Lewis Hamilton has publicly shown his support for F1 Academy boss Susie Wolff and his own team principal after the couple were placed under investigation by the FIA following allegations that they were sharing confidential information between them.
This controversy was made public after the Business F1 magazine published an article claiming that multiple team principals on the grid had complained to the FIA, raising concerns that confidential information had been passed between Toto and Susie Wolff.
As the director of F1 Academy, Susie reports directly to CEO Stefano Domenicali, while Toto has been the team principal of Mercedes since 2013. According to the initial report, the latter had allegedly sparked concerns with some comments made during team principal meetings.
After the investigation was launched, Susie took to Instagram to release a statement, noting: “I am deeply insulted but sadly unsurprised by the public allegations that have been made this evening.
“It is disheartening that my integrity is being called into question in such a manner, especially when it seems to be rooted in intimidatory and misogynistic behaviour, and focused on my marital status rather than my abilities.
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“Throughout my career in motorsport, I have encountered and overcome numerous obstacles and I refuse to let these baseless allegations overshadow my dedication and passion for F1 Academy.
“As a woman in this sport, I have faced my fair share of challenges but my commitment to breaking down barriers and paving the way for future generations to succeed remains unwavering. In the strongest possible terms, I reject these allegations.”
Hamilton then added his support to the message, reposting Susie’s response to his own Instagram story and adding a praising emoji to the post, making a public stand of solidarity with his own boss’ wife.
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Despite the apparent existence of complaints from other F1 team principals on the grid, all nine other teams came out with their own coordinated statements of support for the pair, distancing themselves from the allegations.
The coordinated statement read: “We can confirm that we have not made any complaint to the FIA regarding the allegation of information of a confidential nature being passed between an F1 team principal and a member of FOM staff.
“We are pleased and proud to support F1 Academy and its managing director through our commitment to sponsor an entrant in our liveries from next season.”
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