Recent F1 Reports Denied By The Teams Accused Of Making Them

It has been a tumultuous couple of seasons for fans of Formula 1, and there have been countless controversies, issues with the rules (and the interpretation of them) and then new tweaks that have been made in an effort to create more exciting races and greater fairness.

Naturally, as various race teams butt heads, argue for sanctions against each other and generally engage in pre and post race handbags with collisions and other events taking the headlines, team principal of the Mercedes team, Toto Wolff, has absolutely been no stranger to not hiding his thoughts when he speaks with the media. As fans buy tickets for 2024 and 2025, there will be few betting odds that could accurately predict how the sport will now go.

In recent times that behaviour has been turned against him as there have been plenty of loosely sourced media reports suggesting other rival teams have reported him to the FIA about his behaviour, and also interestingly, the behaviour of his wife, Susie.

For those who may not be aware, Susie Wolff is the director of the F1 Academy, the sports junior category for highly rated and hopeful female drivers learning the ropes, and developing their own potential.

Following on from the rumours, this week fellow F1 teams have now issued statements denying that they have made complaints about the married couples behaviour as alleged in certain media outlets, and these statements follow Tuesday's announcement from the FIA that they had now launched a formal inquiry into the claims made - as they relate to a potential conflict of interest in the sport.

The original claim came from Business F1 magazine and suggested that a number of team principles had raised concerns given the fact that Mrs Wolff reports directly to president Stefano Domenicali - ergo there would be massive potential for confidential information to be passed between the Mercedes team and F1 via the connection that obviously exists on face value.

However, all nine teams have absolutely rubbished the claims in what was a co-ordinated, previously agreed, and identically worded set of individual statements.

"We can confirm that we have not made any complaint to the FIA regarding the allegation of information of a confidential nature being passed between an F1 team principal and a member of FOM [F1] staff. We are pleased and proud to support F1 Academy and its managing director through our commitment to sponsor an entrant in our liveries from next season."

Naturally, being the subject of the complaint Mercedes would not make a complaint about their own team to the FIA, racing fans will note Mercedes and F1 released denial statements of their own, but many will wonder why the FIA is yet to make an official statement themselves - despite the fact they have been obviously asked for comments by members of the wider media.

Mercedes and F1, in their statements, made their frustration clear at the FIA's handling of the situation so far, and their silence will undoubtedly not help things.

In a social media post following the allegations, Susie commented that the claims left her feeling 'deeply insulted but sadly unsurprised', adding that the slurs were 'intimidatory and misogynistic"

There are those who feel that this issue has been sparked by an apparent fight between Wolff and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, given it is widely believed that Ben Sulayem is absolutely not happy with Wolff's recent media interventions, accusations and comments on F1 matters. Insiders state that this is not just what fans have heard, but it is also what Toto has been saying behind the scenes and in private.

It is also, unfortunately, well timed where relations between F1 and the FIA have recently worsened over a number of issues, and many will think back to February of this year when Ben Sulayem stated he was stepping back from direct F1 involvement - which followed a series of controversies that came to light after he was elected president in December 2021 - not least the emergence of sexist remarks that he had made in the past.

He naturally continues to be active in the sport though, and it is widely believed by some race teams, that even though he is now more 'behind the scenes' there have been incidents directly related to him, that should not have occurred - such as Wolff and Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur being reported to the stewards for a bit of bad language in one particular press conference.

There will certainly be those in the world of F1 who feel that these accusations may have a basis (or at least potentially could, even though there is absolutely no proof), there will also be plenty of other fans who feel that it feels a little bit too convenient that it has come out now after all the previous spats that have taken place, given she only took on her role this year - and there will no doubt be others who dismiss it as wild fantasy given the lack of real information offered when the claims were made.

One thing is for sure, 2024 may prove to be more boring on a race front again as the sport becomes even more predictable, but if you like racing for the headlines...we will get plenty of them.

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