![]() ![]() At the same time, a lack of formal complaint filed to FIA against Horner has been cited as the reason why the FIA has not launched its own investigation. The FIA maintains it must have a complaint before it can investigate any improprieties and has never clarified what triggered the investigation into the Wolffs. The other nine F1 teams in identically worded statements released simultaneously all denied filing a complaint about the Wolffs. The Wolffs may pursue legal action and angrily defended their integrity. The FIA launched a compliance inquiry into the Wolffs that was dropped two days later. Most recently, Ben Sulayem infuriated Mercedes boss Toto Wolff and his wife, Susie, who runs the all-female F1 Academy, for questioning if there is a conflict of interest with their respective jobs. He has been accused by F1 rights holder Liberty Media of harmfully downplaying F1's commercial value he publicly backed Michael Andretti and General Motors' bid to expand the 10-team grid despite the refusal of F1 to allow the Americans entry, and he apparently blocked an agreement between the teams and Liberty to double the number of sprint weekends for 2023. Ben Sulayem was elected FIA president by its membership in 2021 just days after the controversial season finale cost Lewis Hamilton a record-breaking eighth title and gave Verstappen his first world championship.īen Sulayem has been a target since his election. The allegations against Ben Sulayem are part of what appears to be a bitter power struggle between the governing body and F1 itself. The whistleblower is believed to be a former FIA employee who now works for Formula One Management, a person with direct knowledge of the complaints told AP speaking on condition of anonymity because the name and other details are not being disclosed by FIA. Now attention has shifted from the Horner saga to allegations against Ben Sulayem, who has been heavily scrutinized through his first two seasons as FIA president. Horner has denied all allegations and his wife, Geri Halliwell, was by his side on race day for Red Bull's 1-2 finish.Īfter the race, Verstappen's father told The Daily Mail the team will implode if Horner is not removed from his position. The complaint was dismissed days before Saturday's season-opening race in Bahrain, won by Max Verstappen of Red Bull.Įven after Horner was cleared by Red Bull's parent company, a trove of alleged evidence against him was leaked to more than 100 industry members during practice in Bahrain. The BBC reports follow a dramatic month in which Red Bull investigated team principal Christian Horner over allegations of misconduct involving a team employee. In an additional statement given to The Associated Press, an FIA spokesman said: “It is unfortunate and a source of great concern that the matter has been disclosed to the media without any prior authorization and that certain elements of the report were inaccurately reported.” The FIA confirmed no details about the allegations or even that Ben Sulayem is the target. “The Compliance Department is assessing these concerns, as is common practice in these matters, to ensure that due process is meticulously followed,” the FIA said. A second BBC report says the same whistleblower also claims Ben Sulayem told officials not to certify the Las Vegas circuit for its high-profile race last November. The BBC reported this week that FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem allegedly intervened to overturn a penalty given to Fernando Alonso at last year's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The FIA said Tuesday that its compliance officer has received two complaints “detailing potential allegations involving certain members of its governing body" in seeming reference to whistleblower claims against the president of Formula 1's governing body. ![]()
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