Susie Wolff says her defamation case against the FIA over its short-lived 2023 conflict-of-interest review remains ongoing
Susie Wolff has confirmed that her legal action against the FIA is still ongoing after the governing body announced in 2023 it would review whether Wolff's husband, Toto Wolff's, position as Mercedes team principal could create a conflict of interest.
The dispute, starting in December 2023, was quickly dropped within 48 hours when the FIA confirmed it was happy with the measures put in place to ensure compliance. But despite it only rolling for a short amount of time, the F1 Academy chief believed the damage to her credibility had already been done.
"I refused to be treated that way," she told The Times. "It created a huge amount of articles doubting my integrity."
Nine of the 10 F1 teams released mostly identical statements following the news, denying that they had complained about this alleged conflict of interest.
"People can have their opinions on [whether] what I do is good or not," Wolff continued. "But that’s something I won’t allow to happen, that people attack my integrity."
Susie Wolff
Following the investigation, Wolff launched a case against the FIA alleging defamation, something that is still an "ongoing process".
Neither Wolff nor the FIA has released a timetable for when this could be resolved, but shortly after the original investigation was launched, the governing body released a statement following its short review.
“Following a review of Formula One 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 unauthorized disclosure of confidential information,” it said.
— Susie Wolff (@Susie_Wolff) March 20, 2024
The FIA has not issued any further statement since then, but it's clear that Wolff's case remains active. While there are few specifics known to the public, it seems as though she remains keen to pursue a conclusion.
Wolff was backed by the likes of the then-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
"Firstly, I'm incredibly proud of Susie. I think she's so brave and she stands for such great values," he said. "She's such a leader, and in a world where often people are silenced, for her to be standing up sends such a great message. And I love that she's taken it out of this world - fighting it from outside because there is a real lack of accountability here within this sport, within the FIA, things that are happening behind closed doors.
"There is no transparency, there is clearly no accountability, and we need that. I think the fans needs that. How can you trust the sport and what is happening here if you don't have that?
"So hopefully this stand that she's taken now will create change, will have a positive impact, and especially for women."
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Category: General Sports
