in the sport.
“But on Thursday the FIA said it was ‘satisfied’ F1 had measures in place to protect against such issues.
“The statement added that there was ‘no ongoing investigation’ into the matter.
“A Mercedes spokesperson said the company had ‘taken note of the statement’ but declined to comment further, while Formula 1 did not comment.
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“Mercedes could yet move to seek redress from the FIA for the reputational damage its actions have inflicted on the company this week.”
Benson goes on to say the F1 insiders believe the whole situation was a result of a “power struggle” between Toto Wolff and FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
“The controversy has been interpreted by senior figures in F1 as the result of a power struggle between Toto Wolff and Ben Sulayem.
“Insiders have said Ben Sulayem has not appreciated Wolff’s interventions in recent months on a number of key F1 matters, both publicly and in private.
“And it comes against a backdrop of worsening relations between F1 and the FIA on a number of fronts.
“There is unease both inside the FIA and elsewhere in F1 about the direction of the governing body under Ben Sulayem,” Benson concluded.
