Toto Wolff is rarely out of action from the F1 scene. The Mercedes boss will always have something influential to say, be it the new regulations overhaul or any discussions of a new race. This prominence may come to bite him back. Given the amount of behind-the-scenes information he knows about F1, the Austrian is accused of leaking confidential information to none other than the F1 bosses.
According to Business F1 magazine, Wolff’s rivals have complained about how the Mercedes boss is present in all meetings among teams. Besides Wolff, even his wife Susie has a prominent stature now, being at the helm of F1 Academy. This may lead the husband-wife duo to share a lot of confidential information about the sport. The team bosses’ concern is how Toto and Susie Wolff may transfer any such information ‘illegally’ to F1 boss Stefano Domenicali and Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei.
A team boss anonymously commented (as quoted by GP Blog), “I believe it is illegal. I honestly think it’s illegal. There is certainly a huge conflict of interests between two companies. And moreover, it is very unethical.” This is naturally putting pressure on the FIA that governs the sport.
The magazine report also mentioned that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has noted these alleged concerns against Wolff. Ben Sulayem was actively involved in F1’s affairs until the start of 2023. Since then, he has taken a step back after some controversies resurfaced. On this issue, Ben Sulayem is unsure of whether this is the usual F1 banter or an actual concern that may get serious.
Regardless, the FIA boss is under pressure from the F1 quarters to take action against the Wolffs. Often, teams in F1 have a united front in any situation. Even if there are differences in certain matters, they know their foundational alignment with each other. Thus, any sort of whistle-blowing from a prominent figure like Wolff will make the teams’ equation with the F1 bosses complex.
Toto Wolff and his trail to F1 stakeholders may lead to collateral damage
Business F1 magazine quoted an anonymous team boss who cited how the trail of information may be working. This trail highlights the aforementioned people, including Susie Wolff, Domenicali, and Maffei. This team boss had previous conflicts with the Mercedes team principal. Thus, the theory may not be free of bias, yet it has some logical reasoning with Wolff’s influence as the connecting factor.
He stated, “They can say, ‘Hey, we can sit down for a meeting’, and before you know it it’s on Greg Maffei’s (boss) desk. from Liberty Media, ed.). Because Toto told his wife, who in turn told Stefano [Domenicali], who told Greg Maffei. Stefano knows within thirty seconds what we discussed.”
Given both Toto and Susie Wolff closely work and interact with these F1 stakeholders, the FIA may take this matter seriously.
Toto Wolff has often been in such controversies. The cost cap breach saga from 2022 is a classic example of this. The Mercedes boss was one of the alleged people who leaked details about Red Bull’s cost cap breach. While the breach accusations turned out to be true, this leak put the FIA and F1 management in jeopardy. It also led to one of the ex-Mercedes and FIA employees, Shaila-Ann Rao, to exit the governing body.
️#TotoWolff was really talkative regarding the cost cap breach matter on the Sky pen… #F1 #SingaporeGP #LewisHamilton #MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/nJ7T1crMjw
— Hamilton Insights (@LH44_insights) September 30, 2022
Shaila had previously worked with Wolff and Mercedes as a legal advisor. In mid-2022, she joined the FIA as an Interim Secretary General for Motorsport. This period also coincided with the scrutiny of the 2021 cost cap submissions. Eventually, when the leak about Red Bull’s potential breach happened, people in the paddock were promptly putting the pieces together, given Shaila’s former Mercedes ties. This led to her exiting the FIA after the Abu Dhabi GP in November 2022.
