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It has been reported that Mercedes may want some form of compensation from the FIA to make up for all the harm done to the company's reputation during the Toto and Susie Wolff conflict-of-interest controversy.
The FIA has conducted an investigation on Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff and his wife Susie Wolff for possible conflicts of interest. This was mostly due to an allegation by BusinessF1 magazine that several rival team leaders have asserted the two had been exchanging private information regarding the FOM and the team.
Renowned F1 reporter Andrew Benson believes that Mercedes could ask the FIA for some kind of compensation for their reputational damage. In a piece published by BBC Sport, he wrote:
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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."
The reports have also claimed that several F1 seniors are questioning FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem's methods as well.
As soon as this news broke, several F1 fans on social media reacted to it. While some feel that Mohammed Ben Sulayem should leave the FIA, others discussed that the FIA never revealed the names of the team principal and FOM employee leaking confidential details to each other.
Here are some of the reactions on X:
"I think it’s time for Mohammed Ben Sulayem to leave. What do you think?"
"Of course senior F1 figures are questioning Mohammad Ben Sulayem because he's the only person who has a backbone against F1's greed, rejecting an 11th team, adding so many street circuits to the calendar, etcetera."
FIA to stop investigating Mercedes team boss and his wife for allegedly leaking confidential information about teams and FOM
After initiating a compliance inquiry towards Toto and Susie Wolff, the FIA verified F1's code of conduct and checked all the details of the FOM and whether the confidential data could be leaked or not. After doing so, they were pleased with the robustness of FOM's management system, as demonstrated by the FIA statement, which ensures that no private information may be disclosed to the teams.
The text of the statement said:
"Following a review of Formula 1 Management's F1 code of conduct and F1 conflict of interest policy, and confirmation that appropriate protective measures are in place to mitigate any potential conflicts, the FIA is satisfied that FOM's compliance management system is robust enough to prevent any unauthorised disclosure of confidential information.
"The FIA can confirm that there is no ongoing investigation in terms of ethical or disciplinary inquiries involving any individual. As the regulator, the FIA has a duty to maintain the integrity of global motorsport. The FIA reaffirms its commitment to integrity and fairness."
As of now, Mercedes and Formula One have both vehemently denied the allegations, leading to the suspension of the inquiry against Toto and Susie Wolff.
