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Mercedes have issued a scathing response to the FIA after the governing body placed Toto Wolff and his wife Susie under investigation for an alleged conflict of interest. It was reported on Tuesday that some rival figures have complained to the FIA over the family conflict they believe exists between Wolff as a team principal and Susie as an employee of Formula One Group.<\/p>\n
According to BusinessF1, the figures in question are said to be concerned that Wolff may have access to confidential information, via his wife, that is not available to other team principals.\u00a0In response, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem was said to have asked the organisation’s compliance department to launch an investigation.<\/p>\n
An FIA statement released on Tuesday 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.”<\/p>\n
Mercedes later hit back with a damning statement of their own, in which they insisted the allegations made against Wolff and his wife were ‘unsubstantiated’. They also criticised the FIA for a lack of communication before launching the investigation and urged them to get in touch as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n
The statement 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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
“As a matter of course, we invite full, prompt, and transparent correspondence from the FIA Compliance Department regarding this investigation and its contents.”<\/p>\n
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