Susie Wolff files criminal complaint against Formula One governing body

Susie Wolff, the managing director of the all-female series the F1 Academy, has filed a criminal complaint against Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, over allegations made last year against her and her husband, the Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, which were found to be unsubstantiated.

Wolff and her husband were the subject of a conflict-of-interest investigation brought by the FIA in December 2023, after an allegation that confidential information was being passed between a team member and a member of the sport’s owner Formula One Management (FOM). It was centred on Toto Wolff and his wife, who is in charge of the F1 Academy, the series which is owned and run by FOM.

Related: Red Bull tries to project harmony but Horner F1 saga will not go away | Giles Richards

Both parties strongly denied the allegation and within 48 hours of it beginning the investigation, the FIA concluded neither party had a case to answer.

Wolff was unequivocal at the time that she felt she and her husband had suffered huge reputational damage as a result of the FIA instigating the investigation and making it public. On Wednesday she made it clear she would be taking the matter further in a post on social media.

“I can confirm that I have personally filed a criminal complaint in the French courts on the 4 March in relation to the statements made about me by the FIA last December,” she wrote. “There has still not been any transparency or accountability in relation to the conduct of the FIA and its personnel in this matter.

“I feel more than ever it is important to stand up, call out improper behaviour and make sure people are held to account. Whilst some may think silence absolves them from responsibility – it does not.”

After the investigation was announced there was an almost immediate backlash from across F1. The following day, in what must be considered an almost unprecedented move, every one of the other nine F1 teams issued a near identical statement confirming they had made no complaints about information being passed and expressing unanimous support for the F1 Academy.

Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, has cleared its president, Mohammed ben Sulayem, of two allegations of interference in grands prix in the 2023 season after investigation by the FIA’s compliance officer and its six-person ethics body. However, no details or evidence from the investigation has been released.

The allegations had been made to the FIA by a whistleblower that Ben Sulayem had interfered with two sporting decisions in 2023. The first was to have interceded in the stewards' decision at the Saudi Arabian GP to impose a penalty on Fernando Alonso and have them reverse it, after which Alonso claimed a podium place.

The second was that before the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix last year he had requested that the new track not be homologated for racing. It was alleged that officials had ignored the request and approved the homologation.

The claims were made public in leaked documents but the FIA statement said it found no evidence of interference by the president.

“After reviewing the results of the inquiries, the ethics committee were unanimous in their determination that there was no evidence to substantiate allegations of interference of any kind involving the FIA president, Mohammed ben Sulayem.”

The conclusions stated the investigation was run by the FIA compliance officer and reviewed by the ethics committee, over a period of 30 days and included 11 witness interviews that came to a conclusive decision. “Allegations against the FIA president were unsubstantiated and strong evidence beyond any reasonable doubt was presented to support the determination of the FIA ethics committee,” the statement said.

No details of the allegations were released, however, nor of the evidence presented to refute the claims. With the sport under enormous pressure to demonstrate transparency given the circumstances around the recent allegations against the Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, there may be some disquiet within F1 that the FIA itself has conducted an internal investigation but has not provided any detail of how and why it reached its conclusions. Giles Richards

The incident and the FIA’s subsequent climbdown was humiliating for the governing body, especially given it did not explain the rationale behind its actions.

The decision to investigate appears to have been prompted by one, unsubstantiated media report alleging Wolff had made a comment that could only have been informed by information from a member of FOM personnel. The FIA cited “media speculation” over the issue as part of its reasoning to investigate but there was little beyond that single source.

The reaction to it was swift. Mercedes resolutely condemned the investigation as did Wolff, who called it “insulting” and rooted “in intimidatory and misogynistic behaviour”. FOM was similarly robust, warning caution against “making imprudent and serious allegations without substance”.

Since the incident the FIA has not issued any apology or any further explanation of its actions, citing its policy not to reveal the details of complaints or the assessment of them publicly.

With the case Wolff is bringing, the embattled body is set to face intense scrutiny of its policies and practices. Earlier on Wednesday it announced it had concluded its own investigation into allegations of complaints of interference into races by its president, Mohammed ben Sulayem, and cleared him entirely but once more without revealing any details of the process or the complaints.