05 December 2023 , 20:47
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Mercedes have "wholly rejected" the suggestion that an FIA statement about a probe into an unnamed Formula 1 team principal is linked to Toto Wolff.
The surprise FIA statement was released by the governing body on Tuesday afternoon. It read: "The FIA is aware of media speculation centred on the allegation of information of a confidential nature being passed to an F1 team principal from a member of FOM personnel. The FIA Compliance Department is looking into the matter."
That statement did not name a specific team, nor did it name the team principal and FOM staff member in question. But a report from one media outlet linked the statement with Wolff and his wife Susie, who is managing director of the all-female F1 Academy series.
A Mercedes statement denies such allegations and says it was unaware of the investigation until the FIA made its public announcement. It read: "We note the generic statement from the FIA this evening, which responds to unsubstantiated allegations from a single media outlet, and the off-record briefing which has linked it to the Team Principal of Mercedes-AMG F1.
"The Team has received no communication from the FIA Compliance Department on this topic and it was highly surprising to learn of the investigation through a media statement. We wholly reject the allegation in the statement and associated media coverage, which wrongly impinges on the integrity and compliance of our Team Principal.
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"As a matter of course, we invite full, prompt, and transparent correspondence from the FIA Compliance Department regarding this investigation and its contents."
The allegations suggested an unnamed team principal and FOM staff member may have shared confidential information between each other. Several rival teams are said to have complained about it privately.
F1 has released its own statement in which it also denied the suggestion that any of its employees have been involved in such behaviour. It read: "We note the public statement made by the FIA this evening that was not shared with us in advance.
"We have complete confidence that the allegations are wrong, and we have robust processes and procedures that ensure the segregation of information and responsibilities in the event of any potential conflict of interest.
"We are confident that no member of our team has made any unauthorised disclosure to a team principal and would caution anyone against making imprudent and serious allegations without substance."